Carl Bennett and Tommaso Mosca took with style their maiden win in the International GT Open, giving the first success of the year to AF Corse. In their Ferrari 296 they executed a perfect race from the pole and beat the two McLaren 720S of Michael Porter-Zac Meakin (Olimp Motorsport) and James Kell-Dean Macdonald.
Yesterday’s winner and championship leader Levente Révész, associated with Maxi Götz in the Motopark Mercedes, could not do better than tenth, but retains the lead in the standings, by 7 points on Simon Reicher-Christopher Haase (Eastalent Racing Audi), today fifth.
The Motopark Mercedes #65, here driven by Lukas Dunner and Timo Rumpfkeil, also took a maiden win in the Pro-Am class ahead of Steve Jans-Aaron Walker (GetSpeed Mercedes), who retake the lead in the class, and the other AMG of Dexter Müller-Yannick Mettler (SPS).
AF Corse rounded the day with a sixth win (and fifth in the row) in Am for Gino Forgione-Michele Rugolo (AF), ahead of the Garage 59 of Mark Sansom and Alexander West, and the BDR Grupo Prom Mercedes of Alfredo Hernández.
THE RACE – Tommaso Mosca (AF Corse Ferrari), in pole for the first time, keeps the advantage at the start, but is briefly passed by Aron, who cuts the first corner and gives back the position. Jefferies is third ahead of Porter, Haase, Mettlrr, MacDonald and Korzeniowski, first in Am. Naran does not take the start, because of a broken engine.
Mosca’as advantage grows up to 2.5 seconds by lap 4, right before Aron suffers a blown tyre, while Haase has passed Porter for what becomes P3. Rogalski stops in the pits in lap 9, retiring.
By lap 10, Mosca hs a 10-second advantage on the trio Jefferies-Haase-Porter, in full fight, by the time the driver change window opens, in lap 12. During that phase, there is big fight in the middle positions of the field, with a contact between the ISR Audi and the BDR Grupo Prom Mercedes #28, which also has a contact with the GetSpeed #6.
After all stops (lap 17), Bennett leads with 9 seconds on Meakin, 12 on Letlaka and Kell, 13 on Müller, then Reicher, Lebbon, Hash, Schiller and Doquin. Stanislaw Jedlinski is first in Am but will be soon passed by Forgione.
The show is put by Hash, Blanchemain and Milota, in an epic fight for 13th. They are soon joined by Basz, who passes everybody, Dörrbecker and Zelger but drama strikes, first when Zelger hits Milota, and then in the final lap when the group catches Baumann and Hash hits violently the Mercedes at the Mistral chicane, sending it against the barriers, luckily with no consequences for the drivers.
That has no impact in the top ten, with Bennett evend extending his gap and winning ahead of Porter, Kell, Lebbon, Schiller, Reicher and Doquin. Götz is tenth. Rumpfkeil wins in Pro-Am and Forgione in Am.
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