Lorens Lecertua is making rapid strides in international GT racing. While discovering the Brands Hatch circuit this weekend, the 18-year-old Belgian secured his first pole position in the Silver Cup and, together with his teammate Ivan Klymenko, claimed his second podium finish of the year. This puts him at the top of the Silver Cup standings in the GT World Challenge Europe!
The GT World Challenge Europe, the benchmark competition for GT racing on the Old Continent, held its second round this weekend in southern England at the Brands Hatch circuit. Three weeks after the Endurance Cup, it was the Sprint Cup’s turn to take centre stage, with two one-hour races per weekend.
For drivers, Brands Hatch is a special place! This almost century-old track, which hosted Formula 1 several times in the last century, is an old-school circuit. “It is fast, bumpy and, above all, the run-off areas are not very large, which leaves little room for error,” explains Lorens Lecertua. “I almost learned that the hard way during free practice. I was caught out by a bump and went slightly onto the grass. The car went into a long slide and I grazed the safety rails. I was lucky… and I realised that a circuit like this commands respect.”
The message was received loud and clear! From that moment, the 18-year-old Belgian did not put a foot wrong, and he never stopped impressing. In the first qualifying session, he even set the fastest time of all the Silver Cup competitors (the class for young professionals and semi-professionals). “It is my first pole position in the class,” he smiled. “In the highly competitive GT World Challenge field, I finished 12th overall and was the first Audi driver. The team was happy… and so was I!”
Nevertheless, the first race did not bring the desired result. “The starts in this championship are incredibly tense,” continued the driver of the Saintéloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. “In the second corner, I was on the outside and was pushed off the track by an opponent. I lost seven places in one go! Not only is this a track where overtaking is virtually impossible, I was then stuck behind slower opponents who were working hard to defend their positions.”
Finally finishing 5th in the Silver Cup, Lorens Lecertua and his Ukrainian teammate Ivan Klymenko took their revenge a few hours later by taking third place in the Silver Cup at the end of the second race. “This is our second podium finish in the class, after the one we achieved in the Endurance Cup at the Circuit Paul Ricard,” recalls Lorens. “In the overall championship, which combines the Sprint Cup and the Endurance Cup, we are now in the lead! But it is only the start of the season and we need to keep cool heads.”
However, the next few weeks will be very busy for Lorens Lecertua! On Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 May 2025, he will take part in the Prologue of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. “We will have two days of preparation for the world’s biggest GT race, which will be taking place from 25 to 29 June 2025,” says the driver from Sart-Bernard, near Assesse. “Then I will head straight to Zandvoort in the Netherlands for the second round of the Sprint Cup, scheduled for 16 to 18 May 2025. The aim will be to get back on the podium once more!”