Niklas Krütten produced an impressive display in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe in Misano. Together with his Australian team-mate Calan Williams, the 20-year-old from Trier won the Gold Cup in the second race of the weekend.
The W Racing Team (WRT) duo had previously finished runner-up in Saturday’s opening race at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Following the double success in the Sprint Cup, former ADAC Stiftung Sport driver Krütten now leads the championship in the Gold Class.
The team started race one of the weekend at the 4.226-kilometre track on the Adriatic coast from fourth place in their class. Krütten was at the wheel of the BMW M4 GT3 for the start and coped well with temperatures well above 30 degrees Celsius. The early stages were a heated affair, but the driver from Trier was able to fend off the cars behind him and gain one position. Krütten handed over to Williams around the halfway point of the race, with the 590-hp BMW running third. The Australian climbed another place during his stint, bringing the car home in second place in the Gold Cup class.
With temperatures soaring as high as 40 degrees Celsius on Sunday, Calan Williams started the final race of the weekend from second place. He moved to the front of the field shortly before a safety car period and was leading the race when he came in to hand over to Krütten. The German showed what a talented driver he is in the second half of the race, maintaining the lead for the remaining distance before taking the chequered flag in first place in the Gold class.
Niklas Krütten: “It was a really positive weekend, which would initially have been hard to predict after the difficult qualifying. However, our set-up was really excellent in the races and we were able to make up places. We had a slight issue during the pit stop on Sunday, but that did not stop us from taking the win. We have once again scored very valuable points and now lead the overall standings in our class. Long may this continue!”
Round six of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe takes place from 29th to 30th July at the Nürburgring in the Eifel Mountains. It will be a pleasantly short journey for Niklas Krütten, who lives less than 100 kilometres from the iconic racetrack in the city of Trier.