Newcomer Ambiel triumphs in the Spa-Francorchamps rain

• Second podium for Riccardo Leone Cirelli and Mattias Bjerre Jakobsen
• Danny Soufi and Pavel Lefterov also step on the podium twice at Spa-Francorchamps
• Cirelli and Jakobsen are top Juniors

Spa-Francorchamps. Newcomer Thomas Ambiel (45/Eppingen, Rinaldi Racing), who is listed in the Trophy competition, won Sunday’s Prototype Cup Germany race at a rainy Spa-Francorchamps, finishing ahead of Riccardo Leone Cirelli (17/ITA) / Mattias Bjerre Jakobsen (18/DEN, both BWT Mücke Motorsport) and Danny Soufi (21/USA) / Pavel Lefterov (27/BUL, both Konrad Motorsport). Starting only his second race in the Prototype Cup Germany, Ambiel switched to wet-weather tyres at the start and made it through to the finish on the same set. “I coped very well with the rain at the test day on Wednesday. I don’t drive as aggressively as the wild youngsters, but tend to look after my material more. I think this driving style is well suited to wet conditions. I am delighted to have won here.”

The second race of this season’s Prototype Cup Germany was just a few seconds old when the rain started to fall. Race control sent the safety car onto the track after the opening lap. Keanu Al-Azhari (17/UAE, Mühlner Motorsport) led the way at this point, followed by Lefterov, Jakobsen and Sven Barth (44/Eberbach, Aust Motorsport). Like Alexzander Kristiansson (25/SWE, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) and Ambiel, Al-Azhari pulled straight into the pit lane to pick up wet tyres. One lap later, the two Mücke cars, with Jakobsen and Maksymilian Angelard (17/POL, BWT Mücke Motorsport) at the wheel, came in to change their tyres. Racing resumed at the start of lap four and all the cars still on slicks promptly dropped back through the field. One lap after the restart, the order read Al Azhari ahead of Ambiel and Kristiansson, all of whom were on wets.

After the pit stop came a change at the head of the field: Al-Azhari skidded into the gravel and Ambiel benefitted by taking the lead. At this point, his lead over his closest rival stood at over twelve seconds. Ambiel continued to pull clear of the rest of the field and went on to take the chequered flag ahead of Cirelli and Jakobsen. Soufi and Lefterov were third across the line and leave the Belgian Ardennes as leaders in the Drivers Championship.

Oscar Tunjo (29/COL) and his team-mate Mikkel C. Johansen (37/DEN, both Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) produced some fast lap times on their way to fourth place, ahead of Michael Herich (47/Brühl, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) / Kristiansson, Mattias Pluschkell (20/Elmenhorst, BWT Mücke Motorsport) / Angelard and Barth / Maxim Dirickx (20/BEL, Aust Motorsport).

Mattias Bjerre Jakobsen (runner-up): “My start was okay, but it then immediately started to rain. Our tyre change was a bit too late and towards the end of my stint it became increasingly difficult on the wet tyre, because the tyres degraded more and more as the track started to dry out.”

Riccardo Leone Cirelli (runner-up): “That was not an easy race. When I got into the car, there was initially an FCY phase, during which I was not really able to get any heat into the tyres. Then I made a mistake in Eau Rouge and spun. Fortunately, I did not crash, but from that point on I was focussed on keeping the car on the track.”

Pavel Lefterov (third): “It was an interesting race. I was running second behind Keanu when the safety car came out because of the rain. By the way, that was the correct decision from race control at that moment. Unfortunately, our strategy of staying out on slicks was, in hindsight, not the right one, as it was simply too wet. However, we got the maximum out of this race by finishing third.”

Danny Soufi (third): “When I took my place in the car it was still very wet and I had to be very careful. I mainly tried to avoid making any mistakes, but also pushed as hard as was possible. I am pleased with third place – I don’t think we could have hoped for any better on slicks.”