All to race for in final race of season for R-Motorsport

Saturday, September 07, 2019

If chasing down a five point deficit to claim an ultimate class title was difficult enough at the best of times, then Mother Nature's added mix of heavy rain at todays penultimate race of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe just added to the mix as Swiss team R-Motorsport took the conclusion of the Silver Cup Championship to the final round tomorrow.

Having spent most of the weekend so far in Hungary under clear skies and warm sunshine, todays heavy rainfall just after Qualifying was in start contrast and added an entirely different perspective on todays one hour race for all twenty eight cars.

With the team's Pro class #76 car of Ricky Collard and Marvin Kirchhofer having Qualified in P4 for todays race, all eyes were rightfully upon their #62 pairing of Aaro Vainio and Hugo De Sadeleer who were (before todays results) just 5.5pts off the Championship lead as the Safety Car led the field off into the gloom of todays race.

Things could have really taken a twist today after the pole setting AKKA Mercedes crew of Nico Bastian and Thomas Neubauer initially dropped back into the pack during the opening stages of the race with the R-Motorsport/Arden crew then dispatching their #62 out into the class lead after the stop.

With a faster and more stable car beneath him, Bastian was soon able to claw back the gap to the #62 of De Sadeleer and (cruelly) passed him on the very last lap for the class win and to claim the Silver Cup Team title in the process. The #76 Pro car would ultimately finish behind their stable mate in P10 in order to maximise the points potential of the #62 car.

With 16.5 points still available in tomorrows race, all is still possible for any of the top three crews in the Silver Cup class with just eleven points separating them from first (AKKA ASP Mercedes) to third (R-Motorsport).