Zolder FIA GT: Vanthoor and Ortelli give WRT Audi another win
The Belgian WRT Audi squad notched up its second consecutive win in the FIA GT Series with victory in the opening race on home ground at Zolder
Laurens Vanthoor and Stephane Ortelli followed up the team's success in the main race on the opening weekend at Nogaro by triumphing aboard their Audi R8 LMS ultra.
The WRT duo finished just over 10 seconds up on the pole-winning Reiter Lamborghini LP560 driven by Stefan Rosina and Peter Kox.
Vanthoor took second in the opening moments of the one-hour race and then spent the first 12 laps behind Rosina in the Lamborghini.
The Belgian moved into the lead when the Slovakian driver made a mistake on the exit of Turn 1, while a quick turnaround during the mandatory pitstops gave WRT a clear victory.
Vanthoor said: "I was better on the brakes, but the Lambo was better under acceleration each time, which made it difficult to pass.
"I put him under some pressure and, lucky for me, he made a mistake."
Kox managed to pass the second WRT Audi, which Nikolas Mayr-Melnhof had just taken over from Rene Rast, on its out-lap to secure second place.
Mayr-Melnhof held off a train of four cars led by Andreas Zuber's Sebastien Loeb Racing McLaren MP4-12C to secure the final spot on the podium.
The McLaren, which was started by Mike Parisy, ended up fourth ahead of Edward Standstrom and Frank Stippler, winners in the main race at Nogaro for WRT.
The Sebastien Loeb Racing McLaren that Alvaro Parente had qualified on the front row did not feature.
The car started from the back following a minor technical infringement and then Parente was penalised for avoidable contact, before team owner Sebastien Loeb retired the car in the closing stages.
Results - 39 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Ortelli/Vanthoor WRT Audi 1h01m06.512s 2. Kox/Rosina Reiter Lamborghini + 10.332s 3. Mayr-Melnhof/Rast WRT Audi + 15.928s 4. Zuber/Parisy Loeb McLaren + 16.427s 5. Sandstrom/Stippler WRT Audi + 17.355s 6. Simonsen/Afanasiev Gravity Charouz Mercedes + 17.846s 7. Day/Buhk Gravity Charouz Mercedes + 18.666s 8. Ide/Kumpen Phoenix Audi + 29.446s 9. Salaquarda/Onidi AF Ferrari + 40.709s 10. Seyffarth/Chandhok Seyffarth Mercedes + 41.157s 11. Khodair/Bueno Brazil BMW + 43.268s 12. Proczyk/Baumann Grasser Lamborghini + 1m01.771s 13. Vieira/Campanico Novadriver Audi + 1m16.726s 14. Ricci/Stumpf Rodrive Ford + 1m29.870s 15. Shulzhitskiy/Reip RJN Nissan + 1 lap 16. Stovicek/Charouz Gravity Charouz Mercedes + 5 laps Retirements: Loeb/Parente Loeb McLaren 33 laps Ordonez/Buncombe RJN Nissan 33 laps Zonta/Jimenez Brazil BMW 29 laps Rosa/Bonifacio Seyffarth Mercedes 22 laps
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| Series | GT |
| Author | Gary Watkins |
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