> Incredible pit work puts #32 BMW out front for second successive win
> Pereira and Aka sweep Gold Cup for Tresor Attempto Racing
> Silver Cup success for GetSpeed Team Bartone Bros duo Panis and Bartone
> Salikhov and Dienst bag Bronze for Winward Racing
Provisional Result: Misano Race 2
Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde completed a clean sweep of Sprint Cup wins at Misano by triumphing in Sunday's race, establishing the #32 Team WRT BMW crew as the clear championship leaders.
Jules Gounon took the start from pole in his #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing machine and had to work hard to keep Van der Linde at bay through the opening sequence of corners. Try as he might, Gounon could not shake the BMW throughout the first stint, with Van der Linde staying within a second of the leader.
Behind them, Max Hesse moved the #46 Team WRT BMW from fourth on the grid to run third throughout the opening stint. With the sister car unable to pass the leading Mercedes-AMG, Hesse was able to close to within a second of Van der Linde, only to drop off significantly at the end of the stint.
Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing did not make a pit stop in Race 1, its car having been eliminated by an accident at the start. This also required the mechanics to work into the night repairing the car, making its speed during Race 2 all the more impressive.
When it came to the pit window, the Dutch team produced a good stop as Gounon made way for Juncadella. But there was almost nothing they could do to prevent Team WRT from snatching the lead, with a truly astounding turnaround from the Belgian squad giving Weerts the advantage.
Thus, the second stint began with the #32 BMW out front ahead of the #3 Mercedes-AMG and Valentino Rossi in the #46 BMW. The #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG ran fourth with Lucas Auer at the wheel, as it had done in the hands of Maro Engel before the pit window. Auer's progress would prove to be the main storyline of the second half of the race.
The Austrian posted the fastest lap of the day as he chased down Rossi, finally finding himself on the rear of the BMW with less than a minute left on the clock. Auer put the Italian under immense pressure, sliding up the inside at turn 8 and completing a pass into turn 9. The local hero had been denied a podium at the last moment.
There were no such problems for the #32 BMW, with Weerts coming home to take his 20th Sprint Cup victory. The Belgian is now the most successful driver in the history of the series and, along with Van der Linde, holds a 14-point advantage at the top of the standings. The #3 Mercedes-AMG secured a second runner-up finish of the season, while Auer's late pass gave Winward Racing vital points in their fight with Team WRT.
The #46 BMW was fourth followed by the #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, which beat the #50 AF Corse Ferrari and the #59 Garage 59 McLaren. Tresor Attempto Racing was eighth overall with Dylan Pereira and Alex Aka sharing its #99 Audi, which completed a sweep of Gold Cup wins by beating the #58 Garage 59 McLaren by just over 1.5 seconds.
GetSpeed Team Bartone Bros captured its first Silver Cup win of the year thanks to Aurélien Panis and Anthony Bartone. Having secured class pole, Panis was in command throughout the opening stint and handed across to Bartone to finish the job aboard the #6 Mercedes-AMG. The same brand was victorious in the Bronze Cup, with Winward Racing taking the win and the points lead thanks to Rinat Salikhov and Marvin Dienst.
GT World Challenge powered by AWS will be back on track in two weeks for another Sprint Cup round. Magny-Cours plays host to its familiar summer event, which runs from 31 July to 2 August at the French venue.