Blog
The Sprint race season of the GT Cup Series kicked off at the Red Bull Ring with the first race on Sunday morning. The race was dominated by the GTX class, with Jack Russel taking the win in a KTM X-BOW GT2, finishing ahead of his teammate Max Grip from the MZR Motorsportzentrum Ried team.
Antonín Herbeck with Pagani Zonda was supposed to start from the front row, but unfortunately, due to some issues, he had to start from the pit lane. This allowed Jürgen Alzen, driving a BMW M4 from the P9 Challenge series, a clear view of the first corner, and he held the lead, followed by a trio of KTM cars from the GT Cup Series: Rupert Atzberger, Jack Russel, and Max Grip – all representing MZR Motorsportzentrum Ried.
Rudolf Beňo in a BMW M4 GT3 led the GT3 class, Bob Bau in a Porsche 991 was in front in GTC1, and in the GT4 class, a tight battle unfolded between Filip Nedoma, Troy Sovička, Petr Koukola, and Oleksandr Kosohov.
After five laps, Richard Woschitz from the Koglbauer Motorsport Team beached his Porsche in the gravel at Turn 4, bringing out the safety car and bunching up the field.
During the safety car period, Atzberger dropped down the order, and after the restart, Jack Russel reclaimed the lead in the GTX class, followed by his teammate Max Grip. Christian Wimberger, driving a Lamborghini Huracán GTX, attempted to attack them but spun out in the slow Turn 3 and lost many positions. Thanks to that, Dennis Waszek moved up into third place in the GTX class.
A great fight developed in the GT3 class between Piotr Wira in a Mercedes and Rudolf Beňo in a BMW after the restart. Wira couldn’t hold off Beňo, who moved into the lead in the infield section of the Red Bull Ring.
Jack Russel eventually won the first sprint race of the season ahead of Max Grip and Dennis Waszek in a Lamborghini Super Trofeo – all from the GTX class. The GT3 class was won by Piotr Wira from the Good Speed Racing Team, as Beňo had problems in Turn 3 on the final lap and dropped to third in GT3, behind second-placed Antal Zsigo in a BMW M4 GT3.
Bob Bau from Trencar Racing claimed victory in GTC1, while the GT4 class triumph went to Filip Nedoma in a Mercedes-AMG GT4 from Buggyra ZM Racing, who successfully defended his position against Troy Sovička in a Lotus Emira GT4 from Blue Garage Racing. The gap between them at the chequered flag was less than 0.3 seconds. Third in the GT4 class was Oleksandr Kosohov in a Porsche Cayman GT4 from the GT Sports Technology team.