GetSpeed Wins Portimao Finale as Verstappen Charges to Ninth
A late overcut gave Mercedes-AMG victory in the GT World Challenge Europe finale, while Max Verstappen fought back from 24th.
Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed won the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup finale at Portimao on October 17. Ralf Aron, Fabian Schiller and Maximilian Götz took the No. 17 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to victory by 5.062 seconds in the three-hour race, ahead of the Lionspeed GP and Boutsen VDS Porsche 911 GT3 Rs. It was GetSpeed's first Endurance Cup win and Mercedes-AMG's 12th in the category.
Strategy decided it. GetSpeed brought its car in one lap later than the leading Porsches at the final round of stops, and that overcut moved it to the front. Two safety car periods, one after nightfall, bunched up the 61-car field. It was a first overall series win for Schiller and Aron, and the first for Götz since the final round of the 2013 season.
Most eyes were on Max Verstappen, making his series debut in the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG run by his own Verstappen Racing team with Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham. A drive-through penalty for Lulham's contact with the No. 48 Winward car dropped them down the order before Verstappen climbed aboard. He began his stint 24th and passed car after car once racing resumed in darkness, finishing ninth.
The major titles were already settled. Winward's Lucas Auer, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz clinched the Endurance Cup in August at the Nürburgring, and Team WRT took the overall teams' championship. In Gold Cup, Selected Car Racing's Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo won the class and finished fourth overall, but ROWE Racing's BMW claimed the class title. Kessel Racing's Ferrari secured the Bronze crown.
Source: GT World Challenge Europe
