GT World Challenge powered by AWS continued a busy month of May last weekend (17/18 May) when Zandvoort staged the second round of the Sprint Cup campaign. This followed just a few days after the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa Prologue, with teams swapping the rolling Ardennes Forest for the sand dunes of the North Sea coastline.
It marked a popular return to the Dutch venue. Absent from the 2024 calendar, Zandvoort was back with a bang thanks to a huge 41-car field, which was bolstered by the addition of the Bronze Cup class. It was a hit with the public, too, attracting a superb turnout of spectators across the weekend.
The event continued a remarkably competitive start to the Sprint Cup season, which has already produced 13 different winners from a possible 14 across all four classes. This is the Final Word on Zandvoort’s Sprint Cup comeback.
Rutronik Racing won the opening contest with its #96 Porsche. The key moment came at the start, when Patric Niederhauser passed the #25 Saintéloc Racing Audi for second place. With a Bronze Cup car leading overall – and subject to a minimum pit stop time – Rutronik could afford to hold station. After a rapid service, Sven Müller assumed the lead and was untroubled during the second stint.
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Race 2 went to Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde in the #32 Team WRT BMW. This was primarily thanks to a 48.25-second pit stop, comfortably the fastest of the weekend. It gave Weerts his 17th win in Sprint, just two shy of the all-time record held by his former co-driver Dries Vanthoor.
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Weerts and Van der Linde lead the Sprint Cup standings despite having an average qualifying position of 11th across the opening four races. They will feel confident of improving on that record next time out at Misano (18–20 July), a track at which Team WRT has traditionally dominated.
Four different teams have won the opening four races in Sprint, matching the record set in 2019. Given that Emil Frey Racing, Garage 59 and Grasser Racing have all finished on the podium this year, a fifth different winner at Misano is entirely possible.
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After a weekend to forget at Brands Hatch, Grasser Racing was back to its best at Zandvoort. The #63 Lamborghini finished as runner-up in Race 1 and third in Race 2, though with a faster pit stop it is very likely that Jordan Pepper and Luca Engstler would have won the second contest. Nevertheless, they are back in the Sprint Cup title fight ahead of Lamborghini’s home event.
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Lorens Lecertua and Ivan Klymenko were the breakout stars at Zandvoort. Lecertua impressed by setting the fastest lap of anyone in Race 1 and qualified the #25 Saintéloc Racing Audi a brilliant P5 overall for Race 2. The Belgian was running at the same pace as the leaders during his stint, while Klymenko soaked up immense pressure to secure P2 overall. Lecertua is still just 18, while Klymenko turned 20 earlier this month.
Garage 59 banked another strong points haul by finishing sixth in Race 1 and fourth in Race 2. The McLaren squad’s Pro car has scored points in 14 successive Sprint Cup races, stretching back to the final round of the 2023 season. Benjamin Goethe has been part of the driver strength throughout this run.
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In terms of overall results, Emil Frey Racing left Zandvoort frustrated. The Swiss squad is always fast at this circuit and was running one-two in Race 2 only for penalties to remove both of its cars from the hunt for victory. Race 1 also ended in disappointment for the #14 Ferrari, which was eliminated by an opening-lap collision.
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While they didn’t bank any points towards the overall Sprint Cup standings, the #69 Emil Frey Racing crew of Thierry Vermeulen and Chris Lulham scored Gold Cup honours in Race 2 and were runners-up in the first contest. With three pole positions and two wins from the opening quartet of races, they have established a lead of 18.5 points at the top of the class standings.
Saintéloc Racing won the opening Gold Cup contest with its #25 Audi. Gilles Magnus qualified on class pole and second overall before handing over to Paul Evrard, who brought the car home in an excellent fourth position. This represents the Magnus-Evrard pairing’s best overall finish in Sprint.
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The Silver Cup is extremely competitive this term. Four crews have won the opening four races, while the top three are separated by just 1.5 points. Saintéloc Racing stole the headlines at Zandvoort, but Tresor Attempto Racing was the top scorer as the #99 Audi of Alex Aka and Ezequiel Perez Companc triumphed in Race 1 and was runner-up in Race 2.
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Boutsen VDS remains on top with its #10 Mercedes-AMG pairing of Aurélien Panis and Cesar Gazeau, though they are just half a point clear of Aka-Perez Companc and 1.5 clear of Lecertua-Klymenko. The #10 Mercedes-AMG scored solid points at Zandvoort, finishing second in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2.
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The all-Dutch pairing of Maxime Oosten and Mex Jansen were able to celebrate a popular Silver Cup podium on home soil by taking third in Race 2. Indeed, the #992 Paradine Competition BMW enjoyed an excellent Sunday, qualifying 14th overall and coming home seventh.
The Bronze Cup began its Sprint campaign at Zandvoort. The class made its presence felt on Saturday, with three cars qualifying in the overall top 10. Race 1 marked the first time since Misano 2021 without a Pro car starting on the front row of the grid.
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Bastian Buus was the star of the opening contest, bagging overall pole in his first-ever Sprint Cup qualifying session and then cooly leading the opening phase of the race. He handed over to Bashar Mardini, who also ran well on his Sprint debut to bring the car home for victory. Sprint newcomer Lionspeed GP could not have dreamed of a better start.
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The #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari enjoyed another fine weekend. It was facing the wrong way at the start of Race 1, but Dennis Marschall and Dustin Blattner produced a brilliant recovery to finish third. The American then secured pole for Race 2, setting the course for another win. Having also triumphed in the Endurance Cup opener, this crew looks formidable.
CSA Racing was quick all weekend with its #112 McLaren and finished as Bronze Cup runner-up in Race 2. This marked an excellent return to GT World Challenge competition for Isaac Tutumlu Lopez, who qualified second in class for Sunday’s contest. Arthur Rougier set the fastest race lap of the weekend, a 1m34.382s, which was just two tenths shy of the record time set by Jules Gounon in 2022.
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Last weekend’s event marked a return to the calendar for Zandvoort. It was a clear success, with a total spectator number of 21,615. This bodes especially well for the future, as it was the first of a three-year agreement between Circuit Zandvoort and SRO Motorsports Group. Next year’s event will be the 10th staged at the Dutch venue since the inaugural visit in 2013.
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After two Sprint events in quick succession, Endurance racing is now the primary focus. Monza hosts the next stop on the GT World Challenge calendar, with a three-hour contest scheduled for the weekend of 31 May/1 June. Then it’s time for the big one: the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa will stage its 77th edition on 25–29 June.
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The Sprint Cup resumes at Misano on 18–20 July. Tickets for this and other GT World Challenge Europe events, including the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, can be found here.