The Belgian Audi Club TeamWRT will certainly remember the historical first edition of the Baku WorldChallenge as one of its happiest days, as the team won both races and conqueredthe FIA GT Series Teams’ title, while Laurens Vanthoor and Stéphane Ortellicrowned themselves Champions in the Drivers’ standings.
The Belgian and theMonegasque came to Azerbaidjan as points leaders and emerged winners of thefamily battle within Team WRT drivers, but they did it in style, clinching abrilliant win in the Main Race after being second in the Qualifying Race.
Their maincontenders, Edward Sandström-Frank Stippler had a more difficult weekend afteran accident in free practice influenced their entire outing. Niki Mayr-Melnhof,who still had a slim chance in the Drivers’ standings, did a fantasticQualifying Race together with Rene Rast, taking a superb victory.
Unfortunatelyhe was the victim of a rival in the very first corner of the decisive race. Inthat initial lap fell also the car of Grégoire Demoustier-Filipe Albuquerque,who already had had a complicated first race. With this great result, theBelgian Audi Club Team WRT successfully concludes the 2013 season and keepsfaith to the tradition of winning at least one major international title everyyear.
There weretears of joy, hugs and celebrations in the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT’s boxafter the race and this will be only the start of a long night… Team PrincipalVincent Vosse was emotional about what was happening: “What can I say? It’sjust fantastic, we are very happy and I feel very proud of the entire team, ofall the drivers. We really achieved something.
I had thefeeling we could do well here, but a street circuit, and a new one on top, isalways a tricky thing. It has not been an easy weekend, despite what you couldthink from the outside, and it was quite eventful. But ultimately everythingwent well and it’s great to finish on two wins like those. Congratulations toeverybody!”
LaurensVanthoor and Stéphane Ortelli were … trying to realize what was happening. Theyoung Belgian, for whom this is his first international GT title admitted:“Crossing the line and winning the race and the title is a big emotion. I amhappy that it’s over, because I was probably more stressed than I thought aboutthis decisive round. Stéphane helped me a lot in trying not to take things tooseriously, but still…
And thislast race was just crazy, I don’t really understand what happened and was justfocusing in not doing mistakes…” Ortelli, on his side, reckoned: “This isprobably my nicest international title and it is so because of the familyspirit that we have been able to create all together at WRT. I’m really happyfor the team, and want to thank everybody, but a big special thanks go toLaurens. Without his youth and speed, I couldn’t make it…”
The FIA GTSeries community got an incredibly warm welcome in Azerbaidjan and the new Bakuurban track, which required fine-tuning until the very last minute, proved tobe challenging and interesting. Free practice sessions brought their share ofissues and work, with scratches and bumps for everybody.
The car ofAlbuquerque-Demoustier reported a broken suspension, while Edward Sandström’shad more serious damage in the front when it collided with a Corvette in one ofthe chicanes. “I missed the braking point, it was my fault.”
Qualifyingresulted in Rene Rast taking the pole (“I like street circuits and this one isinteresting, I think I could have even done better in my best lap”), withVanthoor in 3rd, Sandström in 12th and Albuquerque in 22nd.
The Qualifying race, onSunday morning, started one hour and half late after the track had dried froman unfortunate ‘washing’ with water by the city services during the night. Inthe meantime, a sanction on the second-fastest car in qualifying had promotedVanthoor to first row. The two Audis R8 LMS kept control of the race in theinitial laps, with Rast preceding Vanthoor.
The situation basically didnot change after pit stops, as Niki Mayr-Melnhof produced a perfectperformance. “The car was very well balanced”, commented an elated Austrian, “Ithink we did a good job, and I enjoyed the track very much”. Ortelli came insecond, while the two other cars, stuck in the mid-grid traffic, couldn’t domuch to climb positions. Sandström-Stippler still got the good points of thirdin the Pro category.
The Main Race, with againtwo WRT cars in the front row, was definitely more lively. The Mercedes ofAfanasiev created chaos at the first chicane when it hit the side ofMayr-Melnhof’s car, ruining the race of #12 and creating big confusion behind,where Demoustier was one of the victims. Only Ortelli, who had taken the leadfrom the start, seemed free of trouble, for a short while, as he got almoststopped behind a lapped car two laps later, having to let go two of hispurchasers.
A safety-car periodoccurred then and both Ortelli and Sandström decided to pit as it was over.“That was the right strategic decision”, explained later Ortelli. Vanthoorrejoined the race in second and in the closing laps he could pass the leadingMercedes, whose pace had slowed, while at the same time keeping at bay a chargingMcLaren. “I was keeping a very safe pace and was so focused in avoidingmistakes that I only realized I was in P1 when I was told by the team on theradio”, commented the Belgian Audi Club’s protege.
But it was writtensomewhere that this was to be his day, and everything finished well. It was nota lucky day for Sandström-Stippler, who were slowed by an unidentifiedtechnical problem, and finished 4th in the Pro points, while Rast struggled tobring home the wounded #12.
The Belgian Audi Club TeamWRT can now celebrate and add the FIA GT Series titles to its string of crownsin the Blancpain Endurance Series and in the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.Time to say “We’ll be back in 2014!” ANN.Az
