GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG Snatches Win in Portimao

The GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG claimed its first victory of the year in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season finale at Portimao.

The No. 17 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Ralf Aron, Fabian Schiller and Maximilian Götz triumphed in the three-hour contest after overcutting the leading Porsches in a pitstop towards the midpoint of the race.

The Pro class Mercedes-AMG crossed the line with a respectable margin of 5.062 seconds to the No. 80 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Boutsen VDS’s No. 2 Porsche completed the podium in third after a race-long battle with the Lionspeed team.

Having started the race in second, the GetSpeed crew initially lost ground with Götz trailing the leading pair of Porsches. The polesitting No. 2 Boutsen car of Alessio Picariello held a narrow advantage over Thomas Preining in the Lionspeed Porsche for the entirety of the opening hour.

It was GetSpeed which benefitted most from the first set of pit stops as the German team decided to pit one lap after the leaders.

The duo of Pro class Porsches were embroiled in a tense battle on their out-lap. This slowed their pace and allowed GetSpeed to overcut them and inherit the net lead heading into the second hour.

Aron, who takes yet another win after his return to racing following a crash at the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour in February, extended this lead throughout the stint as his rivals continued to duel behind him.

At the same time, the pair of Porsches were put under pressure by the No. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. The Garage 59 entry had run an unassuming race in the opening hour, but driver Joseph Loake put in a remarkable mid-race stint with a handful of gutsy overtakes into Turn 1.

The British driver moved his McLaren into the podium positions by the time he handed over to Jack Hawksworth.

As darkness fell over the Portimao circuit, Aron’s healthy lead was decimated by a safety car period following a clash between the Porsches of Dinamic GT and Pure Rxcing.

When the cars took their final pit stops, Schiller held a narrow lead in the No. 17 GetSpeed machine. A second safety car deployment further condensed the field but – much like his teammate – Schiller capitalized on the tight battles behind him, managing to extend his advantage and lead the 61-car field to the chequered flag.

The Selected Car Racing crew claimed the Gold Cup victory in the best of the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evos. The No. 71 Ferrari commanded the race, leading its class from start to finish. It also crossed the line in fourth position overall.

However, the Gold Cup championship battle was won by the No. 998 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO after it finished second in class.

Team WRT grabbed the Silver Cup win with its No. 30 BMW, finishing in fifth overall.

The Belgian team also claimed the overall GTWC Europe teams’ title.

Despite its early pace, the Pro class No. 59 McLaren ended up sixth as Hawksworth lost time with a broken rear splitter during his final stint.

The No. 998 BMW finished seventh ahead of the No. 6 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG in eighth.

Max Verstappen’s much-anticipated GTWC Europe race debut appeared to have been somewhat curtailed before the four-time Formula One champion actually entered his car. The No. 3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG was slapped with a drive-through penalty when Chris Lulham made contact with the championship-winning No. 48 Winward Racing car.

This effectively forced the Verstappen crew to the rear of the field but the Dutchman mounted an impressive recovery to ninth at the flag.

AF Corse rounded out the top ten with its No. 50 Ferrari.

The Bronze Cup win went to the No. 222 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG, but it was the No. 87 Kessel Racing Ferrari squad which claimed the class championship.

Title rivals Paradine Competition looked as though it would take both the class win and the Bronze title, but its No. 991 BMW was slapped with a hefty penalty for an emergency pit stop infringement.

RESULTS: Race