There was a mixture of fatigue and pride on the faces of the members of the Comtoyou Racing team on Sunday evening, a few minutes after the finish of the first round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe at the Circuit Paul Ricard. To complete its first race with Aston Martin, the Belgian team had to dig deep into its reserves. But the taste of reward is all the sweeter!
“Tonight, I am really proud of all the members of the Comtoyou Racing team,” confided Jean-Michel Baert with great emotion. “You cannot even begin to imagine the efforts that everyone has had to make to get four cars on the grid here. While waiting for the delivery of our fourth car, we received a Vantage on loan from another team. It arrived with us last Sunday. Our guys worked like crazy to get it ready for the first practice. They did not count the hours, they worked day and night… Despite the fatigue, everyone found the energy to get through the weekend without making any mistakes. And when we had two incidents during practice, they got back to work while missing parts were being sent over from Belgium… Well done to them! They deserved their first top result.”
As ever, the field for the Endurance Cup of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS looked great, with 54 GT3s on the grid, representing nine prestigious manufacturers. In such a competitive field, the final 7th place finish by Mattia Drudi, Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim, lining up in the #007 car, was an excellent result. The three official drivers enabled Comtoyou to score its first points with Aston Martin and to equal its best performance in the Endurance Cup, achieved at Monza and Spa in 2023.
Comtoyou Racing was also able to taste the joys of a class podium for the first time this year. In a fiercely competitive Bronze Cup, with no fewer than 19 cars on the grid, the #11 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 driven by John de Wilde, Kobe Pauwels and Job van Uitert crossed the finish line in third place. It was a superb performance, especially considering that John de Wilde and Job van Uitert were competing in their first Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe race and that Kobe Pauwels had just one appearance in the championship to his name!
The continuation of the Endurance Cup will also be the highlight of the season with the centenary of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa from June 26th to June 30th! Before that, Comtoyou Racing will be in ‘Sprint Cup’ mode with two events scheduled at Brands Hatch (4 and 5 May) and Misano (17 and 18 May). Who will be driving the Belgian team’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3s? Will let you know very soon!