Rutronik Racing continues its successful run at the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup in Magny-Cours and remains in contention for the title in the international GT3 racing series.

The fourth race weekend of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup took place on the former French Formula 1 circuit in Magny-Cours. Rutronik Racing fielded two Porsche 911 GT3 R on the circuit in the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, driven by Sven Müller and Patric Niederhauser as well as Loek Hartog and Eshan Pieris.

The Remchingen-based Porsche team had already performed well on this circuit last year, so everyone was feeling optimistic as they arrived. The team used the three-hour test on Thursday and the practice sessions on Friday to get perfectly acclimatised to the conditions on the 4.411-kilometre track. The sessions were particularly important for Eshan Pieris, who is competing in his first racing season in Europe, as they allowed him to familiarise himself with the circuit again after completing tests there in March.

The team's hard work paid off on Saturday when Patric Niederhauser secured a strong second place on the grid for the first race. The Swiss driver remained in the lead during the race and a quick pit stop even allowed the Porsche with start number #96 to take the lead. In the second stint, however, the Lamborghini was able to set faster lap times and overtook Sven Müller after a full-course yellow phase. After an hour of racing, Müller crossed the finish line in second place and secured another strong result for Rutronik Racing. Loek Hartog and Eshan Pieris finished the race in sixth place in the Silver Cup.

On Sunday, the team had to start a comeback after Sven Müller only managed to qualify in twelfth place following a difficult qualifying session. With good speed, some great overtaking manoeuvres, a good tactic and a fast pit crew, Müller and Niederhauser managed to finish the race in fifth place. With a pit stop time of 37.8 seconds, Rutronik Racing also won the Pit Stop Challenge for the fastest pit stop. Eshan Pieris drove the third fastest lap in the Silver Cup in qualifying on Sunday, impressively demonstrating his progress. In the race, the duo finished in a strong fifth place in the highly competitive class. The race weekend at Magny-Cours was the best so far in this year's Sprint Cup season for the driver duo.

In the overall standings of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup, Sven Müller and Patric Niederhauser are in third place after four race weekends, 8.5 points behind the leaders. The two Rutronik Racing drivers are also in a promising position in the overall standings from the endurance and sprint races. They are also in third place in the championship, 9.5 points behind.

The final round of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup will take place from 19 to 21 September in Valencia, Spain. Before that, the international racing series will make its guest appearance in Germany on the last weekend of August, when the Endurance Cup comes to the Nürburgring. Rutronik Racing is expecting numerous guests at its home race in the Eifel.

Klaus Graf, Team Principal Rutronik Racing: "We scored some good and important points at Magny-Cours this weekend and finished on the podium with the #96 on Saturday. Second place is a very good result. It was a tough battle for victory; we led the race but didn't quite make it in the end. But I think we can still be very satisfied with the overall performance of the drivers and the team. We won the Pit Stop Challenge with the best pit stop of the weekend and, after a difficult qualifying session, got the maximum out of Sunday's race and fought our way up to fifth place. The battle for the title in the sprint and overall standings is completely open, and that is our goal at the moment. We wanted to score important points in both races and we managed to do that. So I'm very happy with the result. We had a good starting position with the 97 in both races and could perhaps have got a little more out of them, but at the end of the day, that's part of the process of Eshan competing as a newcomer to this racing series. The night races are also not easy for him, where a lot happens very quickly. I think he just needs to get used to it. On Sunday, he had a very good qualifying session and achieved another good result in fifth place, which meant we scored some good points there too."

Patric Niederhauser, driver of the Porsche 911 GT3 R #96: "It was a very successful weekend for us with second place on Saturday. Of course, you always want to win, and we were in a position to fight for victory, but unfortunately we didn't quite have the speed. But we gave it our all and fought until the end. Second place was a very important result for the championship. We had a difficult qualifying session on Sunday, but the whole team did an incredible job. We got the maximum out of fifth place. Thanks in part to the fastest pit stop of the entire weekend by our team, we were able to make up a lot of places. So we are leaving the race weekend very satisfied, even though we had hoped for a victory, of course. The battle for the championship is now in full swing!"