GT4 Europe - Panciatici and Leclerc crack the Code with victory at Hockenheim

The French duo represent one of the most experienced Silver Cup line-ups on the grid and put their combined knowledge to good use in a challenging 60-minute race. There was late drama in Pro-Am as Aleksandr Vaintrub and Stanislav Safronov snatched the win on the road with a last-lap pass on title rivals Finn Zulauf and Max Kronberg, only for a post-race penalty to hand the win back to the W&S Motorsport Porsche. NM Racing Team scored a first Am class victory of the campaign thanks to Andy Cantu and Charles Dawson in the #16 Mercedes-AMG.

The #36 Alpine started second on the grid, but Leclerc was comfortably ahead of poleman Tom Lebbon (#78 Elite Motorsport McLaren) before the pack had reached Turn 1. The British driver was soon relegated to third, with Marco Signoretti powering past in his #61 Academy Motorsport Ford. The A110 and the Mustang represent very different car concepts, but they proved an even match at the head of the field.

While the opening laps of the race were largely clean, the Safety Car was called into action with five minutes on the clock following an accident involving the #75 AV Racing Porsche and the #66 Matmut Évolution Toyota, which made heavy contact under braking for the hairpin. When racing resumed Signoretti was able to establish a narrow advantage, though there was little to choose between the lead pack as the race reached mid-distance.

This ensured that the pit stop phase would be crucial. The #36 Alpine elected to stop before its rivals, Leclerc handing over to Panciatici in the hope of making the undercut work. The #61 Ford stopped at the same time as the #11 Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW, but a slight delay would prove costly for the Academy squad. Erik Evans took the wheel from Signoretti, but could only watch as Yagiz Gedik pulled away ahead in the #11 BMW.

In fact, the Turkish squad had jumped to the lead of the race, although their advantage did not last long. Panciatici was already up to speed aboard the Alpine and had a full lap's worth of temperature in his Pirelli tyres, allowing the Frenchman to quickly make a pass for the lead.

A brief Safety Car followed to allow track workers to remove the stranded #92 Porsche, after which racing resumed with Panciatici leading from Gedik and Evans. The Ford quickly overhauled the BMW, but despite his best efforts Evans could not make serious inroads into Panciatici's lead. Enjoying the opportunity to run clean air, the Frenchman was able to slowly edge away from his rival.

With the race lead stabilising, attention turned to the final podium position. This was hotly disputed, with Gedik coming under increasing pressure from the #78 McLaren of Josh Rattican, who in turn had the #12 Borusan BMW of Berkay Besler for company.

Rattican and Gedik swapped places twice before the British driver made the position his own. The battle for third was not over, however, as Besler passed his team-mate and closed on to the rear of the McLaren. He made a move stick with just five minutes left on the clock, taking full advantage of the BMW's horsepower while the McLaren battled against overheating.

The Code Racing Development Alpine was untroubled out front, allowing Panciatici to bring the car home a little over five seconds clear of the Academy Motorsport Ford, which matched the result that it scored in Saturday's race. Besler was third, completing a fine weekend after he and Gabriele Piana clinched victory in the opening contest.

The #78 McLaren finished fourth, allowing Rattican and Lebbon to further extend their Silver Cup points advantage despite missing out on the podium. The #17 L’Espace Bienvenue BMW completed the top five after Ricardo van der Ende made a late pass on the #82 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin driven by Jamie Day. The #15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG was seventh, while Gedik slipped to eighth in the #11 BMW.

Aleksandr Vaintrub and Stanislav Safronov (#7 Mirage Racing Aston Martin) looked to have secured their second Pro-Am win of the season after a thrilling late battle, only for a penalty to hand the glory to the #30 W&S Motorsport Porsche of Max Kronberg and Finn Zulauf.

Kronberg started on pole but lost out to Sacha Bottemanne (#4 AV Racing Porsche) on the first tour and then slipped behind Tano Neumann (#31 W&S Motorsport Porsche) shortly after the Safety Car period. An early stop helped the #30 Porsche to return to the front after the pit window, Zulauf taking the controls to lead from Lonni Martins in the #4 Porsche and Alon Gabbay in the #31 W&S Motorsport machine. At this stage Safronov, who had taken over from Vaintrub, was only fourth.

That set up a breathless second half, as Safronov climbed the order to eventually run within one second of Zulauf during the closing stages. While the Porsche initially managed to get some traffic between himself and Safronov, the Russian quickly cleared it and attacked around the outside of Turn 6 on the final lap, completing the move and taking the flag ahead. However, the car was later handed a 10-second penalty for causing a collision earlier in the race, giving the win back to Zulauf/Kronberg. The result means Vaintrub/Safronov still lead the championship, but by a single point from Zulauf/Kronberg.

The final podium order was also jumbled after the chequered flag. Rick Bouthoorn and Önder Erdem (#70 Razoon x Automotive Racing BMW) crossed the line in P3, but were demoted by a track limits penalty, as was the #4 AV Racing Porsche. The W&D Racing Team BMW of Davide and Paolo Meloni was also handed a time penalty for a short pit stop. That meant the #27 Nova Racing Porsche of Edvin Hellsten and Daniel Nilsson claimed second in the revised result, with the #812 RAFA Racing McLaren of Rafael Martinez and Jon Lancaster celebrating its first podium finish in third.

NM Racing Team scored its first Am class victory of the year with the #16 Mercedes-AMG. Andy Cantu and Charles Dawson caught and passed the damaged Schumacher CLRT Alpine after contact denied Laurent Hurgon and Pascal Huteau a clear class lead.

Hurgon dominated the opening half, running as high as ninth overall before a clash at the hairpin resulted in a sizable dent to the Alpine’s door. This affected the steering, leaving Huteau powerless to defend from Cantu. The Mercedes-AMG man was unchallenged thereafter, pulling clear to win alongside new team-mate Dawson.

Huteau did a fine job to nurse the damaged Alpine to second, with Adrien Paviot and Nicolas Markiewicz completing a strong comeback weekend to score third in their Team Speedcar Audi. Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud lost time with a spin, but recovered to bring their GPA Racing Aston Martin home in fourth.

The GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club is next in action at Monza in Italy on September 20-22.