After a gripping GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Competition opener at Imola Customer Porsche teams put in strong performance with the number 12 GPX Racing Porsche taking second.

It was the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT who took a resounding victory, the number 31 Audi R8 LMS crew of Mirko Bortolotti, Kelvin van der Linde and Matthieu Vaxiviere executed a perfect race at the historic Italian venue, which came to life once again as a field of 46 GT3 cars tackled a thrilling three-hour contest. Vaxiviere took the start and ran fifth throughout the opening stages, which were led by the number 66 Attempto Racing Audi of Frederic Vervisch. The pole-sitter maintained his advantage into the opening corner and showed good pace, pulling away from James Calado in the number 51 AF Corse Ferrari. Raffaele Marciello slotted into third in his #88 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG, then snatched second with an inch-perfect pass on the Ferrari driver.

The first stint saw a handful of full-course yellow periods, and it was during the last of these that the pit window opened. A slow stop scuppered the Attempto car's chances of victory, while a pair of Ferrari runners vaulted to the front with two debutants at the wheel. Nicklas Nielsen took over the number 51 AF Corse car that emerged in the lead, followed by Sergey Sirotkin in the number 72 SMP Racing machine.

Van der Linde exited the pits in fifth spot, but the South African was in no mood to hang around. What followed was an overtaking masterclass, with moves on Louis Deletraz (number 40 GPX Racing Porsche) and Timur Boguslavskiy (number 88 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG) coming in quick succession. The two Ferraris were now in his sights and Van der Linde wasted no time in dispatching Sirotkin and then Nielsen to assume the lead.

Aided by a long stretch of green flag running, the WRT driver had built a lead of almost 20 seconds by the conclusion of his stint. Meanwhile, the number 51 Ferrari received a drive-through penalty for speeding during a full-course yellow period, dropping it down the order. The Italian marque’s hopes were further dented when the number 72 SMP Racing car endured a long delay in the pits. This left Davide Rigon outside the top 20, scuppering the Russian outfit’s chances of victory.

Bortolotti took the wheel of the number 31 Audi and emerged with an advantage in excess of 25 seconds, but his job was by no means simple. A pair safety car periods bunched the field up, but the Italian judged each restart to perfection. After the second he eased away from his competitors, taking WRT and Audi's first win in more than two years by a margin of 3.4 seconds.

Behind him, a fantastic battle for the podium ensured a grandstand finish, with Mathieu Jaminet (number 12 GPX Racing Porsche) coming under heavy pressure from the number 88 AKKA ASP machine of Felipe Fraga. The Brazilian had problems of his own, however, as Dries Vanthoor (number 32 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) closed on to the rear of the number 88 Mercedes-AMG to make it a three-way scrap for second.

This was to Jaminet's benefit, as Fraga had to defend from a typically determined Vanthoor during the closing laps. The Porsche ace crossed the line to take second spot, completing a polished performance from the number 12 crew, while the number 88 Mercedes-AMG captured the final place on the podium ahead of the number 32 WRT Audi.

Fifth went to the number 25 Sainteloc Racing Audi, followed by the number 99 ROWE Porsche and the recovering number 51 AF Corse Ferrari. Next came the number 69 Optimum Motorsport McLaren, which took a strong eighth on its series debut thanks to Rob Bell, Joe Osborne and Ollie Wilkinson. The number 40 GPX Porsche and the number 163 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini completed the overall top-10.

The Silver Cup class was won by the number 78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini, driven by Patrick Kujala, Alex MacDowall and Frederik Schandorff, which emerged as a serious contender during the second half of the race and assumed the lead following a collision between class rivals Garage 59 (number 159 Aston Martin) and Tech 1 Racing (number 15 Lexus). The Aston took runner up spot, beating the Lexus after a close-fought battle that ran for much of the three-hour contest.

Though they missed the Silver victory, Garage 59 were clear winners in Pro-Am as the number 188 Aston Martin finished an excellent 14th overall. Indeed, the British squad was nine places clear of its nearest rival at the finish thanks to an excellent showing from the crew of Alexander West, Chris Goodwin and Jonny Adam. Runner-up went to the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari, which was less than a second clear of the number 26 Sainteloc Audi. The number 108 CMR Bentley of Bernard Delhez, Romano Ricci and Stephane Tribaudini ran in the Am Cup class and took the chequered flag in 31st place overall.

Following the opening Endurance Cup round, GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS will remain in Italy for its next event, which will see the Sprint Cup kick off with a trio of one-hour races at Misano (7-9 August). The Endurance Cup will resume with a six-hour contest at the Nurburgring on 5/6 September.

Today's race launched the 10th season of competition for the Endurance Cup and hinted at another action-packed campaign for the long-distance championship. Indeed, with racing back underway once more, the battle has truly begun.