Great jubilation at GetSpeed. The team from the business park at the Nürburgring took two class victories at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. Al Faisal Al Zubair, Dominik Baumann, Philip Ellis and Mikaël Grenier triumphed in the gold classification and finished the race as the best-placed Mercedes-AMG GT3 in seventh place overall. Anthony Bartone, James Kell, Yannick Mettler and Aaron Walker took first place in the Silver Cup. The only downer was the premature retirement of the spearhead of Jules Gounon, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz. The trio fought for overall victory until the early hours of the morning.
“It’s an often-used phrase in motorsport, but it applies one hundred percent to our race: Joys and sorrows are often very close together in motorsport. On the one hand, we are delighted that our two customer vehicles won their classes. On the other hand, the premature retirement of Fabian, Jules and Luca was a bitter setback. Our trio was in contention for victory,” says Team Principal Adam Osieka. “In addition to the two class victories, our gold quartet took third place in the IGTC standings and Mercedes-AMG won the Coupe du Roi award with our results, among other things, in which the points after six, twelve and 24 hours are taken into account across all classes. I can therefore conclude that we have had a very good weekend.”
Gounon, Schiller and Stolz started from position five and were always in the leading group. In difficult conditions with thunderstorms and heavy rain during the night, the race was neutralized 22 times for a total of 9:16 hours. Nevertheless, the trio remained in second place within striking distance of first place for long stretches. After being in a promising position, the trio retired prematurely at around 8 o’clock.
“The race is definitely not one we will remember fondly,” said Gounon. “Unfortunately, we had an irreparable defect in the morning hours, which is actually very untypical for us. Until then, we were at the front. Overall, it was a very challenging and unpredictable race. Nevertheless, our team was able to celebrate a successful weekend with victories in the Gold and Silver classes. And we have our sights set on overall victory again next year.”
Al Zubair, Baumann, Ellis and Grenier drove a strong race right from the start and were mostly listed in the top 10 positions. In the end, the quartet pulled out a commanding lead of two laps over their class rivals. “That was a fantastic, but also very hectic race,” said Al Zubair. ”The conditions and the positions were actually changing all the time. My pulse was very high throughout. But all the work paid off and I’m very happy with the result. We won the class and finished third in the IGTC classification, which is something we can be very proud of.”
Bartone, Kell, Mettler and Walker also drove a strong race. Starting from 49th on the grid, the #3 crew drove a largely flawless race and at times moved up into the top 20 positions in the field of 66 GT3 cars. In the end, the quartet had a one-lap lead over their direct rivals. “That was an extremely difficult race. We had ups and downs, especially during the night,” said Kell. Mettler added: “In the end, we made the right decisions, had a perfect car and the necessary speed to win this crazy race.” Bartone was overwhelmed:
“This is only my second time here and I’m already at the top. This is an incredible experience. The team and my fellow drivers did everything they could to make it happen.” GetSpeed youngster Walker was also impressed: “It’s an incredible feeling to win here. I too can only thank the GetSpeed team.”
The next tour stop of the Endurance Cup of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS is a home race for GetSpeed. From July 26-28, the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit will literally be the place to be. Last year, GetSpeed finished second on the Eifel circuit. The week before, the team led by Adam Osieka will compete in the International GT Open at Paul Ricard.
