Dani Juncadella, GTWC Europe Endurance Cup champion at home

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this Sunday closed the seventh edition of the Barcelona Speed​​​​Festival-María de Villota Legacy in the best possible way, in the presence of thousands of attendees and with some winners from home. The stellar moment came from the hand of GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the resolution of most of its titles, especially the Endurance Cup titles, although the Lamborhini Supertrofeo and the GT4 European GT Series also put their grain of sand in a weekend that had it all : emotions, adrenaline, sun , beautiful atmosphere and, above all, a lot of fun.

After an intense morning of races in the support championships, at three in the afternoon the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya boasts a main straight full of fast and impressive cars ready to give it their all in the grand finale of the Endurance Cup, a race programmed in 180 minutes. On that starting grid, Iron Lynx was the best positioned after taking pole position, with Antonio Fuoco well aware of what was at stake. The Italian disputes the Catalan title Dani Juncadella and his teammates Jules Gounon and Raffaele Marciello, as well as the Iron Lynx team with the Akkodis ASP Team. The latter, however, started in eighth place.

In the first hour of the test, the Iron Lynx held the reins of the race with the Ferrari 488 GT3, while the Akkodis ASP Team fought to get closer to the top 5 with Jules Gounon making the first stint at the controls of the Mercedes AMG GT3. Albert Costa’s team, Emil Frey Racing, put his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo in second place, improving on the third where he started thanks to Jack Aitken. On the contrary, Dinamic Motorsport (Klaus Bachler, Alessio Picariello, Matteo Cairoli – Porsche 911 GT3-R) lost one place, remaining on the temporary podium. Those positions would remain that way for the first sixty minutes, until the first stoppages changed everything.

Entering the second hour of competition, the Iron Lynx saw his victory in jeopardy. The reason was Albert Costa, who after several laps with insurmountable speed, stuck to the Ferrari so that he could not escape further. Emil Frey Racing will achieve the first place thanks to the insistence of the former member of the Circuit’s young driver program, which, shortly before the end of his replacement, occupied the first place, followed by Iron Lynx and Dinamic Motorsport. Meanwhile, Juncadella’s Akkodis ASP Team is already in the top 5, a result that mathematically gives them the Endurance Cup title despite Iron Lynx’s second place finish.

At the third and final driver change, the race suddenly turned around again. Passing through the pit lane left Dinamic Motorsport, the fastest in change, at the controls. Not only did Emil Frey Racing lose, but Iron Lynx caught up again when they entered the track. In this context, the Iron Dames’ mechanical failure causes the rescue vehicle to appear to remove their damaged vehicle. This incident caused distances between the participants, bringing them all together. With only half an hour to go, the tension was palpable. Iron Lynx pressed Dinamic Motorsport very hard to try and regain first place, which would hand the championship to Antonio Fuoco.

In the end, Dinamic Motorsport (Bachler, Picariello, Cairoli) did not give up and celebrated at the top of the podium. Iron Lynx (Fuoco, Pierguidi, Rovera) took a creditable second place, although it was not enough to seal the Endurance Cup title. Emil Frey Racing and Albert Costa took the podium, with the other members of the group, Jack Aitken and Mirko Bortolotti. The Akkodis ASP Team finished fifth and thus took the Endurance Cup crown, as did its riders Dani Juncadella, Raffaele Marciello and Jules Gounon. It was a great double result for the two home drivers who once grew up in motorsport as Young Drivers of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a setting where they are still reaping the fruits of their labour.