British pair conquers Race 2 after last lap drama between Garage59’s sister car of West and Lazarus Lambo of CrestaniGreat second for the Drivex Audi of Campaniço-Saravia whileCrestani-Biagi salvage thirdSilva-Coimbra (Sports&You Mercedes) repeat GT-Am win
Garage59 took its maiden win in the International GT Open, but last-minute drama with the leading McLaren 650S of Alexander West colliding in the last lap with Fabio Crestani’s Lambo gave an unexpected win to the other 650S of Michael Benham and Duncan Tappy. Excellent second was the Drivex Audi R8 LMS ultra of César Campaniço-Andrés Saravia, while the Orange1 Team Lazarus Lambo of Crestani-Biagi managed to salvage third place.
In GT-Am, Luis Silva-António Coimbra (Sports&You Mercedes AMG) repeated victory ahead of Lémeret-Sdanewitsch (AF Corse Ferrari) and António Nogueira (Porsche 911R).
THE RACE - Poleman Estre pulls away at the start ahead of Yacamán, Castellucci, Biagi, Lémeret, Rodríguez and Saravia. Soon after, Castellacci takes second from Yacamán who loses contact and is challenged by Biagi and Lémeret, with the Lambo taking third in lap 7. Behind this group, Rodríguez is challenged by Saravia and Balfe, with the Audi taking the advantage in lap 12.
While Estre and Castellacci are separated by 6 seconds at the top, the driver change window opens in lap 16, with Saravia, Rodríguez, Noble and Benham being the first one to hand over the wheel to their team mates. After all changes, it’s West leading over Flohr, then 14 seconds behind, Campaniço and Crestani, in full battle and passing each other a couple of times. Follow Tappy, Sdanewitsch, Monje and Keen, while drama hits local hero Miguel Ramos who has to stop along the track with gearbox issues. Crestani eventually gets rid of the Audi of Campaniço and passes also Flohr, with the Swiss conceding positions also to Campaniço and Tappy, although showing excellent pace. In lap 29, Luis Silva passes Sdanewitsch, taking the lead in GT-Am.
The closing laps see Crestani pushing hard on West; the fight is intense between the two and eventually they collide in the last lap. It’s all good for Tappy, who wins ahead of Campaniço and Crestani with West finishing 10th.
The Winners’ Word
Michael Benham: “We are elated and it’s even difficult to realize that we won in our very first appearance in the series, in front of such a high-level competition!”
Duncan Tappy: “It was a great job from everybody in the team. Last laps were hectic, I was behind the two leaders and one could figure that something would happen, as it did!”
STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2 OF 14
Overall: 1. Keen-Balfe, 32 points; 2. Crestani-Biagi, 28; 3. Tappy-Benham, 26; 4. Yacamán-Monje, 22; 5. Saravia-Campaniço, 18; 6. Flohr-Castellacci, 16; etc.
Pro-Am: 1. Keen-Balfe, 14 points; 2. Biagi-Crestani, 12; 3. Tappy-Benham, 10; 4. Yacamán-Monje, Saravia-Campaniço, 8; 6. Flohr-Castellacci, 6; etc.
GT-Am: 1. Silva-Coimbra, 10 points; 2. Lémeret-Sdanewitsch, 7; 3. Sijthoff-Barreiros, 6; 4. Nogueira, 5.
Teams: 1. Balfe Motorsport, Garage59, 14; 3. Orange1 Team Lazarus, 8; 4. Drivex School, BMW Team Teo Martín, 8; 6. AF Corse, 6.
