• Feller and Buus prevail thanks to stellar pit stop from #80 Porsche crew
• Lismont and Montenegro win Silver and bag overall podium for Team WRT
• Rougier and Kell impress with Gold victory for CSA Racing
• Paradine takes Bronze honours thanks to Leung and Farfus
FINAL RESULT: MAGNY-COURS RACE 2
Lionspeed GP put its Sprint Cup title assault back on course with victory in the weekend's second GT World Challenge powered by AWS race at Magny-Cours.
Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus snatched the win thanks to another lightning-fast pit stop from their crew, which helped the #80 Porsche to jump from fourth to first during the pit window after spending the opening phase behind Christopher Haase in the #84 Eastalent Racing Audi.
Nicki Thiim started from pole in the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin, but the Dane almost immediately incurred a 10-second penalty for jumping the start. This looked set to benefit the #59 Garage 59 McLaren, which ran a close second throughout the first stint with Marvin Kirchhöfer at the wheel.
The lead duo pulled a big gap to third-placed Haase, giving the McLaren plenty of margin for its stop. But the course of the race was changed by a red flag, which was caused by a frightening accident for defending Bronze Cup champion Dustin Blattner. The #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari recieved contact from class rival Rinat Salikhov approaching the Adelaide hairpin, sending the Ferrari into the inside wall and then across the gravel bed. Blattner was subsequently taken to hospital for checks.
The accident resulted in considerable damage to the barriers, bringing out the red flag to allow track workers to carry out repairs, while the pit window was also delayed. The race restarted behind the safety car, wiping out the leaders' gap to the chasing pack.
This played directly into the hands of Lionspeed GP. Not for the first time this year, the team produced a fantastic stop as Feller handed the controls to Buus. Indeed, their crew was a second faster than anyone else, making significant gains over the #59 McLaren and the #84 Audi.
The outcome was that Buus took over at the head of the order. He was followed by the Silver Cup leader, Matisse Lismont, who had taken the #30 Team WRT BMW from Ignacio Montenegro and benefitted from a stellar Team WRT pit stop to emerge in P2 overall. The #50 AF Corse Ferrari ran third, followed by Rutronik Racing's Lamborghini.
The delayed pit window resulted in a shortened second stint, but there was still time for an excellent battle for the final step on the podium. After a difficult start with its new car, Lamborghini appeared to turn a corner today as Patric Niederhauser ran well during the opening phase before handing over to Luca Engstler in P4. The German driver was not satisfied with this, however, and put a brilliant move on Thomas Neubauer in the #50 Ferrari.
Buus brought the #80 Porsche home for the overall win, which may prove to be very significant given the difficulties experienced by Lionspeed's chief title rivals. Lismont finished second overall to secure another Silver Cup triumph, putting himself and Montenegro within touching distance of their class title. It was all smiles among the top three as Engstler came home third, giving the Lamborghini Temerario its first-ever GT World Challenge podium.
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He was followed by the #50 Ferrari and the #84 Audi, while the #111 CSA Racing McLaren was fifth and victorious in the Gold Cup class. Arthur Rougier ran the opening stint before James Kell took over, the Englishman resisting pressure from Dean MacDonald in the #59 Garage 59 entry during the latter stages.
In the Bronze Cup, Paradine Competition earned it first class win of the year thanks to Darren Leung and Augusto Farfus. The #991 BMW was a podium challenger from the start and moved to the head of the order when the #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG was handed a 20-second penalty for its earlier collision with the #74 Ferrari.
Saturday night's winning #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing machine was only eighth on Sunday after a delayed pit stop, while the #48 Winward Racing entry was 19th after an even slower service. The #32 Team WRT BMW also endured a race to forget. Having initially qualified on pole, Kelvin van der Linde lost all his lap times due to a technical infraction, sending the car to the rear of the 44-car grid. He initially made rapid progress but ultimately retired following contact.
GT World Challenge powered by AWS now takes a four-week summer break before returning to action with an Endurance Cup race at the Nürburgring on 28–30 August. The next appointment on the Sprint Cup calendar will take place at Zandvoort, which welcomes the series for another pair of 60-minute races on 18–20 September.