Goethe and his teammate Thomas Neubauer set the pace in the opening practice session and carried the momentum into the first qualifying session where they snatched class pole position, securing P6 on the overall grid for Saturday’s race.
Neubauer executed a perfect start and maintained the class lead and managed to carve his way all the way up to P4 overall before passing the wheel to Benji.
The young Dane carried on the charge and got one foot on the overall podium with a fast-approaching Christopher Haase in his mirrors. The 34-year-old Audi factory GT driver started an attack on the 19-year-old youngster, who held his ground superbly. He fended off the intense pressure from the German driver and brought the #30 ROFGO WRT Audi home in P3 overall, claiming the Silver Cup win while also setting the fastest lap of the race.
It was Benji’s turn on Sunday to secure the starting position for the second race and he finished Qualifying in P6 in class.
After a solid start avoiding the opening lap carnage before the Safety Car was called on track for the first time. The ROFGO Junior driver delivered a stellar stint, producing a spectacular wheel-to-wheel battle for P3 in class before handing over the baton to Neubauer.
The young Frenchman picked up where Goethe left off, slicing through the field like hot knife through butter, finding himself in Silver Cup lead (9th overall) with less than 20 minutes left on the clock It seemed like smooth sailing down to the finish line for the Gulf-liveried WRT Audi, however, an unfortunate late Safety car restart cost them the class win when a lapped car blocked Thomas, forcing him off the track throwing him down to P3.
Even though they felt robbed of the win, Sunday’s P3 is the #30 Audi duo’s fourth consecutive podium finish and they are sitting P2 in the combined championship and P4 in the Sprint Cup standings.
Benjamin Goethe:
‘’Saturday was perfect. Thomas did a mega job in the Qualy and we had a strong pace during the whole race. I am happy with my stint and I really enjoyed the battle with Christopher down to the finish line. The team did a fantastic job in the pits and on the strategy and we really showed that we are a force to reckon with. Sunday however feels a bit bittersweet as we were robbed of the win by a lapped car in the final minute of the race. It’s quite frustrating but on the upside, we still grabbed the last step of the podium and bagged some good points for the championship.”
The GT World Challenge European Championship continues in three weeks’ time on July 30-31 with the greatest GT race on the motorsport calendar, the 24 Hours of Spa.
