+ Result: Race 1, Spa-Francorchamps
Ethan Gialdini and Mikkel Njor scored their first outright GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli victory in dominant fashion, controlling the opening race from pole in their CMR Ginetta G56 GT2.
Gialdini made an early break from a dramatic start to successfully build a gap big enough over the chasing Antoine Potty to overcome the extra compensation time the car would have to serve on its mandatory pit stop following a class win at Monza, allowing Njor to control the second half.
It may have taken almost a full calendar year, but Philippe Prette’s Masters class winning streak finally came to an end after a stunning solo performance from series returnee Shota Abkhazava, who brought his ART-Line Lamborghini home a superb third overall.
The race proved another strong display for the twin CMR Ginettas, with the sister car of Lawrence Tomlinson and Mike Simpson also converting its Pro-Am pole into a class victory, doubling the team’s joy.
Gialdini makes his escape
The odds looked stacked in the favour of Gialdini as the #3 Ginetta lined up on pole after the Frenchman’s dominant qualifying performance, but he needed more than a little luck to go his way with the car carrying an additional 10 seconds of compensation time on its stop.
He got it almost immediately, as the pack behind was scattered into La Source following contact that involved Ondrej Rokos’ fast-starting RTR Mercedes-AMG, Potty, Adrian Ferrer’s NM Racing Team car and Prette’s Maserati, which was shuffled wide and through the gravel.
The hit on Potty prevented him from getting the power down out of the corner, allowing Gialdini immediate breathing space. Within a handful of laps, the Ginetta enjoyed a comfortable advantage. The team’s decision to run Gialdini until the very final moments of the pit window proved the right one, allowing the leader to pump in flying laps in clean air before pitting for Njor and the car rejoining with a three-second gap back to Potty. From there it was job done as Njor extended the gap to secure the win over the rival Maserati.
The contact at the start also shuffled the fight for third, opening the door for Abkhazava to sneak through early. Once ahead, the Kazakh driver resisted heavy pressure from the recovering Ferrer, only losing the place briefly right before the pit window. However, with no compensation time to serve against the seven seconds for the #116 Mercedes-AMG, Abkhazava was able to complete his stop and rejoin ahead of Ferrer’s team-mate Branden Oxley. From there, Abkhazava was untouchable, running to a superb overall podium place.
Oxley’s hopes of attacking were ruined by a scary spin on the exit of Blanchimont, which allowed the Pro-Am leading Ginetta into the top four. Tomlinson held the class lead throughout the first half before a clean swap with Simpson set up CMR’s double, with the British driver holding off David Thilenius and Jay-Mo Härtling’s SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes-AMG by nine seconds. Oxley recovered to sixth.
Abkhazava’s victory may have wrecked Prette’s winning run, but the fact he still came home seventh overall and second in class after enduring a series of scrapes and dramas showed the resilience of the reigning champion.
After being hit wide at the start, Prette was then caught in a nasty incident with Rokos on the run toward Eau Rouge which turned the RTR Mercedes-AMG into the pitwall. While Rokos limped the car off the track, Prette continued, served his maximum compensation time and then blew past Oliver Freymuth’s AKF Lamborghini to complete a strong recovery to another class podium.
The race also featured a bizarre moment when the LP Racing Audi of Stefan Rosina attempted to pit after launching over a kerb at the final chicane, only for a driveshaft to break on pit entry, stranding Rosina and delaying several cars attempting to pit behind him until the marshals could push the Audi clear.
Race 2 takes place on Sunday Morning at 9:30.