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9th June, 2019 – International GT Open, Spa-Francorchamps
A Pro-Am podium in Saturday’s race followed by fourth place on Sunday for Kang Ling and Frederik Schandorff means they leave Belgium lying second in the Championship.
Kang Ling and Frederik Schandorff raced the Evo version of the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for the first time in the Spa round of the GT Open International Championship this weekend. Friday’s free practice sessions were interrupted by rain late in the afternoon but the track was dry again for Saturday’s qualifying session. Schandorff set the fourth fastest time in the Pro-Am class to take a place on row four and was just half a second off the pole.
Rain started to fall again as the cars were lined up on the grid causing the race to be started behind the safety car. The patchy shower quickly moved on and racing began one lap later. Schandorff was quick to gain a place, overtaking Cheever’s Ferrari and was running well just outside the top five before a ten second stop and go penalty for an infringement behind the safety car dropped him down the order. When he pitted to give the Lamborghini over to Ling there was a further ten second penalty to discount due to their success in the previous round at Hockenheim. Penalties not withstanding the pair’s pace was enough to keep the car in the top ten and running fifth overall in Pro-Am. With five minutes left to go heavy rain started to fall at certain corners and Ling was quick to take advantage, passing Onslow-Cole at Eau Rouge before gaining a further place when Froggatt lost control of his Ferrari. Ling had no such difficulty in keeping the VSR Lamborghini on the road and he took the chequered flag in eighth overall, claiming a second successive Pro-Am podium for himself and team-mate Schandorff.
Ling qualified the Lamborghini for race two on Sunday and secured a starting slot on the sixth row after setting the fifth fastest time in class in a session that was shortened after a lengthy red flag. On the first lap of the race he passed Ramos and two laps later overtook both Konrad and Giammaria to move into fourth in class, eighth overall. A short safety car period closed up the field and when the race resumed there were just three minutes until the pit window opened. On lap fourteen Ling pitted and Schandorff took over the car, once again discounting a ten second success penalty. Schandorff quickly passed Razak and two laps later Hahn fell off the road in front of the VSR Lamborghini moving it into third in class, seventh overall. In the final fifteen minutes of the race a train of seven cars formed up behind Pohler and Habul battling over fourth place. Schandorff was quick to pass Onidi and with five minutes to go moved into second in class scything past Habul. He took the chequered flag in fifth place overall, second in class, but a five second penalty resulted in a final classification of tenth overall and fourth in class.
The next round of the GT Open International Championship will take place at the Red Bull Ring in July.
Photos by Fotospeedy
