The 2023 Sprint Cup campaign is set for a thrilling finale. With the trip to Valencia complete, there are just two races to run during the deciding event at Zandvoort – and everything still to play for.
That is except for the Bronze Cup. The class ended its season at Valencia and was settled in favour of Alex Malykhin and Pure Racing. They did it in style, taking Race 2 victory with the #911 Porsche. But while that cup is decided, the Overall, Gold Cup and Silver Cup battles all go to the wire.
Here are the key talking points from the penultimate Sprint Cup round of the season.
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Saturday's opening contest saw Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy secure their fourth Sprint Cup win from as many meetings. This was Marciello's 14th win, tying Laurens Vanthoor for second on the all-time list. Boguslavskiy has scored nine Sprint wins.
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This was the 32nd win for Mercedes-AMG and the 16th for Akkodis ASP. As such, the French squad has now accounted for exactly half of the Affalterbach brand’s Sprint Cup victories.
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Runner-up spot in the opening contest went to the #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari of Albert Costa and Thierry Vermeulen. The latter earned his first series podium, having crossed the line in P3 at Hockenheim only for a penalty to demote the car to fourth after the chequered flag. They backed it up with a P3 finish on Sunday, keeping them mathematically eligible for the title.
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Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts prevailed in Race 2 to earn their first Fanatec GT Europe triumph with BMW. Vanthoor thus extends his record as the most successful driver in Sprint Cup history with a 16th overall win, while Weerts scored his 13th. The result moves Team WRT to 47 outright Sprint Cup victories and was the fourth for BMW machinery.
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Vanthoor and Weerts triumphed from 13th on the grid, the second-lowest starting spot for a winner in Sprint Cup history. The record remains 19th, which was achieved by BMW Team Schubert at Slovakiaring in 2019.
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There was no victory, but Tresor Orange1 bagged a pair of podiums at Valencia and scored a big haul of championship points. The #40 Audi was third in Race 1 and chased the winning BMW home in Race 2, its second double podium of the season following the opener at Brands Hatch.
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Nicolai Kjærgaard was judged to have caused the opening-lap accident that caused an early safety car in Race 1. The #159 Garage 59 McLaren driver was reprimanded and given a behaviour warning point, but the car's ninth-place finish was unaffected.
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With eight of this season's 10 races complete, two cars have scored overall championship points in every outing: the #32 Team WRT BMW and the #11 Comtoyou Racing Audi. Little surprise that both retain a shot at the championship when the campaign concludes at Zandvoort.
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Despite a lacklustre Sunday, the #88 Akkodis ASP crew of Marciello/Boguslavskiy retain the advantage. They have scored 82 points, followed by Drudi/Feller (75.5) and Vanthoor/Weerts (68.5). These are the main contenders, though there is also a mathematical chance for Haase/Légeret (56.5) and Costa/Vermeulen (48.5).
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There was a major shift in the Gold Cup title battle at Valencia. Leading ahead of the weekend, Niklas Krütten and Calan Williams (#30 Team WRT BMW) suffered a DNF in Race 1 and were a delayed fourth in Race 2. This is the first time this term that the BMW duo have left a Sprint meeting without a victory.
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Indeed, there were two first-time winners at Valencia with the #21 Comtoyou Racing Audi of Gilles Magnus and Finlay Hutchison taking Race 1, while Simon Gachet and Paul Evrard (#26 Saintéloc Junior Team Audi) triumphed in Race 2.
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This has blown the title race wide open. All five crews can still take the Gold Cup crown, with the #9 Boutsen VDS duo of Panis/Di Folco out front on 90 points. Krütten/Williams have 84, while Magnus/Hutchison (75.5), Gachet/Evrard (74.5) and the #10 Boutsen VDS Audi pair of Gazeau/Eteki (72) can all become champions at Zandvoort.
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In the Silver Cup, Tresor Attempto Racing made it five wins from a possible eight by sweeping the weekend. Alex Aka and Lorenzo Patrese beat their chief title rival, the #77 HRT Mercedes-AMG, in both contests to move to the top of the drivers' standings by a single point.
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Barring a major upset, Patrese and Aka will fight HRT man Jordan Love for the crown. The #90 Madpanda Motorsport Mercedes-AMG pairing of Ezequiel Perez Companc and Jesse Salmenautio are 31.5 points off the lead with 35 to play for at Zandvoort.
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Alex Malykhin was crowned Bronze Cup champion thanks to victory in Race 2. The #911 Pure Rxcing Porsche finished on the podium in five successive races before bagging a first win at the last attempt, capping the campaign in style. Malykhin is also in a very strong position to wrap up the overall Bronze Cup crown in the upcoming Endurance Cup finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
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Tresor Attempto Racing won the opening contest, aided by a brilliant first stint from Dennis Marschall which saw the #40 Audi lead overall. This made it two wins from as many events for the #40 and was followed by a P3 finish on Sunday.
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Race 2 saw Reema Juffali and Fabian Schiller bag their first podium finish of the season in the #81 Theeba Motorsport Mercedes-AMG. Indeed, this represents a first top-three finish for the Theeba squad since it joined Fanatec GT Europe this term.
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Pole for Race 1 went to the #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi. This was the first instance of a Bronze Cup car securing overall pole at a Sprint event, though it famously occurred at this year's CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa courtesy of Porsche squad Huber Motorsport.
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The weekend's second overall pole went to a Gold Cup car as Simon Gachet delivered a stellar lap in slippery conditions to put the #26 Saintéloc Junior Team Audi on top. This was Gachet's third overall Sprint Cup pole: the previous two came at Magny-Cours in 2020 and 2022.
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This was the first instance of a Pro car failing to take an overall pole during a Sprint Cup weekend. A Silver Cup car took two poles at Misano in 2020, though this event consisted of three races due to the Covid-restricted calendar. On that occasion, the third pole went to a Pro car.
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Though both races were staged in dry conditions, there were several rain showers during the event. There was a serious downpour on Thursday evening, as well as a shower on Sunday morning that left the track slippery for Qualifying 2.
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The entry list was reduced by one car shortly before the action got underway due to the withdrawal of the #112 JP Motorsport McLaren. A knee injury forced Patryk Krupinski to skip the weekend, though the car ran in the pre-event test with Norbert Siedler at the wheel.
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The next stop on the Fanatec GT Europe tour is the Endurance Cup finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 30 September/1 October. The remaining Sprint Cup titles will be decided at Zandvoort, which stages the season-ending round on 13-15 October.
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