TFT take GT3 win in opening round of Le Mans Cup in Spain

The GT3 victory went to the number 2 Pzoberer Zürichsee by TFT Porsche 911 GT3 R of Niki Leutwiler and Julien Andlauer after a race long battle with the number 8 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GT3 of Rino Mastronardi and Paolo Ruberti in the opening round of the Le Mans Cup in Barcelona.

Only 4 GT3 cars took the start after the number 9 Iron Lynx Ferrari didn’t make it to the grid due to a technical issue.

The no8 Iron Lynx Ferrari of Rino Mastronardi started on pole position, with the number 2 Pzoberer Zürichsee by TFT Porsche of Niki Leutwiler in second. The two cars were nose to tail on the opening two laps, with Leutwiler diving down the inside at T10 to take the class lead.

Mastronardi kept pace with the leading Porsche and for several laps the two cars were split by just 2 or 3 tenths.

After the first Safety Car period Mastronardi got a better restart and overtook Leutwiler’s Porsche after the two cars raced side by side through T4 and T5.

The number 93 10Q Racing Team Mercedes AMG of Wim Spinoy and the no51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 of Ken Abe were having a battle for the final class podium spot, with the Mercedes hanging on.

After 56 minutes of racing the leading GT3 cars headed to the pits to complete their mandatory stops and hand the cars over to Julien Andlauer and Paolo Ruberti.Andlauer had a 1.8 second advantage over Ruberti, whose progress was being hampered by LMP3 traffic. This allowed Matteo Cressoni in the number 51 Ferrari to catch Ruberti and challenge for second place.

In the final 15 minutes of the race Julien Andlauer had opened a small gap to the rest of the GT3 which allowed the French driver to take the chequered flag with relative ease.

Paolo Ruberti finished second, one lap ahead of the number 51 Ferrari, which had faded away in the final part of the race.