- Second Endurance Cup and overall consecutive title wins for AKKODIS ASP Team
- Gold Cup: Winward Racing with a pair of class podium results and runner-up spot in final standings
- Further championship decisions in Sprint finale at Circuit Zandvoort in two weeks
With a strategically clever and a faultless performance in the final Endurance Cup round of the season, AKKODIS ASP Team has won the Endurance cup and overall drivers’ and teams’ titles in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS. At Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Timur Boguslavskiy (FIA), Jules Gounon (AND) and Raffaele Marciello (SUI) avoided any unnecessary risks with the #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and secured fifth place overall after three hours. As a result, both the French team led by team principal Jérôme Policand (FRA), who also celebrated his 59th birthday this Sunday, and Performance Drivers Gounon and Marciello managed to defend their title wins from the previous year.
Mercedes-AMG customer sports teams in contention for eight championship titles
Prior to the event, the seven Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Teams had set themselves high goals for the final Endurance Cup race weekend. After all, there were still eight championship wins within reach: both the drivers’ and teams’ titles in the Endurance Cup and overall, in the Gold Cup and in the Bronze standings. The AKKODIS ASP Team with Boguslavskiy, Gounon and Marciello had the best perspective with an advantage of 15 and 18 points in the respective overall standings. Winward Racing (Gold) and Haupt Racing Team (Bronze) both had to beat their direct rivals to keep their chances of winning the title alive.
On Saturday, the eleven Mercedes-AMG GT3s already proved to be competitive in the record field of 54 cars. In pre-qualifying, Luca Stolz (GER) managed to post the fastest lap time of the session (1m 41.075s) with the #777 Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar entry. The #87 Mercedes-AMG Team AKKODIS ASP car and the #88 sister car followed in second and fourth place respectively.
With these positive results in mind, the goal for the Mercedes-AMG Teams was to secure a promising starting grid position for the race during the three-part qualifying session on Sunday morning. In the second segment, Jules Gounon managed to post an impressive lap time of 1m 39.017s, the fastest time achieved all weekend. Classified fourth, the #777 Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar car ended up as the best-placed Mercecdes-AMG GT3. The second Performance Car, the #87 Mercedes-AMG Team AKKODIS ASP entry, started from P5, the #88 car took on the race from ninth place on the grid. Winward Racing qualified in fourth and sixth place in Gold Cup, the #79 Haupt Racing Team car claimed fifth place in the Bronze class.
AKKODIS ASP Team sets the course for the title win at an early stage
Raffaele Marciello made up several positions with the #88 car at the start and was running in fourth place after the opening stage, ahead of his sixth-placed AKKODIS ASP teammate Thomas Drouet (FRA) in the #87 car. With these positions, AKKODIS ASP Team set the course to achieve its goal of the teams’ and drivers’ title wins at an early stage.
Some contact in the midfield and various debris on track caused three consecutive full-course yellows after a little less than half an hour. Most teams used the final one for their first driver changes. Having taken over the #88 car from Raffaele Marciello, Timur Boguslavskiy was third as he started his stint and skillfully defended his position on the track. The AKKODIS ASP Team decided to make a late second pit stop on the #88, leaving final driver Jules Gounon in fifth position.
Two further safety car interventions due to an oil leak slightly calmed down the action and initially prevented further position changes. Jules Gounon then did not dare to overtake again and brought home a commanding fifth place. With this result, the AKKODIS ASP team with Boguslavskiy, Gounon and Marciello was crowned drivers’ and teams’ champion for the second time in a row - both in the Endurance Cup and, with one round remaining, also in the combined overall standings. Marciello had already won both drivers' titles in 2022.
Unfortunate penalty costs Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar overall win
With the #777 Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar car, Maro Engel (GER) got his race off to a good start as well, working up his way up into third place on the opening lap. Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar executed a quick and faultless stop during the Full Course Yellow, allowing Fabian Schiller (GER) to return to the track as the leader of the race. Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver Fabian Schiller subsequently showed a commanding performance with the #777 car and led the field throughout his stint.
After a little under two hours, he brought his Mercedes-AMG GT3 in with a margin of around six seconds to hand over to final driver Luca Stolz. Just before the second restart, race control imposed a five-second time penalty on the race-leading #777 car due to a collision at the start. The remaining ten minutes in regular racing conditions weren’t enough for Luca Stolz to build up an advantage that was sufficient. Taking the time penalty into account, Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar was classified fourth.
Gold Cup: Winward Racing celebrates double podium and runner-up championship
Winward Racing's two Mercedes-AMG GT3s also benefited from the FCY phases and started the middle stint in second (#157) and third (#57) place in the gold classification. The team concluded the race in second and third place of the Gold Cup classification and jointly holds the lead in the teams’ standings in its class as result. However, based on a lower number of class wins, Winward Racing ends up in runner-up position of the final drivers’ and teams’ standings. The #79 Haupt Racing Team entry also just missed out on the title in the Bronze category. With fourth place in class, the team still secured runner-up position in both championships. A class podium was also celebrated by GetSpeed's #2, which finished third in the Pro-AM classification.
For the first time since 2018, the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe will not be concluded with an endurance race this year. Circuit Zandvoort will be hosting the two final point-scoring races of the Sprint Cup on 14th and 15th October. Here, the AKKODIS ASP Team is leading the teams’ and drivers’ standings with Boguslavskiy and Marciello prior to the season finale as well. Moreover, Haupt Racing Team is in contention for both Sprint Cup titles in the Silver standings with Jordan Love (AUS).
Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series: Runner-up spots for Madpanda Motorsport and Winward Racing
On Saturday, the Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series season finale took place as part of the support programme. In the one-hour race at the virtual Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Alexey Nesov (BUL) ended up second in the Silver Cup for Madpanda Motorsport. With the four points that came as a result, the Spanish customer sports team secured runner-up spot in its class. At the same time, Winward Racing ended up as runner-up in the Gold Cup, Marius Zug (GER) having finished fourth in his class with the virtual #157 Mercedes-AMG GT3.
“I am overjoyed for AKKODIS ASP Team to have won the championship with Timur, Jules and Raffaele in such a thrilling finale and at such a great track. It was a very complicated race with many interruptions. With a little bit more luck, Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar could have finished the season with a race win today as well, which certainly would have been deserved. Many thanks to our customer sports and Performance Teams that have done an outstanding job throughout the season. It is nice to see that our Mercedes-AMG GT3 is competitive across all classes.”
Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing
“At the final restart, it was a bit slippery and I got quite a bit of pressure from behind, but we didn’t let that get to us and we have done a fantastic job as a team. Winning the world’s biggest GT championship twice in a row is a remarkable achievement. Many thanks to AKKODIS ASP Team and Mercedes-AMG for making this success possible. Today, once again, I was very happy with our car. And at the end of the day, fifth place was enough for us.”
Jules Gounon, AKKODIS ASP Team #88
“I enjoyed my stint a lot. I had a good start and the odd successful duel. My goal was to make up as many positions as possible. After that, the team and my teammates have shown a super performance. Now, I am just happy that we have won the championship, and that for the second time, no less. But the season isn’t over just yet. I still want to win in Sprint Cup, too.”
Raffaele Marciello, AKKODIS ASP Team #88
“Not having made any mistakes was key for us today. In these conditions, we got the maximum out of it. Huge thanks to Mercedes-AMG for having developed such a strong car. Thanks also to my teammates who were quick again. We won the championship and that makes me very happy.”
Timur Boguslavskiy, AKKODIS ASP Team #88
“Having won these titles in Endurance Cup for the second time in a row is a great feeling. Last year, we were fighting for the championship until the final lap. This time, we were able to control and manage the race a bit more. All in all, the weekend was very successful. I am proud of Timur, Raffaele and Jules, the way they brought it home today. First and foremost, however, I want to thank my team and Mercedes-AMG who have done a fantastic job throughout the season.”
Jérôme Policand, team principal AKKODIS ASP Team
“I feel particularly sorry for my teammates and Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar who have all done a super job and have won the race on track. The unfortunate contact at the start was my fault, the penalty was justified, sadly. However, it wasn’t on purpose, of course, such things just happen sometimes. Apologies at this point to our competitors. That we got the penalty at such a late stage and behind the safety car is annoying. As a result, we didn’t have any time left to build up an according advantage. That is what cost us victory today.”
Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar #777
“Congratulations to the team on winning the championship. Also to the guys in the #88 car who became the deserving Endurance champions. It is nice that we were able to contribute to the teams’ title win a bit. Even though we were always quick, we had a difficult year, all in all. However, the AKKODIS ASP Team has done a great job. Now, we will celebrate the team.”
Maximilian Götz, Mercedes-AMG Team AKKODIS ASP #87
“We had quite a good day. We can definitely be happy with runner-up spot in class. In the first stint, I was able to make up a couple of places. Because of the first stop, we then moved up even further. Thanks to the crew for that. Unfortunately, we haven’t managed to secure the drivers’ title.”
David Schumacher, Winward Racing #157
“It was a demanding race. We had a good start, but we lost a lot of time during the pit stop. We worked our way back up to fourth place again, but sadly, it wasn’t enough to win the title. Too bad, of course, after having worked that hard all year long. It was close, but at the end, just runner-up spot is what it is.”
Arjun Maini, Haupt Racing Team #79
