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WRT Audi team takes one-two in World GT1 opener at Nogaro

The WRT Audi team secured a one-two finish in the first race of the GT1 World Championship season at Nogaro

Tomas Enge had rapidly battled through to the lead of the event's damp qualification race for Reiter Lamborghini in the opening stint, but his relatively inexperienced team-mate Albert von Thurn und Taxis was always going to face a tough task to hold his pursuers back when he took over for the run to the flag.

Sure enough, he was hunted down by Stephane Ortelli in the Audi he shares with Laurens Vanthoor, with the WRT driver overtaking von Thurn und Taxis and then edging clear.

The second Audi of Frank Stippler and Oliver Jarvis also made it through, giving WRT a front-row sweep for Monday's championship race. But von Thurn und Taxis held his own well - sticking with Stippler and resisting pressure from the Gregoire Demoustier/Alvaro Parente Hexis McLaren to retain the final spot on the podium.

The polesitting AF Corse Ferrari fell back in Filip Salaquarda's hands in the first stint, meaning Toni Vilander had to settle for beating the two Munnich Mercedes to fifth.

Results - 35 laps:

Pos  Drivers                   Team/Car                Time/Gap
 1.  Ortelli/Vanthoor          WRT Audi            1h00m26.351s
 2.  Stippler/Jarvis           WRT Audi                + 6.030s
 3.  von Thurn und Taxis/Enge  Reiter Lamborghini      + 6.914s
 4.  Demoustier/Parente        Hexis McLaren           + 7.164s
 5.  Vilander/Salaquarda       AF Corse Ferrari       + 31.293s
 6.  Basseng/Winkelhock        Munnich Mercedes       + 33.785s
 7.  Pastorelli/Jager          Munnich Mercedes       + 34.414s
 8.  O'Young/Kox               Reiter Lamborghini     + 47.177s
 9.  Parisy/Halliday           Exim Porsche           + 48.622s
10.  Ide/Castellacci           AF Corse Ferrari       + 49.997s
11.  Buurman/Bartels           Vita4One BMW           + 57.791s
12.  Mayr-Melnhof/Lauda        Vita4One BMW         + 1m02.466s
13.  Zuber/Afanasyev           Valmon Aston             + 1 lap
14.  Lariche/Wei               Exim Porsche             + 1 lap
15.  Pavlovic/Cressoni         Sunred Ford             + 2 laps
16.  Martin/Vasiliev           Valmon Aston            + 2 laps

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