Blancpain GT Series: Celebration for GRT and Akka ASP at Hungaroring

GRT Grasser Racing Team and Akka ASP clinched victories in two races of the fourth round of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup at Hungaroring.

The winners of Saturday’s race were Mirko Bortolotti and Christian Engelhart in the #63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3. On Sunday, Raffaele Marciello and Michael Meadows won the race in the #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3.

On Saturday, Engelhart and Bortolotti scored their second Sprint Cup win of the season after starting from the fifth place on the grid, behind three Mercedes cars of Akka ASP and one Audi of Team WRT. In the end, two Akka ASP crews finished on the podium, with Marciello/Meadows taking the second place and Nico Jamin/Denis Bulatov finishing third. Twenty-two cars participated in the race.

Alex Riberas crashed out early in the #1 Audi R8 LMS, what was a significant moment because the #1 Audi crew was leading before the race both in the Sprint Cup and overall Blancpain GT Series standings.

Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup Hungaroring race 1 winners

Mirko Bortolotti and Christian Engelhart after Saturday’s victory

On Sunday, Marciello and Meadows converted their pole position into their first victory in 2018, leading for 28 laps from start to chequered flag. The race started in rainy conditions behind the Safety Car. When the green flag waved Marciello pulled away and never looked back.

The podium was completed by two Audi crews. The #25 Audi R8 LMS of Sainteloc Racing finished second, driven by Christopher Haase and Simon Gachet. The #66 Audi of Attempto Racing, which started 14th, finished in the third place driven by Kelvin van der Linde and Steijn Schothorst.

The championship contenders Alex Riberas and Chris Mies finished fourth in the #1 Audi, leaving widely opened a fight for the championship victory which will end for two weeks at Nurburgring, with four drivers from two crews being equal in points.