GT: United Kingdom storms to Qualifying Race victory

by | Oct 26, 2024 | Uncategorized

The United Kingdom will start this afternoon’s medal-deciding GT contest from pole position after Chris Froggatt and James Cottingham secured an impressive victory in the Qualifying Race.

The UK-liveried Ferrari took the start from P2, but Froggatt snatched the lead immediately by making a much better start than pole-sitter Finn Wiebelhaus (Team German Mercedes-AMG). In truth, this was as far as the fight for victory went.

Froggatt was handed a five-second penalty for not respecting track limits, but such was his pace advantage – well over a second a lap at times – the UK driver was able to negate this and then some. After making its mid-race stop, during which Froggatt handed over to Cottingham, the UK car was almost 20 seconds clear.

There was more bad news for Germany as Switzerland exited the pits in P2 after a charging first stint from Yannick Mettler. The German car – now driven by Hubert Haupt – also dropped behind Ukraine, but he immediately made a pass for third spot.

Haupt was the fastest man on-track during the second stint, quickly closing on to the rear of Switzerland’s Dexter Müller and making a pass. Still, there was nothing that Germany could do about the United Kingdom. The final margin of victory was 17 seconds, with Switzerland taking P3.

Spain was fourth, followed by Lithuania, Ukraine and China. Defending gold medallist France could only manage P8. The result from this race establishes the grid for the medal race, which is scheduled to go green at 16:30.

RESULT: Qualifying Race