Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe – Engel and Auer turn up the heat at Hockenheim to snatch Race 1 victory and narrow points advantage

Lucas Auer and Maro Engel secured a hard-fought victory for Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter in today’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup contest at Hockenheim. The #48 Mercedes-AMG survived scorching temperatures and a late-race onslaught from the charging Team WRT BMW to grab a narrow advantage at the top of the standings.

Eliseo Donno took the start from pole after the Silver Cup contender delivered a superb performance in this morning’s qualifying session. The #71 AF Corse Ferrari repelled two serious attacks from Ben Green (#14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari) on the opening tour, then began to edge away from the British racer.

Green could not sustain his early pace and gradually dropped into the clutches of Auer. The British driver worked hard to keep the #48 Mercedes-AMG at bay, albeit surrendering further time to Donno in the process. With 25 minutes on the clock Auer finally made a move stick, though Green fought the Austrian until the very end.

The Emil Frey Racing Ferrari then came under pressure from Bronze Cup leader Dan Harper, who had found significant speed in the #991 Century Motorsport BMW. Indeed, having struggled for pace during this morning’s qualifying, the entire BMW contingent came to life during the opening phase of the race.

Significantly, the #32 Team WRT BMW of Charles Weerts had made huge progress to run in the top five by the end of the opening stint. The Sprint Cup points leader was the first of the leading cars to stop, Weerts handing over to Dries Vanthoor. Team WRT produced by far the fastest service of the race, though it was not quite enough to jump the #48 Mercedes-AMG.

Meanwhile, Donno had built a healthy lead aboard the #71 Ferrari. He was the last of the leaders to pit, but a slow stop cost the AF Corse squad and not only the overall lead, but also the advantage in the Silver Cup. The #48 Mercedes-AMG was now out front with Engel at the controls, while second spot was occupied by the #32 BMW, which had gained 17 positions in a little over half an hour. But Vanthoor wasn’t done: he wanted the lead.

The gap stabilised around the one-second mark, with the BMW looming large in Engel’s mirrors without quite getting close enough to launch an attack. This changed with 13 minutes left on the clock. Vanthoor got a run into the hairpin and was alongside Engel on the long drag towards the arena section. The German fought hard and both cars briefly ran off-track, the Winward Racing machine just managing to retain the advantage.

For a time, it seemed that this would be Vanthoor’s only opportunity. But, at the start of the penultimate tour, he suddenly closed up again, with Engel seemingly battling a problem. Vanthoor was alongside for a second time as they approached the hairpin, but the Mercedes-AMG stabilised and Engel had enough to fight back and stay in front.

He held on for the remainder, taking the chequered flag just one second ahead of Vanthoor. In what is developing into a brilliant two-way title fight, the #48 Mercedes-AMG crew is now 0.5 points ahead of the #32 crew at half distance in the Sprint Cup campaign.

The #14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari finished third with Konsta Lappalainen at the wheel, the Finn enjoying a relatively serene stint following Green’s earlier battle with Auer. This marked the second podium finish of the season for the #14 pairing and a fourth in five races for Emil Frey Racing.

Tom Fleming brought the #71 Ferrari home in fourth, earning a vital Silver Cup win despite missing out on what could have been overall victory after Donno’s brilliant opening stint. The Brit emerged behind the #30 Team WRT BMW of class rival Sam De Haan, but made a move stick during the closing stages to gain ground in the Silver standings. The podium was completed by the #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi in P12 overall.

Liqui-Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup took Gold Cup honours after a brilliant battle with the #25 Saintéloc Racing Audi. Max Hofer started from class pole and ran towards the head of the overall order, but the German squad slipped behind the Saintéloc machine during the pit stops. It took an on-track pass from Luca Engstler on Paul Evrard to seal the triumph, which puts the two teams level at the top of the Gold Cup standings. Tresor Attempto Racing was third in class with its #88 Audi.

Century Motorsport earned Bronze Cup honours thanks to Darren Leung and Dan Harper. After a brilliant opening stint from the latter, Leung took the controls and maintained a significant gap over the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini of Rob Collard and Sandy Mitchell. The #93 Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari was third, though the Century Motorsport crew has moved to the top of the class standings thanks to today’s win.

Race 1 was breathless, but there’s little time to recover. The Fanatec GT Europe field will be back on-track tomorrow morning at 09:50 CEST for Qualifying 2, which sets the grid for the weekend’s second race at 14:15. As ever, all of the action can be watched live on the GT World YouTube channel.