razoon – more than racing was able to match the pace of the frontrunners in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup, but a lack of racing luck prevented better results.

The first full season for razoon – more than racing in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup got underway at Brands Hatch. Simon Birch and Magnus Gustavsen drove the Styrian team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R in the fiercely contested Silver Cup.

The team impressively demonstrated the car’s potential in the second practice session, when Simon Birch set the twelfth-fastest lap time, making him the fastest driver in the Silver Cup. During his qualifying run, Birch ran into some dirt, causing the rear of the car to break away and forcing him into the gravel trap. With his tyres contaminated, Birch was unable to set any further fast times and qualified in 23rd place, whilst Gustavsen, in his first qualifying session in a year and a half, secured 31st position.

On the opening lap of the first race, Birch collided with another Porsche, which subsequently crashed heavily. The Dane was handed a 20-second stop-and-go penalty, which saw him drop far down the field. After the penalty, Birch set off on a chase with a lot of fire in his belly and at times was more than a second faster than the rest of the field. The duo finished the race in 30th place and 11th in the Silver Cup.

“The mistake in the first race was clearly my fault,” Simon Birch admitted after the race, apologising to his rival. “All in all, a difficult weekend for us, especially in the second race, where our track position wasn’t good and made life difficult for us. But we know we have the speed and will come back stronger at the next race weekend.”

Magnus Gustavsen started the second race, but the Norwegian was spun around in the Surtees corner on the second lap and dropped to the back of the field. After an hour of racing, the two Scandinavians finished the race in 28th place and secured the team’s first Sprint Cup points with a ninth-place finish in the Silver Cup.

“After the first weekend with razoon – more than racing, I’m really pleased to be back in the GT World Challenge. We knew from the outset that it wouldn’t be easy after a year’s break and without any prior experience in the Porsche,” explained Gustavsen after the weekend. “All in all, it was a decent and well-executed weekend. The pace was solid given the circumstances, which is something we can definitely build on. Unfortunately, the races themselves didn’t go quite as we’d hoped. Incidents in both Race 1 and Race 2 reduced our chances and prevented us from showing our full potential. Nevertheless, there are positive aspects we can take away, and I’m looking forward to building on them as the season progresses.”

“It was a difficult weekend for us. We’re very confident that we had excellent pace; unfortunately, we couldn’t translate that into results. However, this is all part of the learning process and we want to build on this race weekend,” explains team owner Dominik Olbert.

The next race weekend in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup takes place in mid-July at Misano in Italy. The European GT series will resume beforehand at the end of May with an Endurance Cup race at Monza.