MOTORSPORT – Bahraini-British motor racing team 2 Seas Motorsport displayed their impressive pace yesterday in the official Bronze class test ahead of the fourth and penultimate round of the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
The triumvirate of Charles Dawson, Tom Lebbon, and Ben Barnicoat – sharing the duties in 2 Seas’ #222 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo – were classified second overall in the hour-long session at the Nürburgring in Germany, going just under half-a-second behind the leaders.
A total of 16 cars took part in the test, which was exclusive for teams competing in the series’ Bronze class.
Lebbon was in the car in place of Kiern Jewiss, who was originally included in the round’s entry list.
2 Seas, co-owned by Bahrain’s Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, have a double entry in this weekend’s meeting.
Their #222 crew are to be joined on the track by the #33 Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, driven by the trio of Thierry Vermeulen, Chris Lulham, and Harry King.
Their car is operated by 2 Seas, and they are racing in the series’ Gold category.
The two contenders are part of a record 61-strong grid that will be lining up for the round’s gruelling, three-hour race, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow, flagging off at 4pm, Bahrain time.
Prior to the race weekend’s main event, a free practice for the full field will be held today at 10.15am, and then pre-qualifying will take place at 3.25pm.
Qualifying will then be held tomorrow from 10am, just hours ahead of the race. All times are Bahrain.
In yesterday’s test, Dawson clocked his crew’s best time of the day of one minute 56.848 seconds. It came late in the session with just under 20 minutes of running remaining.
2 Seas were 0.454 seconds off the leading mark of Kessel Racing’s #74 crew of Conrad Laursen, Dennis Marschall, and Dustin Blattner, competing in a Ferrari 296 GT3.
Third on the classification were the #27 crew of Ibrahim Al Abdulghani, Ghanim Salah Al Maadheed, and Abdulla Ali Al Khelaifi of QMMF By Sainteloc Racing in their #27 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, going 0.826s off the pace.
Heading into this round, Verstappen.com Racing are currently in first place on the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup’s Gold teams’ standings with 91 points, while Vermeulen, Lulham, and King lead the drivers’ rankings, also on 91 points apiece.
This season’s calendar in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup features five rounds across Europe.
The opening three events took place in France, Italy, and Belgium, while following Germany will be the championship finale in Barcelona, Spain, scheduled for October 10 to 12.
2 Seas’ #222 crew have not been competing over the series’ full calendar, and are making a special appearance at the Nürburgring.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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