Dirickx Heads Mid-Season Prototype Cup Europe Standings

Photo: Racingpixels/Creventic

Maxim Dirickx took his second win of the season last weekend at the Nürburgring to maintain his championship lead at the midpoint of the inaugural Prototype Cup Europe season.

The Belgian has been on the podium in every race so far this year in his No. 3 Aust Motorsport Ligier JS P325 Toyota and currently tops the championship tables with 86 points.

Dirickx, who heads both the overall and Prototype Cup Europe Junior standings, eked out an early lead with a win in the first 55-minute race of the season at Mugello in March.

A third place finish in Race 2 of that weekend saw him firmly out front going into the second round at the Nürburgring.

British racer Nigel Moore shared driving duties with Dirickx at the German circuit. The pair snatched second place in Race 1 and another win to round out the weekend in Race 2.

Aust Motorsport also heads the teams’ points tally thanks to the duo’s efforts.

German rival Valentino Catalano now sits 14 points behind Dirickx in the standings.

The GMS Team driver diced with the Aust Motorsport pairing in both races at the Nürburgring, besting them to win Race 1 before slipping back into second place in Race 2.

Catalano was joined by Dani Soufi in his No. 11 Ligier for the weekend. Both drivers are former champions in Prototype Cup Germany, the precursor to Prototype Cup Europe.

BWT Mücke Motorsport drivers Mattis Pluschkell and Tobias Bille Clausen hold third place in the championship after Round 2.

Consistent top-five finishes see the pair on 62 points in their No. 8 Duqueine D09 Toyota.

Swedish driver Emil Hellberg currently holds fourth place in the overall standings and the lead in the Prototype Cup Europe Trophy for FIA Bronze-rated drivers.

Hellberg races as part of a two-car effort from Allay Racing, a team which he co-founded with his brother Linus.

Linus – who races the other Allay Racing Ligier – sits a distant seventh in the overall standings, but is just behind Emil in the Trophy class.

Former Ligier European champion Theo Micouris is the only driver other than Dirickx and Catalano to take a victory so far this season with a win in Race 2 at Mugello in his No. 74 Team Virage Ligier.

The opening rounds of the Creventic-organised championship have supported the Michelin 24H European Series.

The next races are set to take place at Monza on July 31-Aug. 2, before the season finale at Spa-Francorchamps at the beginning of September as a support race for the third running of Creventic’s Michelin 992 Endurance Cup.

Finlay Ringer

Finlay Ringer is a freelance motorsport journalist covering the 24H Series for Sportscar365. He is also a journalism student at City St George's, University of London, and has contributed to publications such as The Race and Autocar.