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Algarve Blancpain: Max Buhk and Max Gotz dominate for HTP Mercedes

Max Buhk and Max Gotz extended their advantage at the top of the Blancpain Sprint Series championship by winning the main Algarve race, amid controversy in the battle for second

After poleman Hari Proczyk was passed by Gotz in the early stages, the HTP Mercedes sprinted clear and was never challenged at the front of the field.

The Grasser Lamborghini of Proczyk was comfortable in second until the closing laps, when Jeroen Bleekemolen had taken over at the wheel.

WRT Audi driver Laurens Vanthoor was closing in, and on the penultimate lap he passed the Lamborghini into the Turn 5 hairpin to claim second for himself and Cesar Ramos.

Bleekemolen was furious, claiming that Vanthoor had exceeded track limits at the previous corner, in order to carry more speed and make the pass.

"We are treated like children in free practice when nothing matters, being told how to drive within the white lines, but then when there's prize money and championship points at stake, they don't seem to care," declared Bleekemolen.

The incident will be investigated, but as it stands Gotz has a 26-point lead over the Grasser pairing, with just two rounds remaining.

NEWS UPDATE: Track limits ruling costs WRT Audi pair second

Stephane Ortelli and Fabien Hamprecht showed impressive pace to climb from 17th on the grid to finish fourth, ahead of the G-Drive branded Reiter Lamborghini of Tomas Enge and Roman Rusinov.

Rene Rast and Markus Winkelhock had an enthralling battle in their WRT and Phoenix Audis respectively, with Rast prevailing to hold on to sixth position.

An eighth-place finish was enough for Marc Basseng and Alessandro Latif to win the Pro-Am class, while a high attrition rate in the Silver Cup meant David Fumanelli and Stefano Colombo were victorious in their ROAL BMW, despite finishing in 15th position.

Results - 33 laps:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 M.Buhk, M.Gotz HTP Motorsport Mercedes 1h00m19.617s
2 H.Proczyk, J.Bleekemolen GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini 11.576s
3 F.Hamprecht, S.Ortelli Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi 23.435s
4 R.Rusinov, T.Enge G-Drive Racing Lamborghini 23.753s
5 E.Ide, R.Rast Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi 26.407s
6 N.M.-Melnhof, M.Winkelhock Phoenix Racing Audi 30.600s
7 A.Latif, M.Basseng Phoenix Racing Audi 39.331s
8 C.Ramos, L.Vanthoor Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi 40.332s
9 Alessandro Zanardi ROAL Motorsport BMW 40.788s
10 F.Onidi, G.Pantano Bhaitech McLaren 43.264s
11 S.Afanasiev, S.Dusseldorp HTP Motorsport Mercedes 44.126s
12 S.Pentus, C.van der Drift Bhaitech McLaren 45.651s
13 T.Jager, D.Baumann BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert BMW 57.410s
14 C.Bueno, S.Jimenez BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil BMW 1m02.213s
15 D.Fumanelli, S.Colombo ROAL Motorsport BMW 1m05.421s
16 M.Stumpf, N.Piquet Jr. BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil BMW 1m35.765s
17 L.Wolf, L.Stolz HTP Motorsport Mercedes 1 Lap
18 P.Pinheiro, F.Mora Sports & You Mercedes 1 Lap
19 S.Halek, S.Landmann GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini 1 Lap
20 A.Coimbra, L.Silva Sports & You Mercedes 1 Lap
- M.Lisowski, V.Abril Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi Retirement
- M.Toril, A.Ebrahim Fortec Motorsports Mercedes Retirement

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