After the season opener of the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS with the Endurance Cup in Imola, the Sprint Cup now also started into the 2022 racing season. On the traditional track in Brands Hatch in England, Team Tresor by Car Collection was able to convince with strong results of both cars. The two drivers Simon Gachet and Audi Sport driver Christopher Haase managed seventh and fourth places in the two one-hour races, while their teammates Luca Ghiotto and Audi Sport driver Mattia Drudi finished sixth and seventh.
For Saturday’s race, Mattia Drudi in the #12 Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 secured an excellent starting position with third place in qualifying. Team-mate Simon Gachet was able to achieve a very good ninth place on the grid in the strong field. Unfortunately, Drudi lost a few positions in the starting hustle and after the obligatory tire change with driver swap, the #12 found itself in sixth place, which Luca Ghiotto also brought to the finish. Directly behind, Christopher Haase, who had taken over the #11 Audi from starting driver Simon Gachet, finished in seventh place.
The second qualifying session, which was decisive for the starting order of the evening’s Sunday race, saw Audi Sport driver Christopher Haase in the #11 finish in a strong fourth place. Teammate Luca Ghiotto put the #12 in tenth place on the grid. After the race start Haase, who had fallen back slightly in the early stages, was able to fight in the leading group. When the leaders pitted, the Audi Sport driver turned up the pace and made up a lot of time in the remaining laps until his later stop. After the driver change, his partner Simon Gachet rejoined the track in fourth place, which he defended with all his skill against the charging Ferrari towards the end. Behind him, Mattia Drudi, in seventh place, fought for a long time for sixth place. However, the fast track at Brands Hatch hardly offers any overtaking opportunities, which is why the Italian was unable to get past his Audi brand colleague Panis and had to settle for seventh place. This was preceded by some extremely fast laps directly after the pit stop which resulted in several position gains for the Ghiotto/Drudi duo.
The next appearance of Tresor by Car Collection in the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS will already take place in two weeks at the Sprint Cup in Magny Cours. Before that, however, Car Collection will participate in the 24h Qualifiers at the Nürburgring.
Foto Credits: Christopher Otto