United Autosports, Centri Porsche Ticino and Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport win at Spa
Third win in Silver Cup for Charlie Fagg and Bailey Voisin
Max Busnelli and Ivan Jacoma take first win in Pro-Am since Monza
Am Cup victory for Cem Bolukbasi
The first of two GT4 European Series races at Spa-Francorchamps ended with wins for United Autosports (McLaren), Centri Porsche Ticino and Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport (BMW). Charlie Fagg and Bailey Voisin led away the field at the start and were the first to cross the line after 21 laps of racing around the 7 km track in the Belgian Ardennes.
Third win in Silver Cup for Charlie Fagg and Bailey Voisin
United Autosports drivers Bailey Voisin and Charlie Fagg won the seventh race of the 2021 season. The #23 McLaren started from pole position and only briefly lost the lead when Voisin came in to hand over to Fagg. After the pit stops and a full-course yellow/safety car period Fagg held on to the lead to take the team’s third win of 2021, having already won the opening races at Monza back in April.
Voisin kept Joel Sturm in the #22 Allied Racing Porsche and Loris Cabirou in the #30 CMR Alpine behind at the start and was able to create a small gap as Sturm and Cabirou battled with each other. However, 20 minutes into the race, Sturm was forced to park his Porsche, allowing the CMR driver to take second and chase down the McLaren. Although Cabirou did reduce the gap and tried to pass, it was only when the McLaren came into the pits that the Alpine moved into first place.
After CMR had completed its stop as well Vincent Beltoise rejoined right in front of Charlie Fagg, but the United Autosports driver had more pace and retook the lead on to the Kemmel straight. After all teams had made their stops, Timothé Buret (#88 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG) was third, followed by Stephane Lémeret (#8 CMR Toyota) in fourth.
An incident at the Bus Stop resulted in a full-course yellow/safety car period, but Fagg pulled away again at the restart and went on to win. Behind him Buret overtook Beltoise to earn second in the Silver Cup. The #88 Mercedes-AMG of Buret and Evrard finished 2.180s behind the #23 McLaren. Third place went to the #30 Alpine of Cabirou and Beltoise, with Antoine Potty and Stéphane Lémeret taking fourth in class, ahead of Jean-Luc D’Auria and Jamie Caroline in the #70 Trivellato Racing by Villorba Corse Mercedes-AMG.
Max Busnelli and Ivan Jacoma take first win in Pro-Am since Monza
Centri Porsche Ticino pairing Max Busnelli and Ivan Jacoma took their second win of the season in the Pro-Am Cup. The #718 Porsche started the one-hour race at Spa from second place on the grid, but Jacoma managed to take the class lead before the pit window opened.
Pole sitter Fabien Michal (#42 Saintéloc Racing Audi) was not able to pull away from Jacoma and after 20 minutes of racing the Swiss driver went around the outside of the Audi as they entered the Bus Stop chicane. After that, Jacoma and Busnelli led an unchallenged race to claim their second victory of the 2021 campaign.
Fabien Michal’s teammate Gregory Guilvert initially held on to second place in class, but in the end, he was unable to keep the #34 Selleslagh Racing Team Mercedes-AMG of Maxime Soulet and Luca Bosco behind.
Soulet used his experience to pass several other competitors and ultimately found himself in second place, finishing 2.012s behind the race winning Porsche of Jacoma and Busnelli. Michal and Guilvert took third, ahead of the #26 Allied Racing Porsche of Alexander Hartvig and Joel Camathias. Stephan Guerin and Antoine Leclerc (#36 Arkadia Racing Alpine) completed the Pro-Am Cup top-five.
Am Cup victory for Cem Bolukbasi
Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport took victory in the Am Cup with the #12 BMW of Cem Bolukbasi. The young Turkish driver moved to the Am Cup overnight following the withdrawal of teammate Berkay Besler and started the race from pole position.
An additional 10 seconds were added to Bolukbasi’s minimum pit stop time, but despite this handicap he cruised to victory in the Am Cup and mainly battled with cars in the other categories. Bolukbasi finished the race 27.870s clear of Christophe Hamon and Michael Blanchemain (#69 Team Fullmotorsport Aud) which had started the race from the pit lane.
Paolo Meloni and Massimiliano Tresoldi claimed third place in the #50 W&D Racing Team BMW, ahead of the #33 SVC Sport Management Toyota of Antoni and Piotr Chodzen and the #3 CMR Toyota of Wilfried Cazalbon and Andrea Benezet.
The second GT4 European Series race at Spa gets underway at 12:20 Saturday and can be followed live on the GTWorld YouTube channel and the GT4 European Series website and Facebook page.
