GTWC Europe, BMW wins at Paul Ricard against Lamborghini. Top5 for Rossi

Max Hesse/Dan Harper/Augusto Farfus they win in the first test of Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup al Paul Ricard. Employees #998 Of ROWE Competition e BMW to celebrate before arriving Matteo Cairoli/Mirko Bortolotti/Andrea Caldarelli (Iron Lynx Lamborghini #63) e Jules Gounon/Fabian Schiller/Luca Stolz (Mercedes-AMG GetSpeed ​​Team #2). Up5 for BMW M4 GT3 #46 Of Maxime Martin/Raffaele Marciello/Valentino Rossi.

The first part of the race was more exciting than before with the intervention of three Safety Cars due to problems on the track. Most notable was the third retirement of the #32 WRT BMW M4 GT3 handed to Charles Weerts after contact in the first sector of the track with the #51 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessio Rovera.

Mirko Bortolotti (Iron Lynx Lamborghini #63) e Ayhancan Güven (Schumacher CLRT Porsche #22) held first and second place in the first sixty minutes close to Augusto Farfus (ROWE Racing BMW #998) and Maxime Martin (WRT BMW #46).

Andrea Caldarelli tried to continue what Bortolotti did in the middle part of the eventthe former champion of the division held the lead also thanks to the trouble and Dorian Boccolacci. In fact, the Porsche #22 lost the position after 1 hour of the battle following a fault in the pits that was properly approved (the cable was left on the Teutonic car after restarting from the garage).

Top 10 of the time, however, for BMW M4 GT3 #46 with Valentino Rossi at the wheel.. The MotoGP legend left few places on the restart, the ‘Doctor’ somehow managed to stay in the first part of the grid before handing over the wheel to Raffaele Marciello.

With 1 hour and 20 minutes remaining, the Lamborghini #63 of Iron Lynx handed the lead to the BMW #998 of ROWE Racing. Andrea Caldarelli he bowed down And HarperThe Italian tried in every way to challenge the reigning champion of the British GT Championship.

The last hour did not change the cards on the table with Max Hesse who refused to return to Matteo Cairoli. The official German BMW Motorsport driver beat the former Nuerburgring 24-hour winner from Como, the pair finishing in the Mercedes #2 variant presented by the GetSpeed ​​team.

Rutronik Racing Porsche #96 finished fourth ahead of Valentino Rossi #46 BMW M4 GT3. Raffaele Marciello was very quick at the end to climb back into the Top5, the Italian and Swiss start the season in the best possible way in the company of regular contenders. Maxime Martin.

Tresor Attempto Racing Audi #99, Comtoyou Racing Aston #7, Pure Rxcing Porsche #911, AF Corse Ferrari #51 and Proton Competition Ford #64 completed the first half of the grid after three hours of contention at Le Castellet.

Next GTWC Europe event at Brands Hatch for the first Sprint race of the season. The Endurance Cup, however, will return to the fore in June for the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Spa, a circuit that is also valid again for the Intercontinental GT Challenge.