Race 1
Schnitzelalm struck first, with Joel Mesch taking a fine win in Saturday’s sprint encounter. Mesch had to work his way to the front after slotting into third place behind Tom Lebbon (Elite Motorsport McLaren Artura) and Mikey Porter in the Forsetti car. Along with Mathieu Martins (Racar Motorsport Aston Martin), this quartet briefly looked like it might swap paint all the way to the finish.
By the third run around the magnificent Portuguese circuit, however, Mesch was through into a lead he would never lose. With the Mercedes disappearing over the crests of the track’s many hills, interest shifted to watching a struggling Lebbon doing his best to keep Martins and Porter behind him.
But the young British driver couldn’t rely on his enthusiastic chasers tripping over each other for the full race distance. Despite stubborn defence, he succumbed to Martins on lap six, then Porter on lap eight. At which point his misery was compounded by a drive-through penalty for weaving after the field had lined up for the rolling start.
That was the end of any real fighting among the three leading cars. The safety car stayed away for the full duration, and Mesch’s lead topped out at over six seconds.
Martins did close up to with a few tenths of the leader by the end of the 17th and final lap, but Mesch confirmed afterwards that he’d been managing the car rather than fighting any gremlins.
Fourth overall was Charles Dawson (CV Performance), who overtook and then held off fellow Mercedes AMG driver Max Huber (NM Racing Team).
The ‘Cayman Cup’ class win went to SR Motorsport’s Thomas Rackl.
Source: Autosport