• Well-deserved victory for the Porsche duo Müller/Niederhauser
• Tresor Attempto Audi achieves second gold triumph in a row with Patrese/Ferrari
• Kalender/Perez Companc storm to silver in the Madpanda Mercedes-AMG
• Bronze victory for Collard/Mitchell in the Barwell Lamborghini
• Provisional result: Magny-Cours race 1

Rutronik Racing took a brilliant first win in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS and gave Porsche its first Sprint Cup triumph in a thrilling race at Magny-Cours on Saturday evening.

The German team looked increasingly likely to make a breakthrough this season, and they did so in magnificent fashion. With Sven Müller and Patric Niederhauser in the number 96, they stormed to the front, winning a race that began just before sunset and finished in darkness as fireworks lit up the skies above the French circuit.

Ben Green led the field from pole position in the No. 14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, but immediately came under pressure from Dan Harper at the wheel of the No. 991 Century Motorsport BMW. The latter team entered the weekend as leaders in the Bronze Cup standings, but Harper had the pace needed to challenge the overall leaders.

Dries Vanthoor was also on the rise, taking Team WRT’s No. 32 BMW from sixth to third on the opening lap. A few laps later, the Belgian star overtook Harper and then set off to chase Green. There was no doubt that the BMW was the faster car on track at this stage of the race.

Vanthoor moved to the back of the Ferrari and tried to take the lead with 20 minutes to go. Green fought hard to defend his position and even left the track to stay in front, but ultimately could not stop the BMW from overtaking.

Harper tried to follow him a few corners later, but the Century Motorsport BMW shot over the curb and collided with Green, sending the Ferrari into the gravel. Harper was able to continue without losing any significant time, but Green’s chances of a podium finish were all but gone.

Vanthoor took the first opportunity to pit and was served quickly by the Team WRT crew as usual, handing over the wheel to Charles Weerts. The No. 32 BMW maintained the effective lead of the race, a situation that often ended in victory for Vanthoor and Weerts.

But Rutronik Racing had envisaged a different result. Müller, who started third, dropped one place at the start but stayed in the leading group before handing the No. 96 Porsche over to Niederhauser. The Swiss immediately found his rhythm and wasted no time in attacking. Weerts fended off an initial attack in the Adelaide hairpin, but a second attack followed shortly afterwards. Niederhauser came out of the final chicane better, pulled alongside the BMW on the start-finish straight and completed an attack in the first corner.

Weerts had to defend second place from his championship rival Maro Engel. The No. 48 Mercedes-AMG of the Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter, in the hands of Lucas Auer, had started from 11th place and stayed there for the first stint, although it was close enough to get ahead during the pit stop window. Engel gradually closed in on the rear of the BMW and threatened to overtake it on the penultimate lap. The AMG GT3 seemed to become much more comfortable as the race progressed, but Weerts held firm and secured second place.

Neither Mercedes-AMG nor BMW had an answer for Niederhauser, who brought the car home to secure a well-deserved first win for Rutronik Racing and the first for Porsche in the Sprint Cup. By holding on to second place, Weerts ensured that he and Vanthoor are 4.5 points ahead of Engel/Auer in what remains an evenly matched title fight. The No. 69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari finished fourth ahead of its recovering sister car.

The No. 88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi took a narrow Gold Cup victory with sixth place overall. Lorenzo Patrese took the first stint before handing over to Lorenzo Ferrari, who stayed just ahead of a charging Simon Gachet (CSA Racing Audi No. 111) in the closing stages. The No. 6 Liqui-Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup Audi led early on but lost time during the pit stop window and slipped to third in class.

The Silver Cup winner also finished in the top 10 overall. Madpanda Motorsport delivered a superb performance with its No. 90 Mercedes-AMG. Ezequiel Perez Companc led the first stint before Tom Kalender took the wheel for the second phase. The latter was making his first Sprint Cup appearance at just 16 years old, but showed no signs of inexperience. The No. 10 Mercedes-AMG of Boutsen VDS was second in Silver, followed by the No. 26 Audi of Saintéloc Racing.

The outcome of the Bronze Cup competition changed twice after the chequered flag. Darren Leung crossed the line first in the No. 991 BMW, but the Century Motorsport team had already received a 10-second time penalty for Harper’s contact with Green. This moved the No. 97 Rutronik Racing Porsche to the front of the field, but the German team’s perfect day was spoiled by a 5-second penalty for an unsafe start from the pit stop.

This meant that the No. 78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini, with its crew of Rob Collard and Sandy Mitchell, both in the thick of the action at today’s race, took its first Sprint Cup win of 2024. Despite the penalties, the podium consisted of the same three teams, with the No. 97 Porsche taking second place and the No. 991 BMW taking third.

There is little time to regroup before the action resumes at Magny-Cours. Qualifying 2 takes place on Sunday morning at 09:10 CEST, with Race 2 following at 14:45. Both races will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel.