A gripping finish at the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup round in Le Castellet saw the decision made only in the final minutes. Around ten minutes before the end, Nicki Thiim took the lead after passing Lucas Auer in the fast Signes corner following a small mistake by the Austrian.
Together with Marco Sörensen and Mattia Drudi, Thiim secured overall victory for Comtoyou Racing. Despite a tyre failure in the early stages, the team managed to fight its way back through the race and ultimately claim its second win of the season.
The WINWARD Racing trio of Lucas Auer, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz had to settle for second place after a long dominant performance. The team led for large parts of the six-hour race but lost the decisive advantage in the closing stages. At the finish, the gap was just 0.806 seconds.
Third place went to Thomas Fleming, Louis Prette and Benjamin Goethe in the Garage 59 McLaren, who also secured victory in the Gold Cup.
The race began turbulently: even before the first corner, a collision involving several cars occurred. Among others, the Porsche of Robin Knutsson was heavily damaged, although the driver remained uninjured. Additional cars were also affected, resulting in an early safety car phase.
As the race progressed, several incidents and retirements followed. Among them, the Lionspeed GP Porsche had to retire due to steering issues, while other teams were able to return to the race after repairs.
Around 45 minutes before the end of the race, the field was neutralised again after a car came to a stop on track.
Top 10 overview:
- Drudi / Sörensen / Thiim – Comtoyou Racing – Aston Martin
- Auer / Engel / Stolz – WINWARD Racing – Mercedes-AMG
- Fleming / Prette / Goethe – Garage 59 – McLaren
- Weerts / van der Linde / Pepper – WRT – BMW
- Loake / MacDonald / Kirchhöfer – Garage 59 – McLaren
- Farfus / Dennis / Marciello – ROWE Racing – BMW
- Schiller / Götz / Martin – GetSpeed – Mercedes-AMG
- Schuring / Boccolacci / Picariello – Boutsen VDS – Porsche
- Kell / Rougier / Gachet – CSA Racing – McLaren
- Lulham / Juncadella / Gounon – Verstappen Racing – Mercedes-AMG