First corner drama ends Optimum Motorsport’s race in Spa

Optimum Motorsport’s Endurance weekend in Spa-Francorchamps for GT Open’s third round ended no sooner had the green flag dropped after opening lap contact at La Source.

With this weekend taking on an Endurance format, qualifying on Saturday afternoon consisted of two sessions, as usual, with each of the two drivers contesting one session each.

It was Nick Moss up first and the Brit clocked an impressive 2:18.191, with Joe Osborne out in the latter of the two sessions, pipped to the post for the top spot by Pulcini in the Oregon Team’s #63 Lamborghini by 0.024s.

The starting grid for Sunday’s main event was determined by the average lap time taken from the best lap of each driver. With all calculations complete by Saturday afternoon, #72 lined up second on the grid for two hour and 20-minute race, the series’ first Endurance event since 2007.

No sooner had the green flag dropped after the formation lap, Nick was sandwiched at the start and caught up in an entanglement after initial contact by Scholze as he locked up in the #33 Team GT Mercedes-AMG GT3 into La Source, causing the #72 McLaren 720S to spin and consequently receive more damage, falling victim to first corner drama and thus, retiring.