Lance Stroll’s brutal GT racing debut marred by eight minutes of penalties

Lance Stroll suffered a brutal welcome to the GT World Problem Europe at Paul Ricard over the weekend.

With no F1 racing all through April following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix double-header because of the Iran struggle, Stroll made probably the most of a free weekend to contest his debut outing within the collection.

In a transfer that mirrored four-time world champion Max Verstappen’s latest extracurricular actions, Stroll made his debut within the opening spherical of the GT World Problem Europe Endurance Cup on the Paul Ricard 6 Hours.

Nonetheless, it proved to be a weekend to neglect on his return to sports activities automotive racing for Stroll, whose No.18 entry was categorised forty eighth within the order following a late retirement from a race stricken by points.

Whereas Stroll has previous expertise driving the previous French Grand Prix venue in F1 equipment, this was a completely completely different beast for the Canadian, who solely contested the ultimate a part of the race which took half at nighttime.

Technical points had prevented Stroll from getting a lot expertise driving the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO at night time earlier than the race began.

Stroll and team-mates Mari Boya and ex-F1 driver Roberto Merhi began fifteenth however had dropped to thirty eighth within the order by the point Stroll received behind the wheel. Stroll posted the eighth-fastest lap of the race however was pressured to retire the automotive when gearbox points struck.

In addition to technical points, the No.18 Comtoyou Racing outfit entry acquired over eight minutes’ price of penalties.

Boya picked up a stop-and-go penalty for inflicting a collision, whereas the No.18 automotive was additionally handed 4 minutes’ price of penalties for ignoring blue flags. An extra three minutes and 40 seconds of penalties have been for exceeding observe limits.

Stroll racked up one minute of penalties for failing to respect blue flags and likewise copped 115 seconds’ price of penalties for repeated observe limits offences. 

Stroll has beforehand contested the 2016 and 2018 editions of the 24 Hours of Daytona. 

The sister No.7 Comtoyou Racing entry claimed victory with Mattia Drudi, Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim behind the wheel.

The Workforce Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 pushed by Daniel Juncadella, Chris Lulham and Jules Gounon completed ninth total.

Verstappen will workforce up with Juncadella, Gounon and Lucas Auer when he makes his debut on the Nurburgring 24 Hours on 14-17 Could.