+ Rattican and Cresswell score big win to stay in the title hunt
+ Three in a row for Safronov and Vaintrub ups the Pro-Am pressure
+ Nothing in it again in Am after home victory for Kronberg and Blickle
+ Provisional result: Race 1, Nürburgring
Josh Rattican and McKenzy Cresswell scored a first win of the season for the Elite Motorsport McLaren team in Race 1 at the Nürburgring, ensuring the Silver title fight will go to Sunday after a series of disasters for the points leaders.
Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche came into the first contest with a chance to seal the crown, but their Team Speedcar Audi was taken out almost immediately by contact at the start. Ally that with a technical issue stopping the Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang that had run second in the standings, and it opened the door for Elite to gain ground with a big result.
Things were also shaken up in the Pro-Am and Am classes, with both points-leading cars hitting trouble. A third win of the year for Mirage Racing drivers Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub puts them well into the Pro-Am fight, while Max Kronberg and Daniel Blickle made huge strides with an Am win in their W&S Motorsport Porsche.
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SILVER: RATTICAN AND CRESSWELL OFF THE MARK
A superb opening stint from Rattican set the #78 Elite McLaren on its way to a first victory of the season, beating a turbulent start to work its way into the lead in a race that was much calmer up front that it was for the title contenders.
There was major drama as soon as the lights went out with Lariche, who had qualified seventh, being hit in the pack and having to retire with damage – the #3 Audi’s first non-finish of the year. However, others would still have to score well to stop the Speedcar duo taking the title. Erik Evans and Marco Signoretti looked best placed with their Mustang fighting for fifth, but they lost their chance when a transmission issue sidelined the #61.
Up front, Rattican made a strong move on Jan Duran’s Matmut Évolution Toyota to grab second and reeled in race leader Safronov, who had qualified the #7 Pro-Am Aston Martin on pole. Rattican picked his way past to lead, pulling an advantage of a few tenths before pitting to hand to Cresswell.
Duran opted for an early stop to hand the Toyota to David. When Cresswell rejoined he was fractions ahead and had the French driver crawling all over him. However, once the McLaren got up to speed Cresswell edged clear, surviving a late safety car restart to win the one-lap shootout to the flag from David.
With the top two in the standings out, Berkay Besler and Gabriele Piana emerged as Team Speedcar’s biggest title threat, impressively rising from 16th on the grid to finish on the podium, leaving them 66 points behind Consani/Lariche. The win also kept Rattican/Cresswell just in the fight, 75 points down on the Audi.
PRO-AM: THREE IN A ROW ELEVATES MIRAGE
Safronov and Vaintrub closed up the Pro-Am fight massively with a third-straight victory in their Aston Martin, the Mirage Racing duo beating a pit stop delay to secure the win.
Safronov led the class comfortably from the start, and the car’s only trouble came when a gearbox gremlin led to a longer stop when handing across to Vaintrub. With the glitch cleared, Vaintrub rejoined fifth overall and successfully held off Joakim Walde and Victor Bouveng’s Schubert Motorsport BMW to take the win.
The result would become even more important with the title-chasing W&S Porsche of Hendrik Still and Joachim Bölting enduring a tough race. Still struggled to make progress and survived a skip through the gravel before handing to Bölting, who was then involved in a multi-car tangle at the last turn and would wind up ninth after also picking up a track limits penalty. The same collision also denied the PB Racing Lotus a class podium and allowed Cindy Gudet and Gabriela Jilkova’s Matmut Évolution Toyota through to third.
The result means Safronov/Vaintrub now trail Still/Bölting by just five points.
AM: W&S TURNS IT AROUND ON HOME GROUND
By far the biggest swing came in the Am class, with a fourth victory of the season for local drivers Kronberg and Blickle leaving the title fight on a knife edge.
Kronberg qualified the #30 Porsche well clear and led the disrupted opening half before Blickle took over and managed the gap, finishing a few places clear of Hans Holmlund’s Toyota Gazoo Racing Sweden Supra and the AV Racing Porsche of Maximilien Huber and Romain Vozniak.
The serene race for the #30 was a big contrast to that of points leaders Antoni de Barn and Jean-Mathieu Leandri, who picked up two penalties in their Chazel Technologie Course BMW. The first was for a collision, and the second for speeding under a full-course yellow. That added time left them eighth, meaning Kronberg and Blickle trail by just one point.
Race 2 for the GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club at the Nürburgring is scheduled for 11:55 on Sunday.