Gold Ferrari Wins Valencia Race 1; First Lap Drama for Title Rivals

Thierry Vermeulen and Chris Lulham became the first Gold Cup entrants to take overall victory in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup by winning Race 1 at Valencia, which featured a chaotic opening lap with major implications for the overall championship battle.

Lulham took the No. 69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 across the line with a margin of 14.183 seconds over the No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper.

It marked the first time that a Gold Cup car won a GTWC Europe race overall since the class was introduced in 2023, while Vermeulen and Lulham became the first non-Pro crew to take an overall Sprint Cup victory since Pierre-Alexandre Jean and Ulysse de Pauw in 2022.

The No. 69 Ferrari emerged just outside the top five after a chaotic opening lap that saw multiple cars get involved in incidents and most notably took the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO out of the race.

Charles Weerts was helpless as the out-of-control No. 66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II slammed into his car at Turn 2, which ultimately forced the points-leading WRT car into retirement.

Up ahead, contact between the No. 992 Paradine Competition BMW and No. 111 CSA Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo triggered a chain reaction that took out the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren and caused a puncture for the No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Once the race resumed, Dennis Marschall led overall in the No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, but longer pitstops for the Bronze Cup cars allowed Lulham to emerge out front at the wheel of the Red Bull-liveried No. 69 car.

Initially, two Gold Cup cars ran at the head of the overall order, but Louis Prette’s No. 58 McLaren was eventually overtaken by Pepper. Prette and co-driver Thomas Fleming completed the overall podium in third.

Lucas Auer and Maro Engel remained out of trouble in their No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to finish fourth, gaining significant ground in the overall title battle ahead of Sunday’s championship decider.

Weerts and Van der Linde narrowly retained their points lead despite retiring, but the top three are now covered by just two points as Auer and Engel climb to third thanks to their Saturday result.

Pepper and Engstler, meanwhile, climb to fourth place on 64 points and will need to overcome an eight-point deficit to become champions with 17.5 points still up for grabs.

Comtoyou Aston Martin Provisionally Clinches Silver Cup Title

Kobe Pauwels and Jamie Day provisionally clinched the championship in Silver Cup with a race to spare, although the No. 21 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo remains under investigation for a potential track limits infringement.

The Comtoyou Racing pairing broke through to take their fourth consecutive class victory, which combined with the retirement for the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG was enough for the title.

Cesar Gazeau and Aurelien Panis came into the race seven points behind in the standings, but as Panis pulled off the track mid-race with an unspecified issue, it ended the French duo’s hope of wrestling the title away from Pauwels and Day.

In the Bronze Cup category, Marschall and Dustin Blattner converted overall pole to a class victory in the No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, further extending their points advantage over the No. 89 Lionspeed GP Porsche of Bastian Buus and Bashar Mardini.