GT World Challenge | Garage 59 and Emil Frey win, Sprint Cup title continues with eight teams

The weekend started with immediate Dutch success. Morris Schuring claimed his maiden GT World Challenge pole position in Saturday’s opening qualifying session, putting the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche at the front of the grid with a 1:33.730. Tom Fleming lined up alongside him in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren, just 0.101 seconds behind.

Several of the Sprint Cup title contenders found themselves much further down the order. Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing qualified only 27th, while the championship-leading #32 Team WRT BMW started from 33rd.

Schuring’s advantage disappeared almost immediately when the race got underway. Fleming stayed close to the Porsche through the opening corners before passing at Gerlach and taking control at the front.

Garage 59 briefly came under pressure during the pit-stop phase, but Louis Prette emerged with the lead intact after taking over from Fleming. He kept Dorian Boccolacci behind during the second stint to secure Garage 59’s first overall victory of the season.

The result also marked a first for the championship, with Prette and Fleming becoming the first Gold Cup pairing to win a Sprint Cup race outright.

Schuring and Boccolacci finished second, while Vermeulen and Ben Green completed the podium for Emil Frey Racing after an impressive late charge. Green passed Simon Birch and Ricardo Feller in the closing stages to move the #69 Ferrari into third.

Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing also produced a strong recovery. Dani Juncadella and Chris Lulham climbed from 27th on the grid to fifth, with Lulham also recording the fastest lap of the race.

Sunday brought another first-time polesitter. Konsta Lappalainen - who shared the JMW Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo with Thierry Vermeulen at the Nürburgring three weeks ago - led the way for Emil Frey Racing with a 1:33.192, more than two tenths clear of Prette. Green qualified the sister #69 Ferrari in third. The two Emil Frey cars soon established themselves as the main contenders in Race 2. Lappalainen held the lead at the start, while Green moved past Prette to take second.

An accident involving Christopher Haase and Kobe Pauwels brought out the safety car early in the race, while another incident later triggered a brief Full Course Yellow. Green made his move when racing resumed, passing teammate Lappalainen and taking over the lead.

After handing the Ferrari to Vermeulen during the mandatory pit-stop window, the #69 remained firmly in control. The Dutchman managed a lead of around four seconds and crossed the line to secure a popular home victory. It made Vermeulen the first Dutch driver to score an overall GT World Challenge victory at Zandvoort since 2014.

Bastian Buus and Ricardo Feller finished second for Lionspeed GP after gaining ground during the pit stops, while Lappalainen and Matteo Cairoli completed the podium in the second Emil Frey Ferrari.

The result also had a significant impact on the championship standings. Buus and Feller left Zandvoort at the top of the Sprint Cup standings with 59 points, six clear of both Juncadella and the AF Corse pairing of Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer. Juncadella and Lulham could only manage ninth in Sunday’s race after their impressive comeback the previous day. Former championship leaders Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde endured an even tougher weekend and failed to score.

Eight crews remain mathematically in contention for the Sprint Cup title heading into the season finale in Barcelona. There were titles decided elsewhere in the field. Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro secured both the overall and Sprint Silver Cup championships for Team WRT, while Eddie Cheever and Peter Dempsey won both Bronze Cup races for Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing.

Tommaso Mosca and Matias Zagazeta took the Gold Cup victory on Sunday after Saturday winners Fleming and Prette received a penalty following contact. After a weekend featuring maiden poles, breakthrough victories and home success for Vermeulen, the Sprint Cup now heads to Barcelona with the overall championship still wide open.

The GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup returns in the weekend of 2-4 October in Barcelona.