Race 2 Penalties Dash Emil Frey, HRT’s Sprint Cup Title Hopes

Two driver pairings are now out of contention for the GT World Challenge powered by AWS Sprint Cup title after receiving post-race penalties following Race 2 at Barcelona.

Emil Frey Racing’s Albert Costa and Giacomo Altoe, who finished first on the road in the second race of the season finale weekend, and Haupt Racing Team’s Maro Engel and Luca Stolz have been penalized for pit lane infringements.

The No. 163 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo was handed a drive-through, converted to a 35-second post-race penalty, for Altoe’s frontal head restraint being incorrectly positioned before the driver left the pit lane.

Stolz was called for the same reason, leading to the same penalty being applied on the crew that provisionally finished third in the race.

Both drivers were determined to have continued adjusting their restraints on their out laps, marking a breach of the sporting regulations.

It means Attempto Racing’s Frederic Vervisch and Nicolas Schoell have been classified as the winners of Race 2, while Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts move up to second.

The decision has boosted the title hopes of Vanthoor and Weerts, whose score has been increased to 77 points.

It has also helped AKKA-ASP Mercedes-AMG driver Timur Boguslavskiy, who moves onto 68.5 points and is now the only other competitor who can clinch the title in the final race of the season this afternoon.

Engel and Stolz are now on 60 points, putting them out of contention with 16.5 points on offer for victory in Race 3.

Costa and Altoe, who also won the two races prior to Sunday’s earlier contest, have also lost their chance to stage a bid for the championship.

They are now back on 52.5 points, behind WRT’s Kelvin van der Linde and Ryuichiro Tomita.

Boguslavskiy’s co-driver Raffaele Marciello will start Race 3 from pole position.

RESULTS: Barcelona Race 2 (amended)