The opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup kicked off this weekend with two one-hour sprint races around a sun-soaked Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit with tens of thousands looking on in enjoyment.
Similarly to the sister Endurance Cup series, the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 field is being provided by the Belgian Comtoyou Racing and German based Walkenhorst Motorsport team – fielding between them one Pro class and three silver class efforts.
With thirty-four equally talented rivals competing for track space around the naturally tight Grand Prix layout of the Kent circuit, qualifying would again prove to be pivotable in decided the race order even before a racing lap had been turned – something that all four AMR powered crews failed to do in either qualifying session.
With race one kicking off earlier this morning, this came to premature interval as one car was forced off heavily into the barriers which necessitated a red flag to repair the barriers but once things got going again, the race at least flowed all the way to the chequered flag before being delayed in result declaration some time later.
The #007 Comtoyou Racing Pro effort of Nicki Thiim and Kobe Pauwels ended that one having made up the most real estate on track from their P31 overall starting position to claim a P10 overall/P7 in class result. The best AMR powered finishers, however, would be the #34 Walkenhorst silver classed entry for Jamie Day and Matteo Villagomez as they converted their P4 in class start into a somewhat delayed P3 podium finish after post-race penalties had been applied to others.
The remaining #35 Walkenhorst silver class car of Maxime Robin and Gaspard Simon finished their first day at the office together in an adjusted P5 whilst the #21 Comtoyou Racing car of Oliver Soderstrom and Arthur Dorison finished just behind in eighth.
Race two later in the day followed a similar thread for those out-front making things extremely difficult for those behind in passing but with slightly better starting positions for the four AMR runners.
This time, the race stayed surprisingly green all the way but despite the #007 car again passing double digit of competitor cars on the way through, they still hadn’t done enough to threaten the Pro class podium for a P11 finish this time around.
Within silver, the #34 Walkenhorst crew would again be the best AMR finishes in class with a confirmed P4 on track finish whilst their sister #35 crew secured a P7 finish at the end with the #21 Comtoyou car just behind to make up their pair of P8 finishes.
The Sprint Cup runners now get some time off before their next round from Misano, Italy in mid-July.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media