Emil Frey Racing: Thwarted double victory

MIXED FEELINGS The Lamborghini team from Safenwil could have won big in both sprint races of the GT World Challenge at Zandvoort. The weather and a time penalty thwarted total success. The starting position for Emil Frey Racing on the dune circuit of Zandvoort could not have been much better. For the first race, Canadian Mikaël Grenier set up the Lamborghini [...]

The team used slicks on pole-setter Grenier's Lamborghini despite the threat of rain clouds (Photos: SRO).

The starting position for Emil Frey Racing on the Zandvoort dune circuit could not have been much better. For the first race, Canadian Mikaël Grenier put the #14 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo on pole position, while Giacomo Altoè qualified the #163 for tenth place on the grid among 22 competitors.

In the second sprint, both cars occupied the first row of the grid. Considering this dominance in qualifying, a second and a first place did not mean the hoped-for result.

Rain as a spoiler
Due to the uncertain weather conditions, the team opted for a split tire strategy. Pole setter Grenier started on slicks, Altoè on rain tires. Shortly after the race began, a brief shower followed.

However, the asphalt dried more slowly than expected, which meant that the #14 with the treadless rubber built up too little grip and thus fell far behind. On the other hand, the Italian had the better cards with rain tires and moved up to P2 after 30 minutes, but suffered a puncture shortly afterwards.

After the start of Race 1, the Canadian was only in front for a short time. After the pit stop, team-mate Albert Costa took over the Lamborghini and secured a solid fourth place despite the puncture. Norbert Siedler finished the first race in a frustrating 19th place with the car taken over from Grenier.

Time penalty for the first...
Costa started the second race from P2 but lost a position in the first corner, which he regained after a mistake by the Audi driver in front of him. Due to the better pace, the Spaniard then even took the lead, followed by the second Lamborghini from Safenwil.

Altoè continued its strong performance after taking over from Costa. The Audi R8 of Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weert, which was the last to change drivers, was in the lead until the finish ahead of the Swiss Lamborghinis. However, because not everything had been correct during the Belgians' pit stop, this duo received a time penalty during the race.

For the first time, both Lamborghinis from Safenwil were on row 1, but the hoped-for one-two came to nothing.

As the runner-up at the finish, Giacomo Altoè gave Emil Frey Racing its first victory in the GT World Challenge Europe after the best preparatory work by Costa. On top of that, the crew with the fastest pit stop won the award.

... and the third
The Austrian, who started second, and the Canadian, who finished third, seemed to have secured the Swiss team's targeted one-two victory with the #14 after the Audi's time penalty. However, because they also received a 30-second penalty retrospectively, only a disappointing tenth place resulted in the end. In the opinion of the stewards, their pit stop had not been executed in accordance with safety regulations.

Less important than the prize money are the championship points collected by Giacomo Altoè and Albert Costa at Zandvoort.

Shattered dream of a double victory
The team boss and his staff therefore viewed what was in itself a successful race weekend in the Netherlands with mixed feelings.

Lorenz Frey-Hilti: "It has been shown once again that motorsport can sometimes be ruthless. The disallowance of second place for #14 shattered the dream of a double victory for the whole team. I am proud of the victory of #163 in the second race. This is a great motivation for the team. Three sprint races await us soon in Barcelona, for which we are now preparing intensively."

Championship podium in sight
In the Team Cup, Emil Frey has moved up to third position in the sprint standings, and to fifth in the overall standings with the two endurance races so far (a total of five out of eight events).

From Zandvoort, the Safenwil-based team traveled directly to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, where all GT teams will spend two days this week preparing for the endurance classic at the end of October.

After the second race, the two Safenwil cars lined up in 1st (#163) and 2nd (#14) place. But it did not remain like that.

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