Lance Stroll’s debut in the GT World Challenge Europe at Paul Ricard was not as expected. The Canadian driver and his team, Comtoyou Racing, finished in a discouraging 48th position out of 49 participating vehicles.
In this six-hour race, Stroll’s co-driver, Mari Boya, started the event, followed by Roberto Merhi. Stroll took over the wheel during the last phase of the competition, when it was already dark, in conditions he had not had the opportunity to practice sufficiently, due to technical issues in the night practice session on Friday.
Boya fell back in the first part of the race, losing point-scoring options after starting from 15th place and dropping to over 30th position. When Merhi handed the baton to Stroll, he was already far from the competition, occupying 38th position with just under two hours left to complete the race. Unfortunately, Stroll could only finish in 48th place.
The trio not only had a bad day on the track, but they also received penalties for track departures and for not respecting blue flags. Boya was penalized with a ‘stop-and-go’ after a collision for which he was deemed responsible.
By contrast, another vehicle from Comtoyou Racing, the #7 with Mattia Drudi, Marco Sorensen, and Nicki Thiim, achieved victory in this endurance competition. Moreover, Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen was present at Paul Ricard as team director, watching his team, which uses Mercedes vehicles, achieve ninth place with drivers Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Chris Lulham.
Verstappen will return to competition in a Mercedes vehicle later this month, participating in two preparatory races for the 24 hours of Nurburgring, along with Lucas Auer.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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