The Swiss driver confirms his class leadership in the GT World Challenge Europe
Alex Fontana celebrated another Silver Cup podium finish in the GT World Challenge Europe at the Paul Ricard 1000 km, the third round in the 2021 calendar and the second valid for the Endurance trophy. The Swiss driver finished second in class and 13th overall at the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracàn GT3 Evo entered by the Emil Frey Racing team he shared with his fellow Swiss nationals Rolf Ineichen and Ricardo Feller.
In qualifying, the Fontana-Ineichen-Feller trio had started well by securing third place among the Silver Cup participants, Alex taking Q1 and recording a time of 1’54”652. The race started at 6 PM on the Saturday, with Fontana in action in the second stint and again in the fourth, the phase in which the sun set over Le Castellet, with the conclusion of the race being held in darkness as is traditional with this event. Fontana had handed over the Lamborghini #14 to Feller who at midnight completed a fine race for the Swiss outfit, always in the running for a class podium thanks to its consistent pace.
Fontana also brought the Emil Frey Racing team three bonus points by finishing third overall and second in the Silver Cup in the Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series virtual race held on Saturday afternoon. This official tournament organized by SRO brings together the protagonists of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for a simulator challenge with real points at stake for the real world team standings.
Following the Paul Ricard 1000 km, Fontana has retained his lead in the Silver Cup class with 78 points in the Overall standings and, together with his teammates Feller and Ineichen, 39 points in the Endurance standings, taking into account the success in the opening race at Monza.
The next round of the GT World Challenge Europe is scheduled for the weekend of 18-20 June on the Dutch circuit of Zandvoort, in the Sprint Cup format.
Alex Fontana
“We’re continuing to enjoy a great season in the GT World Challenge Europe, securing another Silver Cup podium and retaining our class leadership. At Le Castellet, in one of the most enthralling rounds in the season thanks to the changing light, after qualifying well we had a very solid race, maintaining consistent pace with no particular problems. This doesn’t happen often in a 6-hour race, but is evidence of the excellent preparation conducted by the Emil Frey Racing team. This allowed us to focus on our objective of once again scoring as many points as possible together with my teammates Ricardo and Rolf. We can rightly be satisfied with what we have achieved and our new objective is to maintain this level of performance.”