It’s time to go racing at Brands Hatch as we kick off the 2024 Sprint Cup season. Strap in for a fast and furious 60-minute contest, which includes a mid-race driver change.
* * *
GT World is the official YouTube channel for SRO Motorsports Group, the global leader in GT racing.
Join us for live and uninterrupted coverage of major events, as well as behind-the-scenes access, special features and fun from inside the paddock.
www.sro-motorsports.com
2 [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] a new season of fitech GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup kicks off this weekend at Brans hatch it is the 10th visit of the Sprint Championship to the Kent circuit formerly the home of the British gr Prix and it’s a track the drivers love it’s testing it’s undulating make a mistake here and you know it’s going to bite it’s another Mega entry as well Ferrari taking on McLaren Audi Lamborghini and Porsche and Aston Martin and also Mercedes AMG and it’s very hard indeed to predict which brand is going to come out on top come the end of the weekend we’ve got the pro cup the Gold Cup and the silver cup all very competitive all great battles set to take place within those three categories in two one our races around the camp circuit with mandatory pit stops free practice pre-qualifying and qualifying done to determine the two grids that we have for the two races today and as ever in the championship it’s a stellar entry in terms of the driver lineup fitech GT World Challenge Europe part of the global calendar there’s racing in America in Asia and in Australia as well the European calendar began with the first endurance race at Paul Rickard we’ve got Sprint back toback at Brans Hatcher misano before the crowd strike 24 hours of spa then it’s hackenheim nurburging man Corp Barcelona rounds out the Sprint season and then a new race of six house duration in jeda to round out the European championship year and just to prove how Global GT3 racing is we’ve been busy in America this weekend with action from Sebring as well in Pro any category of driver can take part and this is where you’ll find find really the factory drivers you’ll also find one half of the reigning Championship pair Matti ad drudy last year he won for Audi this year he’s with ason Martin 2024 is completely new for me with the ason Martin R we come to you and Nico as a new teammate uh it’s a new car as well for the team for me so it’s uh it’s quite a different challenge uh we had already won race in pory card uh and we got some good data uh and experience with a car Sprint format is always different I mean the car has to react different way uh races are shorter so it’s way more aggressive also the race uh but I think we have a good package uh we just need to get quickly in the rhym in the Rhythm hopefully this weekend in BR Edge and then see where we are triple Sprint cap Champion charl W had a disappointing season by his high standards last year but the BMW driver once more with Dre van Thor is looking to try to put 2024 back to his winning ways I mean yes after winning three times a championship together with Reese um our expectations for the Championships of course are all to win it uh we know competition is very very high and the level is very very high also U of course and BR is also a very tough track in general so it’s going to be challenging but uh yeah we are ready to kick off this championship and to do our best uh for the season McLaren’s looked quick at Paul Rickard in the opening endurance race and indeed W in British GT just a week ago there’s only one in the entry but it’s a quick car Benjamin Gerta sharing it with the factory driver from McLaren Tom gamble you know it’s a track I used to race that a lot when I was growing up but I’ve actually not raced here since actually um in Sprint back in 2019 so I’ve been away from it for a few years but hopefully it’s not changed too much yeah as you said it’s a bit of an old school sort of track um you know some of the the corners don’t have too much runoff not much room for error which is actually as a driver quite excited um you know you don’t have to worry too much about track limits most of the lap because if you do it then you kind of punish yourself so yeah I’m really looking forward to getting back out there and and as I say I think the car’s going to be really fast so fingers crossed we can get a good result in the Gold Cup you can have two gold graded drivers or a gold and a silver and again this is looking at the next generation of GT hero and one of those is giil Magnus the very quick Belgian driver once more for Santa loock aboard an Audi R8 first of all really happy to be here in Brent’s hatch which is always a cool track it’s nice to start off here uh it’s maybe one of the trickiest tracks on the calendar uh so yeah nice to start here I think last year we were already very competitive this year obviously I’ve got a new teammate or another teammate and driving with another team uh and I’m confident we can we can do some great things in our category for sure the level is high but uh I’m sure we’ll be we’ll be competitive enough to to fight for overall victories in victories in the category we’ve seen Charlie Eastwood in the past in Aston Mars we’ve seen him in Corvettes on the world stage but now he’s in fitech GT and he’s in a Ferrari he runs in the Gold Cup the car run by AF corser under the racing team turkey Banner with saloor and Charlie Eastwood is certainly going to be competitive around the br’s hatch circuit it’s my first time doing GT World Challenge Sprint and adds a different dimension to it obviously shorter races a lot more aggressive qualifying super important but ultimately it’s still a one R event you still have to get all of the basic ride pit stops pit in pit out out laps so just trying to do the same process again obviously a new car new team um but hopefully a similar result the silver cup looks after the next generation of GT drivers just as well as gold and it’s only for silver Grady drivers the Young Guns and many are making their GT3 debut as they come into fitech GT Callen Williams though was the winner of the Gold Cup last year for wrt he’s partnered this year by Sam Dean and the Australian driver is very competitive once more in a car that he knows after a season of racing it in 2023 and Williams and danan start as favorites for the category I think it’s going to be a great season uh really looking forward to racing this year with Sam amazing to be here at BR hatch it’s such an incredible circuit really old style quite challenging quite narrow but uh yeah really look forward to it and conditions overall are going to be quite variable this weekend uh bit of rain bit of Sun so yeah I guess just adapting to what happens as it happens is going to be really important um and yeah that’s something that I I seem to be able to do nicely last year um so hopefully that continues this year and yeah whether it’s wet or dry I I think we’ll be good new to fitech GT is Ree bar he’s got a good track record in touring cars for example but now with Winwood racing he moves to GT3 racing and he’s going to be doing a lot of learning this weekend he’s partnered by Magnus Gustafson and the winw race in team one of the crack Mercedes outfits and REE bar getting more and more competitive over the course of the weekend it’s a pleasure to be part of the championship it’s uh one of the most competitive championships in Europe if not the world so it’s going to be uh an intense weekend starting off here at uh the Sprint and BR hatch my first weekend of the year so uh yeah a lot to prove but I’m feeling excited about it so [Music] far the pit is open the grid is starting to fill not only of cars but of people as well and in the sunshine we’re just heading past uh around about halfast 10 local time here at Brand’s hatch this opening Sprint Cup race and it’s going to be a real Thriller that is for sure David Addison and John Watson track side looking forward to our first 60-minute blast of the season it’s a busy Brand’s hatch in terms of the number of people here there were lots of people here long before 8:00 this morning already parked on South Bank overlooking the Indie circuit part of brands ready for the action and it is John a great circuit this well in these conditions just a stunning day track temperature 24 C ambient 14 then you couldn’t wish for more ideal conditions to see the first of these two sprint races get underway a 25 car grid I mean looking down from the comedy Booth it I mean that’s just a picture and BR hatch is a picture and there is our map the Tracer as ever is always trying to beat me she’s through six up through Dingle down Sheen curb Sterlings and they just made it back through the start line that’s position well done joh pole it is uh Pole Position will be a British driver for this first race Ben green who did an absolutely outstanding job yesterday the first British driver to have a brand hatch Sprint Pole Position only the third Brit uh to have a Sprint pole position in the history of the championship and he will drive for Emil fry racing along with coner labalan in one of the two Ferrari uh 296 Matthew the reigning Champion or half of that reigning Championship winning team because Ricardo Feller is Elsewhere on the grid he’s going to be second mat drudy and triple Champions Dre van Thor and charl wz will start third so you can see the grid starting to take shape uh the uh grid represented by Audi by ason Martin Mercedes AMG Ferrari Lamborghini BMW uh and Porsche and McLaren all there so as ever it’s a a fascinating cross-section of GT Brands Porsche yesterday let’s get this out of the way was struggling no question about it 10 kilos were taken off the car under a balance of performance change before qualifying didn’t seem to do a lot of difference and another 10 taken off a race day hopefully that will make a difference they actually did perform better in Q2 for the race that’ll be later on this afternoon but in race one I mean I’m looking down at the grid and I’m thinking well why would for example the number nine boots and VDS Max J guno be on the sixth row of the grid there are about two or three cars which one would normally assume it be at the very front of the grid that are out of position yeah and of course the difficulty we know from Branch hatch from history is because the field is such a closely tight packed field racing and P overtaking is difficult so what progress is going to be made by Max G and that number nine buts and VDS Mercedes-Benz will have to wait and see the qualifying session’s only 10 minutes long so you really had to be on your toes and also make sure you weren’t uh doing nasty things with track limits uh and so uh if you losing lap times within the 10 minutes you didn’t have much time to fight back Antonio Rankin is down on the grid talking to some of the drivers for us including Cesar Gazo Cesar your teammate aelan has won here before but it’s a very competitive category you’ve got some fast cars behind you how are you fancying your chances yeah he put He put the car in silver so it’s it’s not too bad we both learned the car the team learned the car so we have still lot of work to do but it’s uh it’s like a good start of the spring uh season so we will after the race and we need to be focused also on the race two so let’s see the it’s really a competitive weekend and it will be a really competitive season so we will see what can happen well best of luck thank you thank you now of course it’s very difficult around here to make progress if you have had a bad qualifying uh the exception being mat dudy and Ricardo fella last year they won from Seventh in the Audi but normally lower than third has been about the limit they bucked to the trend last season uh so a lot of the drama is going to happen on the first lap that’s for sure and also in the pit stops of course where uh because the nature of the Sprint Cup regulations are that the pit stops can be if you like a natural one as quick as you can uh then that’s where you can gain places but it’s staying in that leading group uh a bulletin has been issued to the teams as well to say that if the safety car is on track or a full course yellow is in operation when the pit window is scheduled to open and that’s between 25 and 35 minutes the pit window uh will be delayed uh so if if we are under a yellow flag period the pit window will be put back but the pit window is all part and parcel of being able to jump the car ahead of you these days yes I mean unfortunately to see overtaking done in a pit Lan through a pit stop is not what we come to see we want to see this action on track but we know that the field is such a a tightly compacted field in terms of the grid positions and times and this well the circuit is not a narrow circuit the perception of it is that everything is very close to the side of the racetrack it’s an old school circuit and I tell you what I’m I I love coming to bran because it’s what I consider to be a real I’m I getting the hairs in the back of my neck standing because I think about racing here and what it must be like right now in 15 minutes to see these cars head off for their first flying lap hopefully hopefully the run up on padal Bend will be trouble free sports car Heaven this weekend not only the two fitech GT races but also uh classic sports cars racing super car displays off track so if you’re a GT or sports car or superc car fan it’s the right place to be there you can see with the Rover motor oil Pole Position uh board overall poll to Ben green as I say he did that out standing job yesterday the silver poll went to Canon Williams and Sam Dean yesterday Kon Williams did the time for this race but Sam Dean knew to WT is with Antonio Sam you’re starting first in your class what a great way to start the season yeah I think we had a really good day yesterday it was a long day but um we learned a lot about the car I think where we ended up setup wise was pretty good um K had a really good running qual qual 2 was a little bit more tricky for us with traffic but no I think overall I think should be a really good day for us well we’ve just spoken to your competitors a little bit further down the grid Brans is a really challenging circuit what are you going to do to make sure they stay behind you well I mean from what we’ve seen in the past the first lap here is the only real opportunity you have to overtake so as long as you can hold position for the first lap it’s it’s pretty hard to do anything after that so our plan is just to keep our eyes forward stay aheed stay out of trouble as well on the first lap which is easiest than done but fingers crossed for a good race absolutely fingers crossed thank you San part of uh former racer Phil glue management stable these days we saw him in the endurance cap round at B rard there another intriguing entry for rating team turkey it’s an AF corser run car for Salos and Charlie Eastwood and it’s going to be Charlie that will go first in this race but uh again switching Brands we’ve seen him in Aston Corvettes now Ferrari for the former single seater racer certainly the Ferrari has been very competitive basically throughout the weekend and we got a Ferrari on poll position and we’ got Ferraris all the way through the field so Charlie Eastwood looking forward to St Charlie behind the wheel of a Ferrari it’s the first time I think certainly in this category that we’ve seen behind the wheel of one of those Marinello beasts and uh so laid back Charlie eood just throw the the keys of a car he gets in and just delivers for the team and he and S yish have made a very good partnership whether it’s been in GT cars or prototypes of late uh and Salah yich as well has got better and better and better season after season after season so looking down on the grid that’s going to be cleared shortly uh of course just the the one remaining engineer to fire up the engine at the one minute board it’s a rolling start of course uh and so once the grid is clear engines will fire and after the formation lap then we will be in business uh another uh car to look for is going to be the gold pole car Lucas Le is going to be starting in that let’s go back to Antonio Lucas your sat up PO in your category and it’s a very small class yeah small but competitive so for sure it’s no means to to to take it easy uh full focus on the race cuz I think it’s going to be harder than we think and uh let’s do a clean race and see where we end up are you feeling threatened by the cars behind you uh we’ll see not we’ll see honestly no comment for now cuz we I feel confident in the car uh I feel confident we can achieve a good result so I’m for sure I don’t want to brag but let’s see where we end up and I think it’s going to be good if we everything goes in our direction of course thank you very much best of luck we’ve had outright winners of the races here from silver cap in the past Lucas Le the very very tall French driver shares with Simon gash they’re running gold you can see the pole position gold board behind the CSA racing Audi the team run by Arthur rier Who himself is no mean racing driver but now turning to uh Team Management instead yes that’s they’re quite handily placed on the grid they’re on the fourth row of the grid so they’re in that lead group going off on the opening lap so hopefully they will clear anything that may arise normally it comes from fourth Road backwards where everybody conas it’s the usual mway story everybody conera going into other pical band or up into Druids but four through all the grid you’re just about the the bit of the racetrack you might Escape any potential uh Mayhem hopefully we’re not going to see any that’s the call that Christopher haer shares with Lorenzo Ferrari and and the hugely experienced Christopher haza will go first it’s still good to see the Audi’s on the grid and they’re still competitive we may not have Audi Sport having the same commitment to Motorsport as it did before but there are still Audi Sport drivers being paid by the company there are teams wanting to run AIS because they’ve got the car they’ve got the parts they’ve got the knowledge and the car is competitive uh and so the likes of Ricardo fell and Christopher H are still being dropped into uh the attempto racing Audis and that’s good news Christopher hza had an off coming out of ma curve that ended at Sterlings yesterday he wasn’t the only one to do that Valentino Rossy was off the road in the free practice session uh but Christopher Hower who can probably drive out is with his eyes closed he’s so experienced in them now uh and will be a man to watch I suspect in the course of the next uh stint let’s go to the grid again second on the grid Matthew drudy and Nicola Bart guys looking ahead you’ve got a clear track but starting P2 will elbows be out uh it’s not easy P2 actually for sure was a really good qualifying uh but starting from P2 it’s I would say it’s one of the most difficult place where to start but uh anyway it’s good to have a clear track in front of me I’ll try to have a good start trying hopefully to go around the outside in turn one that could work sometimes it worked uh and see I think we have a fast car good race paace so I’m quite confident for the race and of course we know overtaking is quite difficult here so in the second half of the race what’s your strategy going to be yeah just uh we all the pressure on his shoulder and I hope to be P1 at the pit stop and then just do my race in the Clean Air no Jer side um yeah we’ll see we know it’s difficult to overtake here we’ll do our best and and pray for a good Pit Stop of course Peck from the pressure run will be absolutely essential thanks guys D just interesting Mato dy’s thoughts about starting on the the left hand side of the racetrack up the hill into right hand picle band in the good old days when you had a standing start that was the best position because Pole Position you can see the camber on the the pit straight if you were starting on the right hand side facing up into turn one difficult to get traction off the line but because it’s a rolling start the pole position on the right hand side then you you you don’t have that disadvantage so that’s the reason M Duty was explaining why being on the outside is not quite such a great deal maybe being directly behind po sitter would have been better off possibly so there wasn’t much to choose between the top two just 16,000 between Ben green and mat drudy in that quality ing session uh and Ben green I think we really ought to hear from don’t you because he did an outstanding job yesterday and Antonio is working wonders on the gridge he’s managed to get to the poll position driver uh so Ben green we’ll start on poll Ben starting from P1 in front of everyone else on the grid what a way to start the season yeah it’s the best place to be you know it’s where I wanted to be I felt like it was possible so um now we’ve done the hard work we’ve got another half of the job to do and uh yeah sight’s going forwards absolutely when I spoke to you yesterday you seem surprised that you were on poll do you think you have the to keep P1 absolutely yeah I I felt like it was possible but then um with the BP changes before qualifying we really weren’t sure because they gave us some weight they took weight off other cars so it was quite uh yeah a variable so um it was a close one though only 100th to the Aston so I think it’ll be a good race now we know it’s hard to overtake here will you be making that car as wide as possible it’ll be the widest Ferrari in the grid absolutely brilliant best of luck thank you elbows out from Ben green not to make progress but to keep everybody else at Bay and there uh the car that Maro angle shares with Lucas hour that is going to start from fifth on the grid but I still reckon that’s going to be one to make progress because and John made this point earlier on a couple of three cars are out of position partly by being further back on the grid than you might anticipate others further forward than you might anticipate but it really is going to be a fascinating race this I’m I’m tempted to suggest it won’t be a a grid order style race just because of those cars that we know have got to make some progress well me mar Angel we know a great race driver but he’s not a kind of race driver I would anticipate up into turn one sticking the newse of the Mercedes up the inside of whoever is nearest to him and elbows out and forcing his way through he’s much more of a driver who’s a measured in his thinking and basically how he raised a race car that car has got Pace we saw that on qualifying Tobe and Lucas AR put it on PO position nevertheless it’s about basically on that opening lap just making sure you don’t lose positions on the run up into padle Bend being on the inside you have the advantage if anybody is brave enough to swoop around the outside and they cut across you well actually rather than having contact you just maybe breathe the motor momentarily because you will then regain that Advantage off the hill and be on the inside coming into into druid’s Band still think this could be a winning car triple champions in Sprint Cup Dre van Thor and Char witz Dre starts and Char witz will take over we know that the BMW is a year on in its development with wrt and their a car in its first year this new Aston Martin Vantage with the 007 numbering number seven it really is for mat dudy and Nicola Bart whose father Michelle Bart is the The Man Behind com switching from Audi to Aston Martin for this year both in terms of GT3 and GT4 Machinery a quick word about the GSM Automotive or the the eurodent GSM team as it now is Lamborghini that will start way way back on the 12th row Marcus pavard and James Kell the two nominated drivers although James yesterday had to withdraw because he was decidedly poorly I think it was food poisoning that struck but when I saw him at lunchtime he he looked uh very very pale indeed and uh certainly not well so uh he’s had to withdraw from the event and it means that Marcus pavid will go solo but gets a 55 second timed pit Stoppers if you like the penalty for being a soloist but James get well soon yes indeed I mean having being ill at a gr gry get at any race weekend uh very disappointing indeed and not being able to take part in qualifying and having to withdraw for the remainder of the weekend is a disappointment so pavu will have the the double kiss if you like of competing in both races but a 55 second Pit Stop penalty well you know I mean they’re quite far back in the grid is are going to make a huge amount of difference to the overall outcome of their race discuss and of course if there’s a stint two safety car then all bets are off it all bunches up GT cars in the sunshine and on a proper circuit like this just look fantastic don’t they Brands the cliche is there it’s a real driver circuit it’s one that the drivers love coming to yes it’s difficult at times to overtake yes it can bite if you make a mistake but these cars around here here and especially in this weather just look right well I I just briefly sum up what I think Nature has turned itself on yeah for this event this after this morning now and for later this afternoon I mean it is absolutely Sensational it’s a beautiful day it’s not too hot albeit if you’re in the sun direct sunlight you need to put on a bit of sun block but it’s not going to be uncomfortable for drivers cars are going to get up to operating temperatures very quick the tires will be up to their operating window likewise very quickly so it’s a perfect grid Perfect Situation perfect setting at the very back of the grid another of those Aston Martins James Jake the driver James having his first full season of anything for quite some time new to GT rating new to certainly fitech GT uh and I’m sure that’s going to get quicker and quicker the more mileage that the British driver the former Indie Car Racer has in it so we are within the final minute the leading car as it is the official car there the Lamborghini Hurrican Will Blast away and then the race cars in Pursuit lots of rubber laid down by Ben green as he blasts away but he doesn’t have to worry about a standing start again it’ll be a rolling start at the end of this lap and we’ll have a look at the Grid in a moment as the cars work their way 25 strong is the entry up towards Panic Hill Ben that shot showing what John was talking about earlier with the adverse camber to the race track looking out of the back of McLaren fourth on the grid of Tom gamble Ben green will start on pole position with Matti ad Rudy’s ason Martin second re van Thor goes from third and fourth is the McLaren in the hands of Tom gamble fifth is where you you find the uh Mercedes and that is in the hands of Maro angel number 48 the Winwood racing car and jao Al alongside for Emil free racing in the second of the team’s Ferraris ah head in turn of Christ mahaz and then the gold pole Lucas leere is next up Char Eastward out of gold comes next on the grid alongside Alex ala Callum Williams is on the sixth row he’s on poll in Silvera and Maxi gz only 12th on the grid a man to watch and see what progress can be made Valentino Rossi starts from 13th ahead of aelian panis then Max in the licky M team angler by one group entry new to the championship Tom Fleming new to the championship new to GT3 alongside ahead of Patrick nouser a long way back newcomer Reese bar ahead of Shan hudspith and Alexander Sims for Mad Panda motorsport for the first time putting that car in the Pro cup Paul evard is next alongside Ivan Kenco Dante rapon for Compu has Marcus Pap for campany on the 12th row and on his own at the back is James Jakes sharing with the motocrosser matis Lismore that is how they will line up that is how they will put themselves in the two by two no as Arc formation uh when they make that run up through Clark curve and head towards the timing line you’re on board with Maro angle hugely experienced driver another of the maau Masters but there’s not much Maro hasn’t raced uh in in terms of a GT Championship over the years and W in and knows the British circuit because he spent a season in British Formula 3 going back to gosh 27 I think it was now memory serves a long long time ago weaving around to get the warmth into the paral tires but the first two three corners on the Indie circuit layout John are going to be crucial yes as the opening Corner padic band notorious Corner because you rise up to the peak of the entry to the corner the the Apex again you have to anticipate and then when you drop down all the way down into the sort of the compression at the bottom and you’re getting two cars trying to go side by side through well somebody on the outside inevitably oh oh that’s a problem for number nine and that is a big problem where why what does Max G done always look like he had to do a control alt delete reach set but has he dropped to the very back of the grid because if everybody has gone past him then GS May well have to slot into place now I think he’s going to have to start flat last behind James Jake so there’s a problem there to try and get to the bottom of but number nine Mercedes then is now the very back it was bad enough before it’s even worse now for GS and goon that was not in the script that is 100% sure there you see the Mercedes coming through it’ll follow the back of the the rear of the grid with James Jakes in the 21 come to you racing Aston Martin just wonder whether he’s going to actually start or head for the pit Lane depending on the severity of the problem but we’ll keep an eye on that we need to keep an eye on the front of the grid though because as the leading card peels in the first race of the year in fitech GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup is about to get underway Pole Position then the dark blue Ferrari of Ben green alongside the green and yellow as Martin of mat dudy the red white BMW third Dre fan we go racing heading up towards panck hill b not a great start by drudy who wants to try to get on the inside then but he can’t do that because Dre van Thor it’s the longside in Ben green leads drudy is second vancor is third as they file up hill for the first time drudy late on the breaks Tom gamble fourth in the McLaren and Ben green hanging on in there drudy tries to get up the inside for Graham Hill Ben gets roughed up Runs Out wide drops back in the pack Tom gamble is under attack there look he Jacko outway right into the back of him and out wide goes gamble he’s off the RAC track he’s back on again but he’s losing place after place as vanor goes second and M tried to go around the outside up at DRS but last ultimately oh look up coming through Grill band and that has whether that was self induced or whether that was as the Porsche uh well started near the back of the grid I can assure you now it will be at the back of the grid that was was an assist I can’t imagine you get that far off the RAC track back drudy is coming back around the outside up at H thorns and shuts the door makes sure drean Thor knows that I should have been in second place coming out of let’s say gr Hill band up into CES it was Patrick nouser in the Porsche then off the road and Maxi gz did not start the race he came into the pit LAN so number n Mercedes in problems for sure and it’s in danger of dropping a lap so this all of a sudden has taken one of the favorites not just for the races this weekend pre-event but the championship to right out of contention leaders coming up to the end of the opening lap then and Ben green has done a really good job for the first lap to hang on in there in the Ferrari in second place is mat drudy and Ben benefiting from the squabbling by opening the margin a little bit that is the Mercedes we understand it’s an engine related problem Ben green leads by 7/10 of a second from druding yeah bed green clearly benefited from that full position got the run up into panic and then you had that battle between the Aston Martin and the BMW and both drivers were fighting over the same B of territory which allowed Ben green just not to escape but just to build maybe half a second or plus of an advantage but the beauty for Ben green is he’s running in clean clear air he’s not having to worry about another car you know addressing his position trying to force way through which is where we see the ason Martin and the BMW of drudy and Van Thor respectively but now look Matthew drudy having Ed out Dre fanor is pressing on and catching Ben green a little because he was quicker in the first sector on this lap you can see now the ason Martin is just edging away uh from the BMW closing a touch on the Ferrari in fourth place behind them is Christopher haza who has made good progress up from the fourth row fifth it is altway Amaro Engle has dropped back into sixth it’s leure seventh eighth is ARA ninth is Eastward and 10th is aelian panis gold is led by Lucas Leeder and silver by orelon panis himself we also understand that Valentino Rossy is run wide and back onto the racetrack uh coming through pck Hill Ben 13th at the end of that one was Rossy and there going through is the McLaren Tom gamble as we saw got roughed up on the first lap and he’s dropped a long way back into 14th Place well I can almost quote David Cameron when he said in Parliament calm down dear yes you can’t really do that in M racing terms but the gap between first and second is just 6/10 of a second L dudy has set fast a sector and one and second and three so and also the fastest race lap so Mata drudy is on a March that point 6 of a second Advantage the Ferrari has need to keep it close ey on that McLaren Tom gamble trying to regain the ground he lost when he was elbowed hip and shouldered out of his position going into this bed we’re coming down to now so Ben green being caught by mat drudy who has done the fastest lap of the race Valentino Rossi in the meantime having dropped back there behind Tom gamble so change of Fortunes for 13th Place possibly induced by Valentino running wide at P lapa go there is Ben green then trying to extend the margin and he’s responding on this lap and if anything you would say that vantor is coming back at drudy possibly but only drudy had the initial charge on the opening lap catching up to the lead Ferrari and that Gap now looks like it’s going be slightly extended Tom Ben green maybe is responding to the pace of the ason mar and likewise rean th maybe having a little bit of little understeer issues on the opening lap until he gets that front tire temperature up to the working range now we can start doing the hard yards and try to run down the second place has to B so out of sterlings they come this is lap three it is not a number of laps this race of course it’s time it’s 60 Minutes in Silva put some VDS honor is being upheld because number 10 uh Mercedes leads there number nine not in the race still in the pit Lane and it’s been there for over four minutes now with this engine related drama green to drudy has gone out one second now potential pass coming up Max Hofer under threat from Tom gamble hoer shut the door now that gamble has made that overtake up into panicle B so clearly the McLaren running more quickly than the Audi and it was just more a matter of if than when there’s the start great start from B Green but look on the right hand side getting closer closer closer on the inside line up into padle Bend G fan 4 gets the job done he thinks but look the as Martin hangs in and manages to get marginally ahead but then the BMW’s right up the rear of the Ferrari this is where we see B being forced unintentionally soon by Green wide again gives thought the opportunity here’s the view from on board of the 48 marrow angle so whether there was serious contact but Watch What Happens into the corner drudy on the very outside the Ferrari not really giving it drean for got an major advantage down the hill into Grill Bend gets that second place there’s the contact on the back of the McLaren and I’m not sure that might have been the 69 Ferrari that taged it I just need to see that again so Tom gamble went all the way off near he went into Brighton he was that far off the race track so there it is well okay where do he borwn anyway and that puts the car off all the hard working qualifying way way down the order and garage 59 will be unimpressed and there was neuser that looked to me as if there was contact because the speed the car went off that didn’t look like a a mistake me neiser is a quality guy and I don’t think he would have made a sort of that kind of Arrow look at drean four right now back onto the tail of the Aston Martin The Gap first to second is now one and a half seconds that’s the pace of we’re seeing Ben Green in the Ferrari and has the the Aston Martin is now the last lap last was 24.8 and almost identical times to that of drean Thor who has got the BMW in that operating window drean Thor head down always a formidable competitor and Char WTS looks on knowing that when he’s in the car it’s going to be an important stint because if anthor can get himself up past drudy and then go after Ben green a win from the second R of the grid could be on the cards here behind them haer is still fourth and Al fifth angle sixth leder leading his class seventh from ARA Eastwood and 10th another class leader oreli and panic good little battle going on there look Audi versus Ferrari diving down towards Westfield and that is Ian clco keeping sha Huds at Bay four 17th overall and they’re both in the silver cup in fact they’re arguing for fourth in silver as there Reese bar makes his move and goes ahead of Paul Evra that was a good pass he got into position in Dingle Dale and got up alongside just at the point of entry into Sheen and made that that was a good pass that’s an ideal opportunity doing it that’s not easy so the battle KN first to second the Gap has gone up to 1.9 seconds but the Gap second or third less than 310 but you can see what it is it’s barely three four car lengths yeah the Aston Martin of course a new car for this year the BMW has got more years of development in it and vanor a lap AO did the absolute best within this first sector of the racetrack the gap between first and second is up to 1.9 Ben green making hay here getting away from the battle pack for second drudy versus vanor as they go on the Grand Pre Loop once more and vanor making that very very tight entry into search’s trying to get up alongside the ason mar might lose out momentarily on the exit because the Aon would have been in the better line for better exit speed but closes up again under breaking and turning into whole Thorns just don’t run off that curb here another Corner that yesterday provided a few amusing moments for us on the comary booth but get on the grass torrential rain here in Friday the grass is drying out but still a place you want to stay away from him now VOR has been ahead briefly but he’s looking ever so menacing now and drudy is going to have to work hard and look he’s hanging it out over the curve the pressure is on as vanor goes to the outside line that is Nicolas Bart looking on the outside line into clar curve surely ain’t going to work but now vanth wants that switch back is there a Gap is there a Gap is there a Gap yes yes yes side by side coming over the timing line and he’s got the job done well before Panic Hill B great move I mean a class take overtake all started on the exit of sterlings and he started do the work over coming into clid and clearways and Clark and then the switch back the BMW was clearly quicker on the exit we could see that and that was an easy overtake in relative terms Mato dudy was sort of hung out to drive because his exit out of Clark curve just didn’t have the pace of the BMW and he’s had to concede and now the focus for Dre vanan Thor is how can I run down that 2.8 second gap between myself Ben green and the Le need Ferrari Ben Green’s had the drive of a weekend nobody around him lovely sunny day he’s just enjoying himself 2.8 seconds though a lot to claw back isn’t it and bear in mind that we’re working our way through this first stint now further back in the Q Tom gamble is trying to recover from that lost ground earlier on but the McLaren chases after number 30 of K Williams so that puts Tom gamble 12th and he is picking his way back at the order Patrick neher after his big grassy moment had to catch up again first of all but he’s now got past Jes Jakes and this is the gold sorry I should say the silver class battle Elli and panis ahead of call Williams right let’s find out about Maxi G Anton has tracked him down such a shame can you just talk us through what happened yeah we felt already an issue yesterday um it was coming up and down and what was working and not working and now in the formation lab I could feel there’s something wrong then we tried to formation lab but for me it was no Mak sense to continue um just didn’t feel poor the I didn’t have enough power and we decided to stop to to check really what’s going on because I don’t want to destroy the car the engine but has a mechanically technical issue but we don’t know yet so let’s hope for the second race we can we can go in of course considerations a big big question mark but you don’t expect that in in what are normally bulletproof TurnKey Mercedes amgs a problem yesterday as you heard Max good saying but okay until they know what the problem is they don’t even know if they’ll be out for race two well they’ve got a little bit of time to look at it just watch in this race have been following it on timing and scoring Tom gamble in the McLaren remember he was pushed off the track coming through gra Hill Ben he is on a train of four cars I think he’s the quickest of those four cars but because those four cars are all running more or less news to tail and he’s running directly behind Williams in the 50 no 30 BMW he can’t find his own natural pace his pace is being dictated to by the BMW ahead then aan panis and the Mercedes and Charlie Eastwood leading that group of four cars in the Ferrari the incident on the first lap involving Tom gamble also involved jao altway we understand and it’s under investigation so that’s going to be looked at as there you see Canon Williams coming now out of sterlings so the BMW from wrt looking good in class as in the Pro cup so does 32 a drian th which is chasing Ben green but actually the gap’s gone up would you believe from 2.8 to 3 seconds and Ben green remains in charge 12 minutes of the race just about done so green vanth drudy the top three hassa fourth fifth Al sixth angle seventh leure eighth ARA ninth is Eastwood and 10th is panis and right now looking at Matthew drudy who has certainly Fallen a long way back from Dre van Thor and he’s being caught by Christopher haard that Aston Martin not able to stay on the pace of the top two and I fear that another place or two might be lost before the pit window opens uh well we’ve got what another sort of 17 or or 16 minutes before the pit window will open uh mat drudy he is losing time is losing time every lap to Van Thor Christopher H is just under a second behind catching will be one thing my issue will be has the AI got enough gas and the tank to find its way past the Aston Martin uh clearly H has but just a question of whether both cars can respond accordingly at the back of this train marrow angle you’ve just seen on that graphic he is the fastest driver on the entry to The druid’s Hairpin and Engle is caught up to alwe now again a little bit like John was talking about Tom gamble now engle’s Pace being dictated by the traffic ahead leure versus AR the next battle and Williams there keeping gamble at Bay it’s for 11th Place overall let’s hear so we now have three warnings at T3 no risk T3 no risk T3 can’t have any more no risk I don’t think I’ve done it three times now T3 no risk at all no RK T3 is Graham Hill band and that is angle who’s been off the road at Paddock so Maro Engle has run wide you can see all the gravel all over the tires suddenly he’s been caught by leure a so Maro Engel making a small mistake at Paddock Hill B totally unexpected in my view I don’t know what he did wrong me like to see maybe a bit more of that what happened coming into padle there oh he way way wide on the entry how he got away out there I I have no idea that’s not the line you would normally expect to take under any circumstances and marango of all drivers were was he doing so far off the line entering into Paddock has the car got a problem I was thinking there’s some black smoke when it came back on the road but it could just have been partly to do with all the gravel and the dust that had been kicked up uh just quickly to go back to that track limit conversation you were hearing about so turn three is the exit of grem Hill B that’s where these track limit warnings are being racked up by callon Williams and despite his argument the engineer leaving him in no out no risk can’t afford to do that cuz the penalty is going to come absolutely I mean the trouble is the driver in the car doesn’t see it as it is seen with the equipment that’s available down at gr Hill B to measure the distance you might be off track and therefore you know CAU a penalty and the worst thing is a driver in the car suddenly having a discussion not an argument a discussion with his engineer in the pit Lane focus on what you’re doing behind the wheel Ken you’ve been warned three times just get it get it sorted out but don’t have an argument with the pit Lane so Tom gamble goes over the line but not now able to make a move against Callen Williams the lead gap’s coming down a little bit I mentioned it was at 3 seconds it’s now down to 2.7 Dre van Thor with a cck road ahead of him chipping away rather than hacking into that Gap to Ben green drudy is hanging onto his third place although Christopher hza was close a couple of laps back drudy I think has been able to just stretch that to a comfortable margin and further down the order we’ve had a shuffle for 21st and 22nd with Neah Hower and pav going ahead of Dante rapon but here look Dre van Thor continues to push on he’s 2.7 seconds back he’s wide at Hawthorne I was going to say we know how good wrt can be on pit stops though yes that may be the strength overall but drean for I mean he’s just pushing absolutely to the the limit of what the BMW is going to give him he’s got that gap down first to second to 2.7 seconds it’s going to come down by maybe hundreds of seconds over the next remaining laps prior to the pit Lane window opening up and then Charles vetch will get in behind the wheel Charles is looking for a really solid performance here this weekend he’s had a disappointment in BST another disappointment at Paul R car but look at going back up to the exit of Sheen care of how much more can you run without getting off onto the grass I mean what a an image four-wheel drift where did we last year leing black lines look at those black lines that’s right foot nailed to the to the firewall on the BMW and he was on the edge here as well wasn’t he super slow Joe our cameraman at Sterlings capturing these images and doing a great job and you can see how much commitment he’s in this from I I would ask WR wrt are you running traction control at all because those back L if you have traction control ought not to be there perhaps Dre is trying to lay down the W on the road of wrt e it’s looking on approvingly the uh man behind wrt right the Gap is down again 2.6 seconds so little by little by little Dre fan Thor is closing on Ben green it’s going to be fascinating to see how good Emil fry will be on the pit stops let’s e drop on 32s radio okay we’re catching him seven laps seven laps the P toop window seven laps to the pit window know that but that doesn’t mean that Dre fan th is coming in in seven LS it just means that’s the point at which the pit Lane window will be open and I was in the position of wrt which thankfully I’m not but I would keep Dre behind the wheel he’s doing an excellent job keep the pressure on the 14 Ferrari we know that we’re excellent in the pit Lane we don’t know just how good the 14’s team will be it’s an ml3 racing entry there also we know excellent back to Tom gamble still struggling to find a way past Ken Williams in the another wrg it looks pool tries to create a distraction to Kellen Williams but it’s not working to the timing line they come lead gap down again 2.4 seconds now greet the vanor in Silvera orian pan is ahead of Canon Williams so there number 10 Mercedes the BMW is close behind the margin between them is 444 of a second and heading up towards Druids of course there look the Mercedes panis slightly dictated to by the pace of the Ferrari of Charlie Eastwood ahead and Canon Williams also being mind of where the McLaren is because he wants to keep that at Bay angle being able to respond and get away from Lucas leure once more there is leure he leads gold don’t forget going into CS right now yeah so I mean look as leure A’s races with his fellow competitors uh what we saw Maro angle doing still trying to get over the shock of seeing what he did but he’s able to regroup pick up the pace get his rythm back again but he’s now 2 and a half seconds behind Jacko welway in fifth place in the EM Frey racing Ferrari and that’s going to be a big gap to close down as we see top speed is at L Hawthorns and M Mato dudy in the Aston Martin is quick as that I suspect was done really early in the race I’m 181 km per hour and that’s the entry uh of course then you got the midsection corner and then on the exit but it’s a quick approach you’re doing about 240 km per hour at the point where you’ve want to bail out of the throttle maybe a dab in the brakes d a gear and then enter into oon but B Green still doing a very good job and actually on the next lap has stretched the margin up by a couple of T of a second in terms of outright Pace Tom gamble 246 km an hour match by the man he’s chasing Canon Williams and Valentino Rossy and Dre van Thor that’s the fastest speed achieved on the racetrack I mean how close is this field of 25 cars in terms of performance and that’s really more about StraightLine performance okay it’s to some degree dictated by your speed out of C’s corner but basically it’s all about just aerodynamics horsepower that balance of performance underneath the bridge goes Dre vanor who is quicker than the car he’s chasing within the first sector by 4,000 of a second so it really is incredibly tight between them and last time around it was the Ferrari fractionally the quicker in terms of the lap time but I mean small fraction I mean you’re talking tths of seconds here and there me just dropping a wheel off fractionally now we had a marker b b in Sterling sorry in Sheen curve yesterday I don’t know whether it got super beaten up it wasn’t able to be recovered I don’t know whe the hospital nearby could have done something but it was in a bad shape I thought I’d just seen it sort of ly by the other side of the road like it’s been biffed out of the way completely but what that does without the Ballard in the middle of Sheen curve is mean that people can use the Apex and that’s another track limit observation point I think you’re right The Bard is actually on the outside of shen C just caught it there as we saw that head on shot of the exit but what that means as I say is that they’ve Now by clipping it out of the way they’ve opened up the inside of that corner but that’s being looked at for track limits so the more curve on the Apex of turn seven Sheen curve you take the more likely you are to get uh into difficulties turn one and turn three pad grah Hill B to the key spots this is Alex ARA you’re riding with and he is currently in eighth place that’s Lucas Le ahead yes two ‘s news to tail but racing in different categories so Lucas leure happy to be the lead ID in fact he not Christopher house is but that’s a pro car so Lucas leure leading that gold category and he’s got Alex ARA in Pro Car directly behind as we see everybody now getting prepared Ricardo fella will take over from Alex ARA and the pit window is about 4 minutes away so is ARA going to be able to make a move he’s quick going down to W hor Thorns drop downhill then the road climbs again here into that rander getting nearer and nearer and nearer to the traffic ahead Lucas leure doesn’t really need to be fighting for overall honors it’s the class position that he’s focused on most of all drop out of Westfield through Dingle up towards Sheen curve again might suggest that Alex ARA’s natural lap time would be fractionally quicker than we’re seeing right now but it’s the same old story every RAC track when you get S Min cars bunched up again Tom gamble who’s been stuck behind khed Williams in the BMW has potentially got a quicker car per lap but can’t find a way around up towards the line they come then so Lucas leure seventh overall and the Gold Cup leader look at the Ferrari there just going through shot the red Ferrari because that is second in goal Charlie Eastwood and gamble now is having a real pre Pit Stop push isn’t he to get himself up past Canon Williams and he’s going to have a go on the inside as he up towards Druids fat to the inside Williams moves across and defends but Tom gamble now needs to samow try to get the inside line for gra Hill B he’s running out of options yeah so it looked as if he was going to have a thought about moving up the inside but the will the BMW was able to count to that so again how close can you get to the back of the BMW now takes the wider entry into ctis makes the undercut on the exit with the BMW but Helen Williams is controlling his exit but look the Gap now almost the thickness of a cigarette paper can’t get any closer without making contact but on the wrong part of the racetrack unless he uses the top speed of the McLaren to good effect but can’t get it done he needs the undercut he needs the inside line up towards Westfield there is a gap but he’s not really able to shove the nose of the McLaren in there against the BMW Williams absolutely on the edge so is Tom gamble huge amount of energy being put into both cars now uh of course one is in the silver cut one is pro and you’re on board with the Pro Cut McLaren this is Sterlings go left Road slightly banged tips you into the corner out the other side and gamble wants to do this on Merit he doesn’t necessarily just want to buy the place on the pit stop into clearways now so he’s not sufficiently close to the rear of the BMW to think about making a move up at the picle band so the Gap you can see that is about four car lengths maybe more his best chance is trying to build a little bit of momentum here get on the throttle a little bit early as we go back to our race leader who’s only got a 2.2 second Advantage right now of Dre spor has been coming down but Ben green still leading the way he has of course not been a winner it’s his first season in the Pro cup and con lalan has not been uh a race winner yet either now in terms of race Pace over the last five laps this car quicker than the leader this car being the BMW of Dre van Thor and uh you can see uh how much quicker it has been of the class average so uh on some laps by quite a margin on other laps by slightly smaller margin but come what may the BMW is the quickest car within the class it’s above the class average and it is bringing down that Gap 2.2 seconds so Ben green the Brit the quick Brit leads we’ve had British winners of Sprint Cup races in the past Michael Meadows Stuart Leonard uh Ricky Collard was the most recent one at nurburg ring foron Marty 2019 it’s been a a long period before and since but uh as Ben green comes across the line in a sense his win is going to be in the hands of constant lapal linan now down Co driver I absolutely right but I think what’s been impressive from Ben green is that he got the advantage into P Hill Bend at the opening lap and he’s been totally unflustered all the way through his drive and he’s seen his lead come from just under 3 seconds now down to 2.1 seconds but he’s not flustered by the fact that he’s being caught the margins of of improvement per lap by Dre van Thor are so incremental that it’s not as if there’s a big surge coming from the BMW it’s small bites every lap and I think that when you see the first of the pit Stoppers entering the pit Lane it will be the Ferrari that is still the race leader overall and that pit window is imminent like 10 seconds or so as the cars then work their way through gra Hill Ben so the next lap pit Lane could well become very busy indeed it doesn’t necessarily matter whether it’s the quicker driver in now or not it’s where they are in traffic charl WT is going to get on board soon I wonder will the garage 59 bring Tom gamble in and put Benjamin GTA in because the only way they’re going to get through those cars is to try and do it again on the entry into the pitch the pitch stop and get back out again so Kell Williams is a wrg BMW driver that car we know will be turned around quickly so that’s the gamble garage 59 might be considering right now Ben green leader is in and you can expect Dre vanan Thor in behind him now is an EML fry racing pit stop as good or better than a wrt pit stop you’re about to find out and this is going to be critical now look the Gap when they came through last time 2 seconds look what it is coming into the pit Lane vanor breaking so much later than green there he’s clawed back most of the time on that alone yeah so I mean this is part of the skill of understanding how you do your pit stop strategy so Dre span four out Charles V gets in waiting to see where the Ferrari is that we’re fractioning maybe a couple of seconds ahead of the BMW in that pit stop so cono app a line that is in behind the wheel but you have to imagine and is that a problem who’s standing by the driver’s door there is our race leader by the way m d the Ferrari is rolling oh BMW have got it done they’ve got the lead so there you go on the pit stops the BMW jumps ahead after all of Ben Green’s work charl wz comes out ahead and a fantastic effort Matthew drudy leads on the road but there number 32 BMW now charl WS 41.7 seconds 43.6 for Emil fry racing I asked the question before the pit stop is it as good as WT no it isn’t look at that for a pit change speed limit speed limit let’s go let’s go we jum him charl wtz new race leader yes made a great job by wrt and just a f within what might be seen as a safe release another couple of tens of seconds it would be maybe deemed unsafe and that would have been a penalty to the wrg team but that is the margin these people are I working to and I mean the signaler on the pit lane exit to say go go go sorry I thought it was Mar Walker there for a minute he got it right did indeed this is the on the road leader Matti ad drudy for the moment and up into second place now will be Maro Engel on the road because that’s Jacko Al coming into the pit Lane and we’ll see where the cono La a l and can do anything about the BMW needing to try to respond so there’s going to be a real jumble of the order for the next few laps whilst these pit stops all cycle through more takers on the next lap as here look nose to tail in the traffic Char WTS getting a bit held up by the Audi and to the inside to the outside goes lapal and determined to try to find a way through the traffic quickly and have a go at the BMW lapal and he’s on the attack yes good job fortunately maybe it assisted by the od’s decision to make the pit stop but lapal may not have been aware of that whether the OD gave any indication on the on his indicators on board he didn’t but there’s the battle which is effectively going be the battle for the lead we’re waiting to see the current leader Mata drudy who started in the front row of the grid who’s yet to make his Pit Stop he’s got a 3.6 advantage over marrow angle yeah lucasa will take over from angle Nicol from Matthew drudy and there look lapal is not getting away making charl W’s work for this race lead isn’t he and that Ferrari that we know has been so quick around here all weekend still looking very racy Maxi Maran there rejoining in the race because he’s taken over from Valentino Rossy aboard 46 and is lapal going to start to drop away maybe he’s just dropped to length or so now perhaps this is where it’s getting into his rhythm and now being able to pull away oh that was all a bit breathless so there are an effect when all the pit stops have been carried out our race leader in second place Maro angle into the pit Lane now you see the Mercedes making its way down remember Maro angle had that very wide entry into pedicle B ran wide got into the gravel would have lost maybe up to 5 Seconds as a consequence but has Consolidated got himself back up and now it is Charlie Eastwood in the 51 Ferrari in the gold category running in second place and leading that category indeed so on these pit stops he’s staying out for longer so sh wtz who as you were suggesting early on John needs a good result after a bit of disappointment in Australia and in France comes up crosses the line and you would say now that he’s sort of sorted out that Ferrari but uh we’ve got Lorenzo Ferrari doing purple sectors now and also a purple sector from Conant lapal linan uh and he is still chasing after sh wit so nothing is settled in this as you look there at San ready to take 30 BMW back into the race the car came off the Jacks it normally that’s a wrg pit stop the car would have been rolling but it just momentarily didn’t so the car is now just literally leaving the pit Lane so I don’t know whether there was an issue from the point when the car came off the Jacks to the point had got to exit the pit Lane through goes the McLaren Benjamin gerter has taken over that so we’ve had nearly all the pit stops and we’ve had a drama there somebody’s been off the road at pad and demolish the corner marker at Druids we’ll try and work out who that is but certainly dramas at Panic Hill B yes let’s have a look and see who is it oh on the outside oh that must be see that’s a Ferrari and I can’t believe it the 99 that’s rard Feller yeah Feller did it first veran followed him and this was how veran saw it yeah the case of feller was snap over steer and the Contra steering the car then just stepped sideways I don’t understand why the Ferrari well it was a sympathy uh or just he felt that was the best Escape Route maybe in the event of a car getting sideways across the track right drudy is in there he is looked to give away to Nicolai Bart there’s a yellow flag house in sector one possibly a legacy of that DeBry on the racetrack and here is Char wz and he’s going to get the lead back and up into second goes lap alinan so number seven Aston Martin there it is in the background falls back into third place which is where it was before the pit stop and then Lucas’s hour is going to be closer interestingly lead in second place to arish sters one from the north one from the south e would often see that at a race no it’s true Charlie East ahead of ree bar uh I hate to ruin this by saying that’s because they yet to stop say it but you’re right you’re right for the moment they are Charlie Eastwood ahead of ree bar but they’ve yet to make their mandatory stops in fact they’re the only two cars 51 Ferrari 57 uh Mercedes that that they are have yet to serve the mandatory stock that’s the race leader then Char wz and Conant lap Al line and 8/10 of a second behind but wz has now done the fastest lap of the race so that lap is 24083 and there is that battle for the lead and the Gap hasn’t slightly reduced it’s difficult to see on that shot as they come out of for Thorns the gap on was 8 a second when they came across start Finish Line to go on this is the 22nd lap that they’re presently on so I think the Ferrari is coming back and V is going to struggle possibly this run of two F cars further up the road for him to clear those cars he’s got to choose the part of the racetrack for his benefits or advantages will outweigh those are the cars that he’s chasing the one of the Mercedes drops in so that’s eased that situation for Charles F so he’s got an as Mar directly ahead and that will be the big ho that lapal lanan will have that it might forall the pace of the BMW but then Ferrari will have to deal with the same issue so lapal Lan on that lap did a 24.3 and WS did a 24 4.6 so the Gap is down slightly and it is down 2596 of a second so this is still game on lap a line and he’s going to have to work incredibly hard to win this race but when it he still could well ultimately I think it’s going to be a race about who manages the traffic the best now these two car directly ahead of think they well everybody in fact has made a pit stop so they’re having their own little battle but they’re at the tail of the field investigations cars 99990 46 speeding in the pit Lane 46 is Valentino Ross’s car uh 99 is the ARA fella car and and that’s mad Pand the other one yeah indeed Alexander Sims and his Paris comp Pang what we don’t know is whether it was pit in or pit out right let’s uh have another eeve drop 32 ice forward let’s do what we can ice forward warning for trap limits going to charl Wiz so he’s got the message and responds and he also now knows that there’s traffic up the road Ricardo fella has done an absolute best first sector great pit St from WT good first in by Dre van th too he’s with Antonio so we’ll go back to that kind of a slight technical drama I think but we’ll go back to Antonio in a minute as you look at WS picking his way through the traffic and also past the debris getting out of the way Matty sore there having taken over from James Jon lap L and much much closer there yeah good work by the ason to let the two lead cars get through and that has drawn I think the Ferrari you’re right to to make the observation that the Ferrari has fractionally close that Gap right now just looking timing and scoring although we saw that off in pill bend a couple of laps ago Ricardo fell just set the fastest sector times sectors one two and I think three our last lap got the fastest race lap 123. there’s also a battle building for third place Nicola B being caught by Lucas hour so that Gap uh between third and fourth is about 1110 the second that is the laed Aston of Matty sore so we’ve got the lead battle going on uh let’s see if we can hear this time from Dre van Thor after that Mega first in okay Dre let’s try that again you had an incredible first in there and left the car in P1 yeah I mean it was a it was a funny first uh beginning of the S the the pressure a bit low so I needed a couple of laps to get them in the to get them up to the right pressures but as soon as it was I was there and the car was feeling quite nice so uh yeah I was trying to to hunt down the FR they fast but I tried to be as consistent as possible to to get the Gap as close as possible and then on the in laap I had a good in laap and then uh he he was quite slow on the entry of the pit Lane to be honest so I gained quite a lot of time there and uh yeah the boys again big credits as well to the team because they again did a fantastic pit stop we got them in the pit Lane um so it’s also a big thanks to them well let’s hope we’re seeing you on the top step of that Podium later thank you well right now 5 Second Time penalty took uh six 69 for causing a collision with car 159 in turn three during the first lap right that’s 69 TI V Mullan it was jao Al at the time but a 5 time pen being added added to the final racing D just a small thing but look at the right front of the intake or the left front of the intake oh Scott there was a bit of maybe paper or bit of plastic I don’t know what was covering up what might have been the air intake to the the left front break that’s just disappeared under breaking into Dr so delete delete delete and there look the uh marker board that was demolished at Paddock up to Druids has been caught by Nicolai Bart’s Aston that’s going to do a power of no good to the cooling of the Aston Martin look because it’s effectively choking it off it’s like wearing a face mask now he can’t really breathe through the front of the car so the pace is eving away from the Aston and you can see how much closer Lucas hour is getting well that’s never a good thing that mean virtually all the air int takes that’s not just to the engine but to the cooling and the brakes as as well so that’s oh there that’s what’s happened it happened on the exit of sterlings we thought juming up into Dru it it’s happened on the exit of sterlings that’s why he’s carrying around chunks of P staring in the front of the car is he coming in I think he thought about it he certainly backed off and allowed the Mercedes to go through and maybe he just m the P missed the pit Lane entry or the dials have suddenly gone off the clock uh because that car has kind of got into Lim hobo and I rather fear that the car is overheated to the degree now that nicolar is just going to have to limp around but you’re right that would have been the ideal time to come into the pit Lane so that puts Lucas AR up into third place I tell you what msv who run br’s hatch are going to look at their bank accounts and think where is all our poar in the corner markers where have they gone well there they are some that’s pulling off that’s sad that is really sad and that surely is overheating all gone so uh the uh pace of the ason Martin I’m afraid to say is out of the race now and so we’ve lost Matthew drudy and Nicola Bart as the order is we it’s lapal Lan and Lucas our and with that car parked Druids a yellow flag is being shown there lots of grass in the front of uh Lorenzo Ferrari’s Audi a real shame for the Aston with that I’m assuming it’s overheating having had good Pace in mat dru’s hands early on well I tell you think pan will fill up your radiator intakes Ferraris Audi again you at the grass as that these cars are so temperature sensitive that anything getting into that air intake is not good for the engine temperatures the oil temperatures arguably maybe into the air intakes for the brakes but look at the Polar Star in on the exit of sterlings it’s almost like Christmas has arrived and it’s snowing that’s right so there Lorenzo Ferrari coming through under attack from tierry ver Mullan who’s got this Damian penalty to to be added on at the end of the race and then uh Ricardo Feller is behind so this is for at the moment uh fourth place in the Pro Cut because they all gain now with the demise of number seven ason Martin which he stopped up at this next Corner heading up the hill that’s where I assumed the PO starring had come from but there’s even more of it as we’ve been witnessing out of sterlings there’s going to be much sweeping of the circuit before the next support race here but will we see a f Corell to get that Aston it’s not in a dangerous position but it’s not on the position you want to leave it in the event of An Occurrence up into Druid so uh there’s a yellow flag in that sector one so no overtaking in particularly up the hill into Druids but again the grass in the front of Lorenzo Ferrari’s Audi I mean how long can he continue to do that and maybe he’s just not looking at the presets on the she’s just thinking I’ll put a blinker on 46 where is Maxim Mar in 11th place it’s just 9/10 of a second Max there’s Valentino studying the timing and scoring that’s the car he’s chasing the Mad Panda Mercedes and we’ got Alexander Sim behind the wheel so there is number 90 going through Ezekiel Perez compan with Alexander Sims who’s uh returning to Sprint Cup and we are going to go full course yellow in 10 seconds that’s to get the Aston out of the way and there some slow before others number six there Luca enler he’s just on the pit stops got into the lead of the gold cut we’ve had a change for the lead of gold he’s moved ahead of 111 Simon gash at the wheel of it and there is the number six Audi new to the championship the uh Team of Licky Molly enler with the uh one group engineering Ron hartelt company and uh their aim for the weekend when we ask Ron hartelt yesterday I said are you after a position or what what what’s the the aim of the weekend he said respect we want to prove that we deserve to be here and I think based on the performance right now in livetime they’re earning that absolutely they’re winning the class I mean what better debut fantastic effort Luca Anga coming here on the back of a DTM win uh last week now this is how all of that Pol staring arrived on the circuit so have a look where’s the Aston there’s the Aston boom absolutely demolishes that board so that was Nicola Bart he very nearly had to pay to get back on the racra didn’t he but all the hoarding is absolutely demolished and uh me honestly I me it all goes look you almost that’s got to be a video for your Christmas card list I mean not of you own those signs of course but I mean to see the slowmo just capturing every facet of all that poar and going up in the air and falling I mean wonderful but um look at the RAC track it’s a mess up at Druid it’s now a mass over at Sterlings it’s like a a sort of GT3 pinata isn’t it with being smashed as Smither so there we’re not uh safety car yet but we might be depending on how long the full course yellow period lasts and charl WTS conel lalan are together there is Eve wtz looking on we are into the last 20 minutes of the race and we are going to go safety car now safety car conditions so this will let everybody close up and this is maybe Charles V’s not say nightmare but not what he had hoped for because he was keeping the Ferrari at Bay now the Ferrari is going to be right on the rear of the the BMW the advantage will be with Charles vets when the track does go back to green racing but he’s going to have the Ferrari that little bit closer than it’s been ever since he got behind the wheel it kind of throws a lifeline to Lucas AR in third place in the yellow Mercedes but there will be at least two bat markers between him and the second place Conant lapal who I think I’m right in saying is going to be on for his best ever a finish anyway if he stays second but he wants a win as charl wtz then comes up over the timing line what we don’t yet know is how many safety car laps there will be but the Aston pretty swiftly out of the way for me the question will be who’s going to be on their toes quicker than their opposition when there’s the Aston B being removed from the racetrack when this track goes back to green and I suppose based on experience and ability you have to think that Charles V is in that P seat oh sorry in that Euro seat these days so safety car is in this lap good job by up at drw to get the ason cleared they’re still the field filing their way through they haven’t closed up quite quite maybe as much but there is the gap between first second and third with the Lamborghini between second and third place so I think that pavu will get out of the way as quickly as possible and and let Lucas hour have a pop so B green looking on am I going to be second am I going to be the winner we said in stint one it was out of his hands it was down to his co- driver conso lapal and that is exactly the case safety car in this time there number 30 BMW that’s second within the silver cup and it’s Han at the wheel of the car shl WTS edging right edging left getting the warmth back into the parelli rber and look two bat markers Marcus pav and mat lore ahead of Lucas interesting what grean thought said in his interview I alluded to the fact that the BMW needed to get its tires up to temperature to really come alive what drean 4 said was I need to get my tire pressures up to the working pressure for the car to come alive now because we’ve had full corello and safety car for the last what two and a bit three laps the pressures will drop away again as the temperature falls down that will maybe have a bigger effect for Charles vits than it will have for laan and behind in the again something for ver to have to think through to protect his lead when this goes green and we’re about to go green as the exit are clearways so the green flag is ready at the start line the green flags are being waved you can’t overtake until you get to the timing line but it is blast off and a good restart by shl wz but is it a good enough restart by constant lapal to try to close that Gap back in in the first sector of the lap we’re racing again with just over 16 minutes on the clock as they head up towards turn one Lucas Al throwing this Lifeline he has got to get through the traffic here so on board with the Ferrari and that’s a battle that’s going on just say for Fifth and fourth fifth and sixth place so Froman up the inside running trying to get onto the back of luaz hours Mercedes and contact between the Ferrari and the Audi and the Ferrari’s been almost forced wi as at last a position I think it has so the mull losing out to Ricardo Feller there he is on the inside line look Ricardo Feller goes by wi here last year Well Ricardo Feller ain’t going to been any walk in the park to get back on terms with because he does currently have the fastest St of the race true enough and don’t forget this safety C period has been a real kick in the you know whats for number 69 Ferrari because of that 5-second penalty to add at the end of the race with everybody bunched up 5 seconds are going to drop you further oh I know just compound upon itself and I’m talking about compounding and time up the inside to defend 21 a mountain is more so it’s all a bit sort of squeaky you know what up the inside into Sheen ason being hung out to drive out the 69 Ferrari and wow it’s messy Lucas our oh wow what a goodness Bodywork coming off the rear of the ason as it ran wide over the exit of sterlings I see lore with the shoulder being forced out of the way uh you saw Benjamin Gerson making his way through on the traffic as well so charl wtz comes across the line the race leader half a second to the good that’s Lucas going through in third place fourth fifth sixth next in the que Ferrari fella ver Mullan and a big send on the inside there looked by Maxi martan gets up past his teammate s Dean wrt BMWs both that was a change for 10th place and change for 11th imminent as well because Luca ener on the inside line the licky Molly Audi goes through yeah and you see gash likewise trying to slip behind or slip ahead of the BMW enler did a good job I mean I’m very impressed with the way that the AUD right now enler number six has of that team has done fella to the inside of his teammate contact and that’s Lorenzo Ferrari being tagged off the race track into the gravel has he got the momentum to get out the other side G dig dig dig he is going to just about make it but Lorenzo Ferrari tumbles down the order that was pretty brutal that’s one description teammate upon teammates one thing I mean you might do it with the opposition but doing on your own teammate okay sometimes you got to do what you got to do and that was a case of Ricardo fella sorry mate I need to get ahead I’m quicker than you yeah but like you say on your teammate you can imagine that attempter that’ll go down like a broken lift w’t it right this is the replay of the move I wonder whe that be observed by the stewards because you can see clearly I mean that was a very forced entry into CES by Ricardo Feller and arguably he wasn’t sufficiently alongside the uh sister car to to claim that corner there we go on board Ricardo feder lobs are down the inside then the doors closed and I’m stuck there of nowhere to go contact fell goes on on ire by that incident I wonder will that be observed I think you’re probably right I don’t think we’ve heard the last of that right shl W 610 of a second to the good so that suggests that the BMW’s tire pressures are back up but lapal and is not fading he’s doing his level best to stay with him heading now into the left of 30 the Grand Pre part of the circuit once more and the incident between the two Audis has been noted in race control 13 minutes to go on this lap for 4,000 quicker in sector one the BMW over the Ferrari that’s all just 4,000 so I just wonder at this phase which of these two cars the BMW or the Ferrari which is going to deliver the performance discount the two drivers you have to say that maybe Charles V overall with the success he’s enjoyed with wrt is the one you would put your money on but right now oh look up the inside Maxi Mar chasing chasing peras compact trying to go a long way around but he’s decided the better rob it into Shen curve when he think about doing something into Sterlings very difficult place to do it wisely doesn’t so we start the preparation to make a move can’t do it into Clark or clearways but might be able to do it on the exit up into padic as Paris compound running in the Pro cup Maxim Martin likewise and this is an on track fight for eth overall with stretching the advantage 8/10 last time around over the timing line goes the BMW closing up under breaking heading into towards Pak hillbend Cesar Gazo incidentally is sixth overall there for boots and VDS he’s under attack from Benjamin Gerta but comfortably leading silver as Sam Dean was being forced back through the traffic a couple of laps ago and Luca Ena leading in gold from Simon gash’s Audi which is there so there’s one car between those two as well to give Ena a little bit of protection so people sorting themselves out literally there’s a group of six seven cars coming through gra Hill band all jockeying for positions thean we see there in the BMW currently 11 and then he’s got gash Dono the 71 Ferrari we saw was blindingly quick with Dono behind the wheel of practice and pre-qualify the Porsche we haven’t seen it talked about it what we did briefly on the opening lap yeah for the wrong reasons uh Sven Miller has got the car up into 18th Place and might gain before the end of course everybody all in the line uh that late race safety car period of the bunching means that there’s no real chance of traffic to help constant line because I don’t think they’re going to need to think about that markers before the checker flag unless somebody has an off and falls out of sequence just to show how bigger penalty it was for that contact between Ricardo fella and Lorenzo Ferrari Lorenzo Ferrari is now all the way back in 20th position whereas oh dear me Por on the inside yeah that was Müller getting involved with Hugo Kirk in the silver Audi he’s gone by but it all got a bit Larry now Magnus Gustafson in the white Mercedes comes through as well so hug go cook the man from North witch near Alon Park got a bit roughed up there didn’t he it did just to go back Ricardo fella who managed to by D to being a bit of a bully up the inside into 30 he’s in fourth position his teammate demoted all the way down to 20th that’s the that’s the penalty that has been uh inflicted upon the 88 Audi the sister car to the car that is currently in fourth of 99 there’s quite a good battle going on here not to be L whoops big big slide by the Aon I was going to say it is between Marcus p Matty sore now look at this this is Maxi Maran on his toes as up the inside line there goes Benjamin Gerta that’s for sixth overall Gerta goes ahead of Cesar Gazo who keeps his class lead and Maran has cleared compan and that’s a car Dage 59 McLaren that was a car also opening LP was elbowed out on the bottom of GRA Hill Bend that’s gradually gradually driving its way back up into sixth place could have been a contender certainly for a Podium had that contact not occurred in the opening lap on board with the McLaren so this islay have a little look and catching catching catching catching catching pulls out gets alongside gets The High Ground on the entry into Hawthorns all of a sudden and that was sort of a no brainer once go had got himself alongside it was his Corner race lead gap down slightly last time and as the Ferrari number 71 goes through that is Alis odono who is now third in Silvera and as John was rightly saying has looked very very quick all weekend Tom Fleming started the car but he was a bit M down on the grid Tom having had a couple of Ferrari challenge UK wins here a fortnite or so ago and there is oh off in the the gravel at pad at Mattis lisar we’ve got8 minutes on the clock that’s going to have to be a full course yellow to get the car out of the way this might even mean we go to the end under safety car because that might take a few minutes I think it was that car we saw coming out of GRA Hill bend a lap early that looked well off the pace when that you can see well and truly off the line coming into Paddock Bend got back onto the black stuff but the just the momentum carried it into the gravel that was the one that had broken bits of its diffuser off ear clearly wasn’t sticking to the ground as well to give leem some credit for the incident if you fair but again whether that led to him being so far offline now are they going to leave the car there and are we going to go to a full cell look I can’t believe we’re going to keep it there to the end but the race control team under the leadership of Alan Ador doal will have a look and decide whether safety car is needed or a full course yellow to get the flags out it’s going to be a full course yellow in 10 seconds then full course yellow full course yellow comes so full course yellow uh by the race director so first thing slow everybody down then you can get the car out of the gravel they need to do this quickly with 7 and a half minutes on the clock so this is where the recovery going on 21 in turn one this is where the recovery crew are going to have to really be quick yeah it depends where the snatch vehicle is located in relation to where the ason is in the gravel at Paddock they’ve got to get that car out of the gravel get it away to somewhere where there’s an entry point around the the number of entry points around the circuit where cars can be placed we saw the sister car of Nicholas B being taken away up into entry into Druids I don’t know whether there’s one behind where the 21 ason is I suspect there is it might take well we’ve got 7 minutes remaining we might get one flying lap it’s hard to tell they just hopefully get the car quickly as possible removed now on the graphic you can see the console laal and again above average in terms of his Pace quicker than the average in the class uh there’s the safety car getting itself to the uh head of the key ready to go safety car in the meantime let’s hear from Ben green with Antonio Ben you did absolutely everything you could have except maybe breaking a little bit later coming into the pits No I gave it everything um it was really uh everything on the limit the tires were completely done by the end of the stint even though it’s such a short stint uh we have to be so aggressive with the car and um yeah I pushed as much as I could Dre is obviously catching me towards the end so pressure was on but I think we did the maximum we could well we’ve got another safety car here do you think that could be good for you getting that P1 back to be honest uh it hasn’t been helping us I think we had a nice Gap to P3 and now that’s just completely gone so let’s see the last few laps could be quite exciting um so hopefully we go forwards well close in front and behind thank you interesting questions Antonio asked about will you slew under the pit Lane mate I was on the Limit Oh well Dre fan Thor said you were slow it’s a little bit of psychology goes on you know off the racetrack both drivers playing their play just to try and put the other procedure safety C procedure I mean In fairness we we know how that Gap came down we saw it come down at pit in just so much later on the breaks was Dre van Thor but even so even allowing for that the a frame Pit Stop was slower anyway yes but the point I’m making is Ben green was never going to concede that he was sow into the pit L I agree that’s is where this interplay between this no I wasn’t slow but you were caught we could see it but I was on the limit my tge were whatever yeah all right safety car as you’ve seen and there’s the Aon nearly out of the way so there is a little uh access cut through so the car can be taken out of the way we might get a couple of racing laps in which will be great and Lucas hour for second place is a real possibility here I tell you what Ricardo fell wouldn’t dismiss either for a py impossibility because we’ve seen how ruthless he could be when an opportunity presents itself he’s got the Mercedes directly ahead of him we know the pace that car’s got result from qualifying for the race too when he’s on p position that’s right my only fear for fella is anything that comes out of the sewers room post race yes but that’s what happens in real time he’s got to go out find a way to get around the 48 Mercedes that’s going to be the final Podium position holder and the other car that has got a 5sec penalty tiry ver Mulan uh uh is fifth on the racetrack uh but if you add the penalty he’s going to drop down hugely he’s uh going to this bunching that goes on really going to struggle to stay in the top 10 I would have thought right lights on on the safety car how’s the clear up operation doing at Paddock Hill Bend oh the Aston has been put down on the floor again rather than through the Gap as far as I can see out of our cometary booth window no further investigation necessary for an in between Maxi martan and teammate at wrt Sam danan but the Audi story has not yet uh finished I don’t think Cesar Gazo is your silver cap leader and they’re new for this year our Lamborghini safety car accelerating out of Clark curve up towards the line and charl wtz the driver of the first race car in the que Con laal in second Lucas a third Ricardo fella fourth Jeran fifth on the road and Benjamin go to six that’s a good recovery excellent just before the race got underway I was standing beside the safety car taking a couple of sort of happy snaps for a friend and there’s a young boy maybe five sixy old boy came along the door was open and you want to see his face his eyes when he looked at her he was absolutely couldn’t believe his love great to see a young man young child being having a dream fulfilled he happened to have a toy of a Lamborghini in his pocket apparently as well made his day and did he meet you as well the No No they’re more important people around than me okay okay he says bashfully right lot of weaving going on not only to keep the warm fair but the pressure’s up as well safety car in at the end of this lap so we’ve got just under 3 minutes on the clock it could be one lap it might be two there’s confirmation safety car in this time then wtz lap a line and hour it’s going to be a really Frantic Finish to the race well Charles wz did an excellent job on the restart when we had the the First full cier low safety car intervention and there’s no reason to believe he’s not going to over repeat that the Gap as they came across the line okay behind the safety car and Maro angle having another look always cool cool guy marrow angle uh looking at the 48 and lookas hour and the Gap is well that’s what’s irrelevant 710 of a second Lucas AR needs to get that car right on the tail now those fingernails he’s having a chew on or is that something we I think his fingernails could have been a fingernail he slow it down slow it right down wait wait wait laan you’ve got to be watching the back of that BMW like you’ve never watched it before which is about to pull the pin let’s quickly hear 32 is radio traffic uh yes you would have to slow it down by 10 seconds but you can only do that once safety car lights are out and you control the pack need to slow it down by 10 seconds to take the wh LA and by slowing it down by 10 seconds that means there’ll be just one more lap of the race so they’ve worked out that he only has to defend for one lap not two again look that’s why this team wins races yeah theyve worked it out they’ve got a strategic team base there he goes plug out and where where is the Ferrari well not a bad start but Lucas hour actually did a better job I think than lapal and did in and restarting and then fourth place Ricardo fella but it’s a potential opportunity lucasa to take or steal that second place from cast laal totally agree so brilliant restart by Sha wit great teamwork by wrt to work out how to lose a lap out of the race if You’ like and therefore have less time to have to defend that lead 10 second to count 94 speeding in the pit Lane M pan Time 5 Second to car 99 speeding in the pit Lane 99 is Ricardo fella so one penalty for the pit Lane there might be another one for on the track right this is Fella he’s on the back of our and lapal line that I will off you is having a red hot go at the leader because the Gap is coming down a little bit but I do feel lapal line and may well run out of time here Char WS controlling the pace up towards the end this is going to be another demon race seemingly for wrt it was a lean year last year this is looking pretty good it would be a 17th Sprint win for Dre van Thor and a 14th for Char WS if this comes to pass well it’s all on Charles V’s hands he’s got what three corners to navigate and then it’ll be the Checker Flags so up over Shin curve but if the Ferrari has closed up in that sort of third of the three final corners but no it’s not as Charles v’s rais and laal has done a great job it’s now rard fell again too far behind Lucas La in the Mercedes in third place so there nothing gained nothing lost checker flag at the ready the first race of the Sprint Cup season one by BMW by wrt by Dre van Thor and sha wtz they win at Brown’s hatch ahead of con lalan and Ben green Lucas hour takes third with Maro Engel and then there’ll be some shuffling behind because the order they come across the line in has got a few penalties to apply I think the big winners of the penalties are going to be Benjamin Gerta and Tom gamble they’ll be up to Fourth and Ben green happy with second but thinking if only if only if only so near and yet so far from a race win well let’s will have been learned and your your your techniques of a pit stop that’s just what you do away from a RAC trck you do it in the workshop you just do it time Upon Time upon time to the point you get to the metronomics ability of the WR wrg team and very rarely is this team beaten in the pit Lane Pit Stop driver change refueling whatever well there’s number 32 BMW there is Dre banor a delighted man and yeah again just an excellent way of understanding the regulations knowing how to win a race and and charl wit being Guided by the engineers to slow it right down to lose 10 seconds to make sure that they only had to defend for one more lap take that opportunity away from am fry racing uh in the Gold Cup Luca enler and Matt Hoffer not only the winners but seventh overall brilliant effort that when he put the penalties into account there seventh overall second in Gold Simon gash and Lucas leer from Poland the class and third jel Magnus and Paul Evra Silva a win for Cesar Gazo and oreli and pan from sandan and Callum Williams and the third of the silvers Tom Fleming and Elis odono well considering people say you can’t overtake around here there was a fair bit of overtaking and some really good racing as well I think with a very good race and was a lot of contact I with the two safety car interventions but overall I we had a close good racing all the way through the field not just at the front speeding in theit lane and 46 get 5c now well I was about to tell you they were fifth but they won’t be now if that penalty is applied right out gets charl witz and after a a tough start to his season that’ll matter psychologically completely he would able to get out of the car go away relax with the team have a little bit of light lunch have a debrief as well there they are and Charles V he needed a result he knew that he had a difficult start at the season and not always his fault what happened in Paul R he got a tire cut down but he came back quickly and the tire just flared to run tore the left rear corner off the car and the car ultimately was retired because lapal and with his best finish but still frustrated that it wasn’t a win no he did a he did an excellent job but at the pace these two lead cars were running out look you can even see the forehead that’s a lot of efforts gone in to Charles V’s drive so I mean it’s not a warm day we’re not like we’re racing in moano on the heat of the summer but still a lot of effort had to go in well two very happy drivers then sh wits and Dre vanor let’s go to the pit Lane in a moment because Antonia Rankin is down there she’s got charl she’s got Dre and they are our first Sprint Cup race winners of 2024 guys congratulations for starters what an excellent show of teamwork I mean stolen in the first and then solidified in the second you must be over the moon yeah very very happy I mean as we know it’sit top are critical here in Sprint um and once again this this Victory is of course thanks to our great qualifying from Dre but also thanks to an amazing job from the from the guys in the pit stop to jump the the Ferrari because they were also very quick as we could see and I think it was been difficult to take them on track to be honest so uh this was this Victory is really thanks to thanks to them we still have one race to go this afternoon so it’s a great first uh first part of the weekend let’s say Dre was there any moment watching those restarts after the safety car where you were sweating watching from the pit Lane uh no I mean I know Charles uh is used to those to those to those things to those restarts so uh know I did well uh for sure it’s not always I mean it’s it’s always much more relaxing if if we can just go to the end without any saf to C but he did well so uh the last one we just to time a bit right to have one lap but he did that well so nothing to nothing to add well congratulations enjoy your moment guys they’re back the three time Sprint Cup champion charl witz and Dre van Thor claiming honors in this first race perfect drop down teamwork Pace everything yeah I mean well this is the last race this driver fairing will have done this morning they’ve got to go again this afternoon and this car the 32 BMW is going to start on the fifth R the grid Charles F qualified it didn’t manage to qualify as well as his teammate they’re going to have an entirely different afternoon to the morning they’ve had here at branch and could it have been a different story had the Maxi GS TR G or Mercedes been in the race possibly I think it would have struggle to make up from the sick throw but uh a great drop down certainly by Char witz and Dre van for winners once more win number 17 for Dre 14 for Char ws and I haven’t got time to do the calculations for WT they’ve had so many wins in classes into account as well it goes on and on and on uh but the BMW then a car that perhaps it took Drees span 4 and shits a little bit longer to get a handle on last year having been so used to the Audi uh but with a year of racing it now and all that experience they’ve come out fighting for 2024’s first race so photographs taken for our Sprint Cup overall race winners the class winners will be presenting themselves as well the podium beckons as well uh in his trademark flat cap V Vos he all smiles in the background what about gold what a debut for Luca Anga and also Max Hofer congratulations guys you made up a few places there and ended up with a fantastic result yeah I think we can be happy with where we came from actually and first weekend for Anga Motorsport by L Molly so yeah there’s still something to improve and we know that but I mean we were lucky we didn’t do any mistakes and that’s why we gained some positions at the end I mean the Audi seemed to do very well in your class today did the car feel good yeah car was good obviously still a lot of homework for for us as a team um but it’s a journey that we are starting so yeah happy to be here obviously it’s good for the team they’ve been working very hard but obviously it’s not let’s say the final goal to be to be here obviously we still uh want to chase the big boys but yeah all good so far great congratulations guys thank you well for a team that came here looking for respect they’ve got a class win first time out perfect absolutely that’s what you call a good news story Maro Engel looking at the front of his car third uh in the end number 48 Mercedes the penalty for martan and Rossy puts them 15th the penalty for ver Mullan and for Al 11th and Ricardo Fell’s two penalties uh 10th place it’s being shown as that car yes I mean I mean that 9 should have been potentially a Podium winner but uh because of incidents it’s dropped its way all the way down to 10th now what about the silver winners Cesar Gazo and aurelian panis fifth overall and a class win in this first Sprint Cup race there with Anton Alan I’ll come to you first You’ve Won here before is it just a sweet this time yeah yeah really happy with this first race first victory in silver cup for us um it was a goal but yeah it was a a great race great race from Cesar also in second Ste because was not easy with two safety cars so really happy and really good result overall I think we end up P5 so it’s really really good for the team for everybody I’m just really happy here and say yeah just just like our alien said you did a really great job of controlling your race in the second stin yeah it was it was the main uh the main thing that I I had in mind was controlling the race uh don’t take any risk but it was stressful and the end with the safety cut was not easy to to manage but it was really amazing I’m really happy with the the work of the team with the pit stop so now we need to enjoy theam and be focused for the race too congratulations guys for now so good uh result for one side of the boots and VDS garage not a great result for the pro Cup car didn’t even start just did that formation lap and then retired uh so never actually got into the race and that will be a massive disappointment and there’ll be an awful lot of questions being asked as to what happened there right penalties to be applied and once that has been done a race order that is provisionally like this re van Thor and charl WTS win by 6/10 of a second from Van green and conell laal Maro Angel and Lucas hour take third from Tom Gamble and Benjamin Gerta good recovery that ahead of aelian panis and say I go Gazo your silver winners and then the gold winners are six Max hoer and luuka Anga call Williams and Sans seventh from leure and gash a Fleming gono and ARA and fella 10th in the end with their penalty Christopher harasser and Lorenzo Ferrari 17th after the contact that put the car off the road uh not a great race for comp to you with two of its cars the retirements and the non-starter from boots and BDS so a pretty Torrid race uh for one of the favorite cars as far as not just race results but the championship outcome was uh concerned free event G goon two Factory drivers people thought y that’s going to be hard to beat but the net result was the car didn’t even get into the race let’s look at the highlights of race one it was a great start by Ben Green from pole position with an inside line Claim by Dre van th that put the BMW second as they dive through Panic Hill Ben for the first time only for Matthew Drey to fight back on the outside and they traded second around the first lap of there was contact tierry vulin and jaff outway Ferrari getting into the back of Tom Gamble’s McLaren outway c a penalty for it gamble dropped way way down the order and then Patrick nouser got it all wrong going into CS flew off the road all over the grass and that put the car into last place B for finally made the move coming out of Clark curve and he was ahead as they got to the timing line for second place and then he started to attack that Gap to Ben green he brought the gap down and down it was two seconds before they pitted but with Dre V FL breaking much much later at pit in he closed right up and then a faster pit stop then the BMW Le frogged the Ferrari on pit exit BMW was ahead as then tierry B ran off the road a pad at Ricardo fella having done likewise in the Audi so two cars slightly delayed we then had a safety car period to retrieve uh the part cont you Aston Martin of Nicol B from Druids and on the restart Ricardo fella made a move against Lorenzo Ferrari teammate on teammate and the contact five for Ferrari through the gravel and that wasn’t our only safety car period the second one was for yes a come to as Martin Matty Sison in the gravel at Paddock and it was just a one lap restart beautifully controlled by Sha wtz as he came through to score victory in the first Sprint Cup race of the year the wrt for BMW sha witz and Dre fan for win at Brown’s hatch that’s always not a season f good job guys good job one to go that’s a good start amazing B stop amaz good yeah it was a great pit soot for sure and that’s again something we always know wrt is so so good at mean we’ve seen this we’ve seen the season in season out and everybody else in the pit Lane knows that this team really is the one to to measure yourself against and there are other great pit stops throughout the pit Lane but we were focusing on that battle for first and second and that battle was one first of all on the entry into the pit Lane but then actually when the cars were at a standstill wrt did the better of the two stops well the drivers are going to go to the podium three podiums because there’s Pro which is overall there’s gold and the silver and the cars there in the pit Lane happy teams happy drivers uh there a very busy support program of races at Brown’s hatch but the circuit quiet for the moment just while GT cars are retrieved and the track cleared as well of the demolished marker boards there is the BR hatch Podium which the race Control building on the left as you look the media center on the right and the uh drivers make their way into race control up stairs and as soon as everybody has been round it up then out they will come with the pro cup drivers the top three uh positions claimed overall race two as John has said is’s going to come up this afternoon it is a completely different grid based on qualifying race results so those that have had bad luck aren’t compromised from race one quarter pass three will be on air uh with uh a look back at race one and then the buildup for race two but out come Maro Angel and Lucas out your third PA Drivers within uh the pro cup third overall Maro Angel and Lucas are joined by Ben green and coner lapal Lam in one of those close but no cigar if only situations best results for both but not a win but for wrt the team is represented on the Rob cramped Podium and it’s going to get noisier in a moment as the race winners step forward and those race winners are Dre vanth Thor and charl wez the team wrt Dre vanth Thor and charl WTS win at br’s hatch in the Sprint Cup and a great drive by both and a great pit stop helping them on their way the Belgian team victorious in race one of the Sprint Cup season [Music] congratulations Bravo then to Our Winning drivers to Dre van Thor to char witz as vixs outright for team wrt and uh the TR is to be presented then in reverse order by Jeremy Aston Phillips the director of Rover UK Rover motor oil which is the official oil partner nowadays on fitech GT o challenge trophies go to our second crew already in Hand of the third and then he can go to the team and then to the winning drivers but that is in a sense a throwback two years ago and that kind of dominance in Sprint Cup of we Bor WT yes and I mean obviously going from an UD to a BMW it took different philosophy and wrt took a little bit of time to get the head around the the nuances of the BMW it’s a very very sophisticated race car I mean I looked at it this morning and I’m still amazed that this is a GT3 car it’s a total silhouette car I mean it’s such the suspension the braking the interior the Bodywork unbelievable so the drivers pose for photographs and then there some champagne to spray as well so there Dre van Thor already celebrating Char WT biing his time but that as we’ve been saying means a lot that wres a few wrongs after uh some bad luck of late con laal and Ben green certainly working well as a combination already well I I tell you what char Charles V has got more than 75 milliliters of champagne and that btle it B by Magnum or something po Dre fan thought champagne sticky get your eyes smart awful but of course Dre was toled down and dried off by the time he got up on the podium for Char f are still probably leaking perspiration well I hope they’ve got a new set of overalls for this afternoon because they won’t going to go racing stinking of champagne and being wet through so uh one hopes that wrt have got a a suitable system for the drivers to clean and feel fresh and uh have new overalls ready for this afternoon I’m sure they have be well versed in all of this so let’s have a quick look at how are for the uh Pro Cup in Sprint it’s obviously the race results van Thor and WS are your Championship leaders from Green and lapal are and angle third and then Gamble and Gerta are fourth RI and panis and Cesar Gazo fifth look at Angelo Max for sixth and they leave their respective classes of course after their race wins now we have another race to look forward to quarter past three will be on air we’ll see you later in the day for race two goodbye for now more podiums to finish here at Brown’s hatch as part of the opening race of the Sprint Cup season and we are into gold where for third place on the podium are Simone gash and sorry Paul Evra I should say and Magnus for second place Simon gash and Lucas leure and the winners L Ena and Max [Music] [Music] [Music] Hofer a team new to the championship and a very good result first time out for Nicky Molly team enula by one group heartfelt one group engineering company joining forces with France anula’s team and on the back of a DTM win a class win in fitech GT first time out that’s pretty decent isn’t it the trophies is then with the Brand’s hatch circuits adorning them are given to third to second to the winning team and then to the class winners that green flag flattering in front of the camera is to release support race cars from the pit Lane in red us for their uh 20-minute blast around the circuit and in a moment drivers will be uh on the photographs have all been done celebrate with that champagne but that will be a real boost to the Anga team when coming in and taking a win first time out I me you couldn’t have a better dream I mean it was a dream when they arrived at br’s hatch there they are on the winners Podium they’ve won their category the gold category I mean how much better can it get in race two this afternoon all they’re going to do is focus on winning their category once again might be slightly more challenging because it depends on what will happen in that one hour later today it’s beginning actually to Cloud over quite a lot considering how be was maybe an hour and a bit ago here at BR hatch whether that’s going to be a factor or not we have to wait well we have the silver drivers still to come but we’ll celebrate their achievements a little later on after a great first race here at BR hatch we’ll see you for race two later in the day bye for now
27 Comments
Give Thibault a raise please
28:05
Been there
Why the F do they keep showing us someone in the pits. It is like watching a movie with adverts all the time! Why not just let us watch the action on the track.
BMW 🎉🎉🎉
rossi outclassed by silver and gold drivers
I haven't heard John Watson's voice since the mid 90's while he was commentating F1 on Eurosport! I'm so happy I heard him! 🙂
Great GT racing!!!
Amateur hour at Aston Martin 🤕
Only 1 Porsche? The Wright Motorsports is super competitive, why so few 911's here?
Enzo Ferrari's Audi sounds wild lol
the Aston trying to eat the marker board…
the excitement of car racing is just isn't there ,, motor racing is suffering from excessive regulation
Hey Im new to gt racing… wasnt it 1 hour and a lap? Why did they end the race a lap earlier???
I was there today with my wife and Boys. Fantastic track action, we met most of the drivers. Got loads of signed goodies. Cars looked and sounded amazing. Can’t wait to go again 👍🏻👍🏻
donde puedo verlo en español
i like f1 but now i loooove gt👍❤️❤️
The top comments on races like these are always complaints, appreciate that you get free racing on YouTube every week! And if you must criticize, do it constructively.
Mega race!
Great Race !!!! Great broadcast as always something New to learn!!!❤
hi…they just don t want anybody misbehaving or over fishing the area,,,,please re apply for fishing permits and maps of safe sea lanes so people can travel..maybe organize some co operative patrol schedules….maritime boat licencing.. and lot s of fun….thank you….
FELLER is like lightning every time in that AUDI .
cars are too slow
John Watson, real legend. That Brabham Alfa too, what a sight. Race of Champions '77 still firmly in head, the 12 pot Alfa sound equally etched. The guy a true gent too, v complementary about the food I cooked him during the French GP at Ricard '90.
Is that jackie stewart commenting?
mega
This race reminds me of some of the sim racers in ACC, as at time it gets crazy like this <3 GT3's..Great race!