GT World Challenge Europe: Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro complete the title triple in the Silver Cup
Joy and disappointment were closely intertwined during the penultimate race weekend of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup powered by AWS at Zandvoort (NED). Matisse Lismont (BEL) and Ignacio Montenegro (ARG) enjoyed a perfect weekend. The young duo, driving the #30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO for Team WRT, secured a win and a second place in the Silver Cup, thereby clinching a hat-trick of titles. On top of the Endurance Cup title they had already won, they added the Sprint Cup and the Overall championship titles on the North Sea coast – and that with two race events still to go before the end of the season. In the Pro Cup, however, Team WRT’s three crews struggled. Fourth place on Sunday for Valentino Rossi (ITA) and Max Hesse (GER) in the #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO was their best result.
Furthermore, no other Pro Cup crew managed a top-ten finish. Rossi and Hesse finished twelfth on Saturday, whilst Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) and Charles Weerts (BEL) retired on Saturday and had to settle for 15th place overall on Sunday. As a result, they lost the lead in the Sprint Cup drivers’ championship. Jordan Pepper (RSA) and Amaury Cordeel (BEL) retired from both races following collisions through no fault of their own. Nevertheless, Team WRT took the lead in the overall team standings.
In addition to the success in the Silver Cup, a BMW M4 GT3 EVO also finished on the podium in the Bronze Cup. Augusto Farfus (BRA) and Darren Leung (GBR) finished second on Saturday. On Sunday, they finished fifth. In the Gold Cup, David Pittard (GBR) and Jop Rappange (NED) finished seventh and eighth in the #77 BMW M4 GT3 EVO from KPX Motorsport.
Statements after the races:
Max Hesse (#46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, Race 1: 12th place, Race 2: 4th place): “It wasn’t an easy weekend – especially for the team, who had their work cut out for them with all four WRT cars. Our #46 crew clocked the fastest pit stop twice – that’s a brilliant achievement. With fourth place on Sunday, we got the most out of it.”
Charles Weerts (#32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 15th): “It was a really tough weekend for us. We didn’t manage to get the car into the optimal working window in either qualifying session. When you start from so far back, it’s difficult to achieve good results – although that would have been difficult anyway, as other cars seemed to be faster than us here. That’s obviously not ideal for the championship, but we still have two races left at Barcelona.”
Ignacio Montenegro (#30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, Race 1: Silver Cup winner, Race 2: 2nd in the Silver Cup): “I’m really happy. Today we’ve finally done it: three out of three! We’re the Overall, Endurance and Sprint champions! This means everything to us. We’ve worked so hard this season that we’ve earned this as a team. I think second place in the second race is down to the team. They pulled off an amazing pit stop. I’m really savouring this moment, because it’s my first year in the GT World Challenge and we’ve already achieved our goal. A big thank you to the team and to Matisse! It’s been a wonderful season so far!”
Matisse Lismont (#30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, Race 1: Silver Cup winner, Race 2: 2nd in the Silver Cup): “I’m over the moon! Second place and a win at Zandvoort! A huge thank you to the whole team, the mechanics and the engineers. I don’t think we’d be where we are now without them. A massive thank you also to BMW M Motorsport for building such a fantastic race car. I enjoyed every lap. We’ll be celebrating with the team tonight.”
Augusto Farfus (#991 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paradine Competition, Race 1: 2nd place in the Bronze Cup, Race 2: 5th place in the Bronze Cup): “We’re taking a lot of positives away from this weekend. I think we were the most competitive here compared to the BMW M Motorsport Pro cars, even though it wasn’t quite enough for a class win, unfortunately. Nevertheless, we can be very satisfied with the podium on Saturday. I really enjoy racing in this series.”
