Faultless performance for the Lusitanian pair in Race 1

Benucci-Balzan (Villorba Corse), excellent second ahead of the other Ferrari of

Rugolo-Lathouras (AF Corse), third after great fight

Barreiros-Rasmussen (AF Corse) win in GT-Am

Top GT Cup honours for the Radicals of Abbott-Nouri and Unzurrunzaga

Álvaro Parente and Miguel Ramos took a well-deserved first win of the season at Silverstone, at the wheel of the McLaren 650S of Teo Martín Motorsport, the Spanish team that came back to racing after two decades. The Lusitanian duo put on a perfect race, with Parente taking the pole and dominating first stint, and Miguel Ramos compensating the handicap in his stint and re-taking the lead up to the flag, ahead of the Villorba Ferrari of Alessandro Balzan-Nicola Benucci, excellent second. Ramos-Parente are now first in the provisional standings by 7 points, ahead of Michele Rugolo-Pasin Lathouras (AF Corse Ferrari), today third after winning a lively fight for the last spot on the podium. 

Filipe Barreiros-Mads Rasmussen (AF Corse Ferrari) won in GT-Am, while the GT Open Cup honours were for the Radicals RXC of James Abott-Shahin Nouri (Pro-am) and Rafael Unzurrunzaga (Am). 

THE RACE – In windy and sunny conditions, excellent start for poleman Parente, ahead of Balzan, Barba, Giammaria, Russo, Lathouras, Balfe and Abbott.  Parente pulls away but without building a huge gap on Balzan while Barba gets under threat from Giammaria after a couple of laps. They are joined by Russo to form a lively trio. Twenty minutes into the race, Parente has a 6-second advantage on Balzan, with a similar gap behind the Villorba car. Barba is third, having now managed to put some ground between him and the duo Giammaria-Russo, with the Argentine pressing hard on the Italian.Lathouras is sixth ahead of Balfe and Rasmussen, who leads among GT-Am cars. 

Lap 15 sees the beginning of driver changes, with Lathouras and Abbott stopping first. After all have stopped, Benucci leads with 13” over Ramos, then 13 seconds further back are Companc, Nebylitskiy, Keen and Rugolo in full fight. First change in that group comes when Rugolo passes Keen (lap 23), while the battle continues. On lap 27, the advantage of Benucci is less than 6 seconds, while one lap later, Rugolo eventually manages to pass Nebylitskiy, with a nice move on the outside at the esses.

In lap 32, Ramos passes Benucci to take the lead and cruise to victory. The closing phases see Rugolo taking third from Companc and Keen passing Nebylitskiy, whose car stops in the straight in the very last lap.  

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER RACE  5 OF 14

Overall: 1. Ramos-Parente, 78; 2. Lathouras-Rugolo, 71; 3. Benucci-Balzan, 62; 4. Giammaria-Companc, 54; 5.

López, 45; 6. Russo, 35; etc

GTS: 1. Ramos-Parente, 35; 2. Lathouras-Rugolo, 30; 3. Benucci-Balzan, 26; 4. Giammaria-Companc, 20; 5. López, 18; 6. Russo, 14; etc

GT-Am: 1.Sdanewitsch-Melnikov, 17; 2. Barreiros, 13; 3. Silva-Coimbra, 11; 4. Guedes, 8; 5. Rasmussen, 5. 

Teams GTS: 1. AF Corse, 53; 2. Teo Martín Motorsport, 35; 3. Villorba Corse, 26; 4. Baporo Motorsport, 18; 5.

Balfe Motorsport, 12;