Earlier in first weekend of June the Flying Finn Konsta Lappalainen, age of 22, made Finnish Motorsport history with another Flying Finn Luka Nurmi as the duo celebrated podium position in Italian GT Racing series event which was driven in circuit of Imola. Due the podium position, Lappalainen and Nurmi joined the group of Markus Palttala and Pertti Kuismanen as well as Mika Salo and Toni Vilander. These six Finnish drivers are the only ones who have ever collect a podium in international GT Racing series as Finnish duo drivers.
Now in third weekend of July Konsta Lappalainen continued writting Finnish Racing history in traditional F1-circuit of Hockenheimring. Emil Frey Racing drivers Konsta Lappalainen and his british team mate Ben Green celebrated 3rd overall position in Saturdays and 1st overall position in Sundays race. Due the victory, Konsta Lappalainen is now the only Finnish Racing driver who has ever won the overall of GT World Challenge Sprint series.
– This victory means a lot for me as we have done four long years of work for this moment. Two overall podiums in one weekend is also the best result I’ve ever accomplished in my racing career. Even in Saturday we lost a bit of desired speed, the third position was still a very satisfying result. Then in Sunday we made a perfect race from start to finish and won the event by over six seconds margin. No explanations this time, shared Lappalainen his thoughts.
– In Saturdays race we started P2 and dropped P4. After fierce attack we managed to pick third position and then in Sunday we started from P4 and took the leadership of the race with a perfect stints. As we made no mistakes the result is what we had hoped for a long time. Ofcourse in previous seasons I’ve won in other groups like PRO-AM but now this was my first-ever overall victory and therefore it tastes excellent. However I’ll promise that this is not my last overall victory, Lappalainen continues.
Same three teams and drivers celebrated podiums in both Hockenheimring events and therefore also points were crossed. Belgiums Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts leads the series by two points for Maro Engel and his team mate Lucas Auer. Konsta Lappalainen and Ben Green steadied their third position in he highly intense racing series and are now 17,5 points behind the series leaders as there are still two racing weekends and four one hour races to be driven. Next two rounds are to be driven in third weekend of August in french circuit of Magny-Cours.
1. Mattia Michelotto (ITA) & Gilles Stadsbader (BEL), Lamborghini Huracán Evo 2, 28 laps
2. Leonardo Moncini (ITA) & Andrea Cola (ITA), Audi R8 LMS, +1,390s
3. Riccardo Gazzaniga (ITA) & Alberto di Folco (ITA), Lamborghini Huracán Evo 2, +12,337s
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retired. Konsta Lappalainen (FIN) & Luka Nurmi (FIN), Ferrari 296 GT3, crash
Final results GT World Challenge Sprint Hockenheimring (Germany), 20.7.2024: Overall top-3:
1. Maro Engel (GER) & Lucas Auer (AUT), Winward Racing Team, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, 36 laps
2. Dries Vanthoor (BEL) & Charles Weerts (BEL), Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3, +1,089s
3. Konsta Lappalainen (FIN) & Ben Green (GBR), Ferrari 296 GT3, +7,669s
Final results GT World Challenge Sprint Hockenheimring (Germany), 21.7.2024: Overall top-3:
1. Konsta Lappalainen (FIN) & Ben Green (GBR), Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3, 35 laps
2. Dries Vanthoor (BEL) & Charles Weerts (BEL), Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3, +6,333s
3. Maro Engel (GER) & Lucas Auer (AUT), Winward Racing Team, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, +6,908s
GT World Challenge Sprint Europe UNOFFICAL standings 6/10 rounds: PRO-Group top-5:
1. Dries Vanthoor (BEL) & Charles Weerts (BEL), Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3, 73p
2. Maro Engel (GER) & Lucas Auer (AUT), Winward Racing Team, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, 71p
3. Konsta Lappalainen (FIN) & Ben Green (GBR), Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3, 55,5p
4. Thierry Vermeulen (NDL) & Giacomo Altoe (ITA), Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3, 31p
5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) & Maxime Martin (BEL), Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3, 27p
