Engel, Auer Convert Pole to Brands Race 2 Win

Maro Engel and Lucas Auer converted pole position to claim their first GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup victory of the season during Race 2 at Brands Hatch.

Auer, piloting the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, crossed the line 1.308 seconds ahead of the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO driven by Charles Weerts.

The Mamba-liveried Mercedes-AMG started the race from pole with Engel at the wheel and spent early running under pressure from the No. 69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Chris Lulham.

Lulham had fought off a lap one challenge from the No. 78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Sandy Mitchell, with the two drivers entering the mandatory pitstop window second and third.

That window was delayed following a safety car after Baptiste Moulin became stranded in the gravel at Sheene Curve aboard the No. 19 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini.

That compressed the field as pitstops began, with slow stops for both Emil Frey and Barwell causing both cars to plummet down the order.

The No. 32 Team WRT BMW, meanwhile, did the exact opposite, vaulting up from seventh to second place as Weerts took over from Kelvin van der Linde.

While a second safety car, this time for contact between Rutronik Racing’s Eshan Pieris and CSA Racing driver McLaren James Kell, brought Weerts within striking distance of Auer, a pass could not be made.

Auer was subsequently able to pull a gap of just over a second, resulting in a first win of the season for the defending drivers’ champions.

Sven Mueller and Patric Niederhauser completed the podium in the No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer finished fourth in the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari, with Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen completing the overall top five for Emil Frey Racing.

Notably, while the two cars crossed the line on fourth and fifth, they were initially demoted to 25th and tenth, respectively, for Full Course Yellow infringements.

However, both cars were reinstated to their original positions in the final results, with the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren of Marvin Kirchhoefer and Benjamin Goethe sixth as a result.

Al Faisal Al Zubair and Jens Klingmann picked up the Gold Cup class win aboard the No. 777 Al Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW in eighth, ahead of the No. 69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari of Lulham and Thierry Vermeulen.

Lulham and Vermeulen had crossed the line in eleventh position, but were promoted after two cars ahead received five-second post-race penalties for different reasons.

The No. 35 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo driven by Henrique Chaves and Mateo Villagomez was penalized for not having a wheel flat on the ground during a pitstop.

Meanwhile, Alessio Rovera’s No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari was found to have gained a lasting advantage by exceeding track limits at Graham Hill Bend.

As a result, the two cars were demoted to 18th and 19th in the final results, respectively.

The overall top ten was completed by the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG of Aurelien Panis and Cesar Gazeau, who won Silver Cup in the process.

Initially, the French pairing appeared to also have been swept up in the FCY penalties as the No. 99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Alex Aka and Ezequiel Perez Companc was declared the class winner.

However, the final results published on Sunday evening show the No. 10 Mercedes-AMG classified one spot ahead of the No. 99 Audi, which finished the race in eleventh overall.

RESULTS: Race 2