Having seen the best of the weather in the morning Qualifying, the thirty-two strong grid was being formed as threateningly dark clouds built up in the not so far distance meaning that many crews elected for wet weather tyres even though the grid was then still dry.

Charging into the tight right hander for the first time, contact between two cars within the second half of the grid saw both make heavy contact with each other and the outer circuit wall where one erupted into a ball of flame as their fuel cell was ruptured before slewing across the track. Mercifully, neither driver was to receive significant injury, and both were able to self-extricate themselves from what was left of their cars, but the race was then destined for a prolonged Safety Car as the necessary clean-up operation and circuit repairs were made.

By this time the rain had arrived with a vengeance but within that half opening lap before the Safety Car was called, some had moved up the order before the yellow flags neutralised the race. With many hanging on with slicks until the pit window, others were to spin off in the conditions.

With the best Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 having qualified in P13 overall, it was to the be gold class #21 car of Matisse Lismont and David Pittard who would come out on top within the teams quartet of cars as by the time the Safety Car was withdrawn – there was little over five minutes of racing left.

Having lost the #11 car of James Jakes after the first lap (racing solo this weekend after his original co-driver was taken ill at a late stage to the weekend) and then the car developing an internal issue, both the #007 and #12 ended up in the gravel for some more heartache with another DNF apiece.

Eventually crossing the line P11 overall, a P3 podium position in Gold was a great reward for their efforts despite the briefest of racing periods.

Sundays finale was all togther different as the sun and the track temperatures eventually returned after something of a delayed start to the track programme due to poor visibility.

With the drivers this time reversed, race two would prove itself to be almost incident free and that allowed those who needed to race to win championships just that although another AMR Vantage GT3 wasn’t to be left out of that fun – although it was just for fun considering their season long turmoil with performance. With further BoP adjustments being made between races, this time the new Vantage GT3 Evo looked and was quick but that was something too little too late for their season aspirations.

Having had AMR driver Drudi run another faultless stint, it was done to Nicolas Baert to see off the unwanted attention of the Garbage 59 McLaren during the closing stages to finally seal that crews first podium finish of the year in second overall. The #21 crew were unable to make the final race weekend a double as they come home fourth in Gold whilst the #12 car of Dante Rappange and Lorens Lecertua this time did manage to finish the race fifth in silver whilst the solo driven #11 car was again another DNF with only a handful of laps completed.

That is now the Sprint Series completed – congratulations to all the new class Champions this time around as the series now looks ahead to its Endurance Cup conclusion way over in Saudi Arabia at the end of November.

Photo credits – Team / Series / social media

Preparing themselves for another of the events usual into the night races on Saturday, the writing was again already upon the wall for the team after the #007 car of Nicolas Baert and Mattia Drudi qualified a distant P20 overall whilst their #11 Gold class entry of Sebastian Ogaard and James Jakes was not too far behind them in P24 and the #21 Silver entry of Matisse Lismont and David Pittard the next row back again. The teams fourth entry, that of the #12 silver class of Lorens Lecertua and Dante Rappange would start P30 of a thirty-two strong entry.

Reminiscent of the early round from Misano to say the least.

The competitive nature of the grid, the complexities of the circuit with a car that was not necessarily performing who it was first designed saw the #11 car fall by the wayside during the race, the #007 move up the order slightly to achieve a P15 overall and P9 finish in class result but with the #12 and #21 cars finishing towards the back in P25 and P27 places overall and P7 in silver and P4 in gold respectively.

Then ahead of race two, it really did all wrong!

During the opening laps of Q2, both the #12 and #21 cars collided with each other at the final corner to bring out the red flag but with no real information or evidence into just what happened. None the less, both cars suffered opposing corner damage to one another (suggesting side to side contact) that unfortunately left both cars irreparable at the circuit in time for the race start.

That was then compounded by the #007 not getting away from the grid on the formation that resulted in three of their four cars being noted as non-starters on the timing screen. The only saving grace was that their #11 gold entry of OGaard and Jakes were this time able to complete the concluding hour-long race to claim a mid-table P15 overall and P4 finish in class.

The final race of the Sprint Cup will be from Barcelona in mid-October.

Photo credits – Teams / series / social media