Zolder Blancpain GT: Stevens and Winkelhock win for WRT Audi
Ex-Formula 1 driver Will Stevens claimed his first outright win in sportscars alongside WRT Audi team-mate Markus Winkelhock in the Zolder Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup round
After they finished third in Saturday's qualifying race, Winkelhock headed into the pitstops midway through the main race in second position behind Clemens Schmid's ISR Audi R8 LMS.
A slower stop by the ISR team allowed Stevens to take a lead that he maintained for the rest of the race.
Schmid was leading the race after both front row cars of Stuart Leonard and Michael Meadows made mistakes as the green flag dropped.
Leonard's Team WRT Audi R8 LMS, which started on pole following Saturday's qualifying race victory for him and Robin Frijns, was slow off the line and dropped down to fourth position.
Meadows took the lead in his ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 after Leonard's error but was given two drive-through penalties for a jump start as well as a start procedure infringement. His team-mate Raffaele Marciello brought the car home in 23rd.
Schmid's partner Filip Salaquarda survived last lap pressure from Leonard's team-mate Frijns to hold second after a late safety car bunched the cars up for a final lap shootout.
The top four was completed by another Team WRT Audi as Dries Vanthoor and Marcel Fassler moved through the pack from 13th on the grid.
Team M-Sport's Bentley was the first non-Audi, with Steven Kane and Vincent Abril finishing in fifth position after starting in 12th position.
They gained that position thanks to the incident that caused the safety car - when Jimmy Eriksson's Mercedes was hit from behind by Daniel Juncadella under braking for the Jacky Icxx curves as they fought for fifth.
Overall championship leaders Christian Engelhart and Mirko Bortolotti finished 15th in the Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
The duo started from the back of the grid as Bortolotti was involved in a race-ending incident on the entry to the first corner of Saturday's qualifying race.
RESULTS - 36 LAPS:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M.Winkelhock, W.Stevens | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 1h00m19.872s |
| 2 | C.Schmid, F.Salaquarda | ISR | Audi | 0.467s |
| 3 | S.Leonard, R.Frijns | Team WRT | Audi | 0.772s |
| 4 | M.Fassler, D.Vanthoor | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 1.041s |
| 5 | V.Abril, S.Kane | Bentley Team M-Sport | Bentley | 1.904s |
| 6 | F.Perera, M.Buhk | HTP Motorsport | Mercedes | 2.617s |
| 7 | G.Venturini, M.Mapelli | Attempto Racing | Lamborghini | 2.985s |
| 8 | F.Schiller, J.Szymkowiak | HTP Motorsport | Mercedes | 5.026s |
| 9 | J.Dennis, P.Schothorst | Team WRT | Audi | 5.498s |
| 10 | E.P.Companc, N.Siedler | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Lamborghini | 5.777s |
| 11 | A.Watson, R.Bell | Strakka Racing | McLaren | 6.149s |
| 12 | M.Palttala, J.Krohn | Rowe Racing | BMW | 7.223s |
| 13 | E.Ide, C.Mies | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 7.415s |
| 14 | R.Monti, C.Haase | Sainteloc Racing | Audi | 7.833s |
| 15 | C.Engelhart, M.Bortolotti | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Lamborghini | 9.201s |
| 16 | M.Broniszewski, G.Piccini | Kessel Racing | Ferrari | 9.808s |
| 17 | P.Quaife, L.Case | AF Corse | Ferrari | 10.929s |
| 18 | A.Soucek, M.Soulet | Bentley Team M-Sport | Bentley | 11.519s |
| 19 | P.B.-Bhakdi, C.van Dam | Kessel Racing TP12 | Ferrari | 12.056s |
| 20 | N.Pohler, M.van Splunteren | Attempto Racing | Lamborghini | 12.265s |
| 21 | J-L.Beaubelique, J.Gounon | Akka ASP Team | Mercedes | 12.555s |
| 22 | C.Bourret, J-P.Belloc | Akka ASP Team | Mercedes | 12.724s |
| 23 | M.Meadows, R.Marciello | Akka ASP Team | Mercedes | 13.374s |
| 24 | F.Serralles, D.Juncadella | Akka ASP Team | Mercedes | 1m34.740s |
| 25 | D.Fumanelli, L.Williamson | Strakka Motorsport | McLaren | 1m41.266s |
| 26 | S.Earle, D.Perel | Kessel Racing | Ferrari | 1 Lap |
| 27 | A.Mattschull, D.Keilwitz | Rinaldi Racing | Ferrari | 1 Lap |
| 28 | B.Barnicoat, A.Parente | Strakka Racing | McLaren | 1 Lap |
| 29 | D.Baumann, J.Eriksson | Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport | Mercedes | 7 Laps |
| 30 | K.Ceccon, F.Stippler | ISR | Audi | 9 Laps |
| - | A.F.da Costa, P.Eng | Rowe Racing | BMW | Retirement |
| - | G.Yacaman, N.de Marco | Orange 1 Team Lazarus | Lamborghini | Retirement |
| - | J.Kane, C.Ledogar | Strakka Racing | McLaren | Retirement |
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