CP Racing Takes Hard-Fought 12H Kuwait Victory

CP Racing narrowly beat Manamauri Energy by Ebimotors to victory in the Hankook 12H Kuwait, crossing the line with a lead of just over half a second to win the event for the second year in a row.

Charles Espenlaub, piloting the No. 85 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, withstood pressure from the No. 95 Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Sergiu Nicolae for a significant portion of the final hour.

Just 0.537 seconds separated the two cars at the checkered flag, with Espenlaub aided by co-driver Joe Foster, who completed a 57-lap stint on a single set of tires, ensuring the No. 85 Mercedes-AMG only needed a single additional pitstop to reach the finish.

Espenlaub, Foster, Charles Putman and Shane Lewis successfully retained their 12H Kuwait crown in the process, having taken victory at last year’s inaugural event as well.

Nicolae, Fabrizio Broggi, Sabino de Castro and Cosimo Papi finished second, with the overall podium completed by the No. 22 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Carl Cavers, Lewis Plato and Jack Barlow.

The British squad finished nearly a minute down on the leading pair of cars, also receiving a ten-second penalty for using its high beams in the refueling area in the final hour.

Victory in the GT4 class went to the No. 438 AGMC Racing Team by Simpson Motorsport BMW M4 of Fabian Duffieux, Andrey Solukovtsev, and Vasily Vladykin.

They defeated the only other car in the class, Century Motorsport’s No. 429 BMW of Ravi Ramyead, Charlie Robertson, David Holloway and Nathan Freke, to win.

RESULTS: Hankook 12H Kuwait