Grasser Racing drivers Christian Engelhart and Mirko Bortolotti were crowned champions of the Blancpain GT Series with a podium finish at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The AKKA-ASP Mercedes squad won the three-hour season finale with Tristan Vautier, Felix Serralles and Daniel Juncadella, while third was enough for the Grasser Lamborghini squad to earn the crown, which combines results with the affiliated Sprint Cup.
Bortolotti and Engelhart were also joined by Andrea Caldarelli in winning the BGTS Endurance Cup after claiming victory in the opening two races.
Championship rival Vincent Abril, along with Andy Soucek and Maxime Soulet, had his challenge ended by a mechanical issue for the #8 Bentley Continental GT3.
Soucek was running behind the Lamborghini at the race's mid point when he reported a loss of power, before pulling into the M-Sport team's garage.
That gifted the title to the Grasser crew, with Bortolotti safely bringing the #63 Huracan GT3 home to confirm its status.
In the race, Vautier held off a late charge from Robin Frijns in the leading WRT Audi R8 LMS to claim victory by seven tenths of a second.
Frijns' team-mate Stuart Leonard started from pole, but dropped to third when he made a mistake exiting the tight turn 10 left-hander.
The brief moment allowed Marcel Fassler (#5 WRT Audi) and Franck Perera (#84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes) to sneak through and turn their battle for second into the fight for the lead.
The race-winning Mercedes entered the fray during the first round of pit stops, when a quick service from the AKKA-ASP mechanics launched it ahead.
Engelhart, meanwhile, dropped to ninth during the opening stint, but the Grasser crew recovered the lost ground through Caldarelli and Bortolotti.
The Lamborghini was already on course to take both drivers' titles, with the Bentley running on the fringes of the top 10 after starting 28th, before the mechanical issue took hold.
The M-Sport squad did win the BGTS Endurance Cup teams' trophy, however, based on the best results across both Continental GT3 entries.
As Bortolotti completed the podium, Maximilian Buhk moved the HTP Mercedes up to fourth with a late overtake on Adam Christodoulou, driving the identical Black Falcon car.
Other Mercedes entries from HTP and AKKA-ASP finished sixth and seventh respectively.
In the Pro-Am category, Patrick Kujala, Hunter Abbott and Martin Kodric took the win in their Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini, while Rinaldi Racing claimed Am Cup honours.
The Pro-Am championship had already gone the way of Oman Aston Martin drivers Jonny Adam and Ahmad Al-Harthy at the 24 Hours of Spa in July.






Discussion about this post