On Saturday already, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams celebrated a successful start of the Blancpain GT Series in the qualifying race at Misano. Starting driver Maximilian Buhk (GER) kept cool behind the wheel of the #84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 when the race had to be restarted following an accident and was able to quickly take the lead from second place on the grid. The defending Blancpain GT Series drivers’ champion built up a margin over his rivals in the night race under floodlights and his new team-mate Franck Perera (FRA) then brought it home after a faultless pit stop, crossing the finish line in first place with 37 laps completed.
19.683 seconds down, AKKA ASP’s Michael Meadows (GBR) and Raffaele Marciello (ITA) secured second place with the #90 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3. Driving the sister car with starting number #88, Felix Serralles (PUR) and Daniel Juncadella (ESP) also made it into the top five by finishing fourth. In its first Blancpain GT Series race, Customer Racing Team Kornely Motorsport secured third place in the Pro-Am class with Kenneth Heyer (GER) and Yoshi Mori (JPN) driving the car with the striking ‘Hello Kitty’ livery. HTP Motorsport’s junior drivers, Fabian Schiller (GER, 19 years) and Jules Szymkowiak (NED, 21 years) also made a strong impression. Having started from tenth place, they finished in an impressive second place, but lost this position again following a post-race time penalty of 40 seconds. Still, they secured victory in the Silver Cup class with eleventh place overall.
The classification of the race on Saturday also determined the starting grid positions for the main race on Sunday. Starting driver Franck Perera led the 29 competitors strong field from the start at the 4.226 kilometres long circuit on the Adriatic coast behind the wheel of the #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3. In total, three Mercedes-AMG GT3 were in contention for the top 5. After the mandatory pit stop with driver change, the previous day’s winners Buhk / Perera also led the field going into the second part of the race. Maximilian Buhk again built up a comfortable lead and went on to secure the second race win of the weekend for HTP Motorsport. Thus, the reigning champions had a perfect start of the Blancpain GT Series season and laid the foundation for their mission of defending the title.
Further down, Dominik Baumann (AUT) for HTP Motorsport and Daniel Juncadella for AKKA ASP staged a thrilling battle with a Bentley for the remaining podium slots, second and third place. Earlier on, the HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 had shown impressive progress from 20th place on the grid. Eventually, the #86 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Dominik Baumann and Jimmy Eriksson (SWE) in third and AKKA ASP’s Daniel Juncadella and Felix Serralles in fourth completed a very successful weekend for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in Italy.
A pair of wins in the Blancpain GT Sports Club
Supporting the Blancpain GT Series Spring Cup, the Misano World Circuit also hosted two races for the GT Sports Club over the weekend. In the 25 minutes’ qualifiying race, Anthony Pons (FRA) and Daniele Perfetti (SUI) secured first and third place for Customer Racing Team AKKA ASP, driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting numbers #72 and #87. Oliver Baumann (AUT) finished fourth with the DB Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3. In Sunday’s main race, Pons and Perfetti used the good starting grid positions they had secured on the previous day and scored a dominant 1-2 after 40 minutes.
Maximilian Buhk, HTP Motorsport #84: “The start of the qualifying race wasn’t easy, because we had to wait some 20 minutes before the race resumed. However, I quickly found my rhythm again and I was able to build up an advantage that we managed to keep until the finish. In the second race, Franck drove a perfect first stint. The pit stop was really quick and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 ran greatly throughout the weekend. Two wins from the season opener, a perfect weekend for us.”
Franck Perera, HTP Motorsport #84: “This was my first race with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for HTP Motorsport and together with Maximilian Buhk. Scoring a victory straight away was overwhelming, of course. The start of the main race went very well, too. I pushed in order to achieve a maximum advantage. Then, Maximilian did a great job and drove victory home. I am delighted with this pair of wins, it was an excellent weekend for HTP Motorsport.”
Dominik Baumann, HTP Motorsport #86: “For us, third place in the main race is like victory. Nobody had expected that. We started from 20th place. Jimmy did a perfect job and brought the car in for me to take over while in seventh place. I tried everything to move up to second place, but today’s result with a podium finish is simply great.”
Daniel Juncadella, AKKA ASP #88: “In fact, I am quite happy with our pair of fourth places from the weekend. After qualifying, I didn’t expect that. We weren’t entirely happy with our pace, we still have to analyse that, but all in all, it was a good weekend and we have scored valuable points. After all, the season is still long.”
