Two 2nd Place finishes in GT Pro Qual
Last weekend the GTE Pro Qualifying Series took to the land of the Rising Sun, where Yannick Lapchin and Marin Čolak would compete in Race 1, and Vedran Kralj joining Yan for Race 3.
The first Race would boast a 6k strength of field however undeterred, Yan would dominate Qualifying proceedings with a Pole Lap almost a tenth and a half clear of Thrustmaster Mivano Racing who would join him on the Front Row.
Yan would build up an early 5 second lead over the first stint before a shortfill from second placed runner Vendaval Simracing Yellow would give the ASTRO Gaming car company for the second stint. The final pit stop would go to plan as Marin Colak would take the wheel of a second Porsche in 2 weeks at Motegi; swapping his 911 Cup car for the RSR. Sadly an intermittent hardware failure plaguing Marin’s gear selection would force the Team to drop behind Vendaval, but with a big enough margin; were able to secure Position 2 and 348 vital Championship Points. Needless to say, after the race
Race Three would see Yan go one better in qualifying; a staggering 0.25sec quicker than the Williams Esports car. Yan would once again do a phenomenal job through his stints fielding a tremendous amount of pressure being applied by McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris. Yannick led 65 of his 67 laps and handed the car to Vedran in the best place possible. However great pace from McLaren’s Simulator driver Rudy van Buren would see the ASTRO car relegated to P2 with just 13 laps to go; but after 3 hours of intense racing; just 4.1 seconds behind Team Redline’s “McLaren” team at the chequered flag.
These fantastic Podium results promote the ASTRO Gaming Altus Esports Team to 16th in the Championship; almost 10 spots clear of the Promotion Cut-Off into the World Championship in just a few months time. Next up sees the Team fly to Brazil; where NEO and SCO both produced great results previously so fingers are crossed for a Hat-Trick of Results at Interlagos.