The Mamba bites in England

WINWARD Racing Team MANN-FILTER made a perfect start at the opening round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup powered by AWS at Brands Hatch in Great Britain. On the German-Texan team’s debut in this part of the GT World Challenge, which consists of five sprint and five endurance events, Lucas Auer (29, Kufstein) and Maro Engel (38, Monaco) celebrated a win and a third place in their Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the striking yellow and green of MANN-FILTER. Their team-mates Reece Barr (24, Ireland) and Magnus Gustavsen (23, Norway) finished seventh and fifth in the two races in the sister car in the Silver Cup, which is reserved for drivers with the FIA Silver rating.

Practice on the 3.9-kilometre former Grand Prix circuit near Fawkham in the county of Kent already went well for WINWARD Racing. While Maro Engel set fifth on the grid in qualifying for race 1, Luggi Auer put the “MANN-FILTER Mamba” on pole for the second race straight afterwards.

From WWR’s point of view, the first one-hour race on Sunday lunchtime went very well. After Engel had escaped the scramble of the 25 GT3 cars from eight different brands unscathed at the start, the Munich-born driver settled into sixth place in the leading group. Thanks to a perfectly timed and executed tyre and driver change, Engel’s partner Auer found himself fourth after the mandatory stop. The Tyrolean’s pressure on the car ahead then paid off: after an off, the Aston Martin running ahead of Auer clogged its air intakes with foam so badly that it had to retire, clearing the way to the podium for the Mamba without a fight.

Four hours later everything went even more smoothly. Polesitter Luggi Auer took off like a rocket from the start. After just two laps the driver from Kufstein had built a lead of 1.6 seconds over his nearest pursuer and then extended it by an average of three to four tenths per lap. Only once he had a cushion of around six seconds did Auer ease off a little and manage the gap so that he could give his team the chance of a perfect strategy.

The WINWARD squad took that chance, leaving the Mamba out longer than the competition, but not so long that they could close up on fresh tyres. After another perfect tyre change, Maro Engel rejoined with a lead of 4.6 seconds over second place and never let the attacking Ferrari get closer than three seconds. The dominant win of the number 48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 was never in danger again.

At the finish both drivers were overjoyed but rather short of words. “What can I say? The car, the strategy, the stop – all mega,” was the beaming Auer’s brief verdict. With the two podiums, the WWR drivers took the lead in the Sprint Cup of the Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS.

Things did not quite go to plan for the Silver Cup duo on the demanding rollercoaster track outside London. In the first race, Barr and Gustavsen initially crossed the line 16th overall and fifth in the Silver Cup, but then received a time penalty for exceeding track limits and dropped back to 19th overall and seventh in the Silver Cup. In the second race, Gustavsen was spun round by an overeager rival at the exit of the Druids hairpin on lap three and fell back well behind the rest of the field. Undeterred, the Scandinavian set off in pursuit again; by the finish Gustavsen and Barr had fought their way up to 19th and fifth in the Silver Cup.

WWR team principal Christian Hohenadel was full of praise: “The whole team did outstanding work all weekend. Luggi and Maro had the second race under control at all times. I take my hat off to everyone who contributed. Reece and Magnus didn’t have as much luck, but that’s sometimes part of it. Both made a great debut for WINWARD Racing, though. I’m completely satisfied.”

The second event of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup powered by AWS takes place on 17/18 May at Misano in Italy. On the circuit near Rimini both races are held on Saturday. The second race only starts at 9 pm, so it runs into darkness.