Emil Frey Racing ends Sprint Cup season with 3rd place in Sprint Cup Team and Driver Standings

Barcelona, 14th October 2024

Emil Frey Racing finished third in both the team and driver standings at the season finale of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup. After a chaotic race in the rain on Saturday with wrong decisions by race control, the team lost valuable points in the fight for the championship. The Swiss team is now focusing all its attention on the DTM season finale next weekend at the Hockenheimring.

Sprint-Cup Race #1 – Saturday, 12th October 2024 
Ben Green started the first 60-minute race from 7th place in the #14 Ferrari 296 GT3, closely followed by the sister car with the number 69 with Thierry Vermeulen at the wheel. While a serious accident occurred on the very first corner, the Emil Frey Racing drivers made up four and two positions respectively. But after one lap, the Safety Car was sent out onto the track, which was to lead the field until shortly before the end of the race. 

In the end, there were only a few minutes of racing in which the drivers were actually able to fight for positions on the racetrack. Konsta Lappalainen had a great battle with the #48 Mercedes and took home a good fourth place and valuable points. Giacomo Altoè, who was unlucky at the pitstop and had to stop in the pitlane at red due to unclear instructions by race control letting half the field pass, made up places in the final laps and finished in 10th place.

Sprint Cup Race #2 – Sunday, 13th October 2024 
Giacomo Altoè had a great start to Sunday's race and made up six positions on the first lap alone coming from 13th place. Konsta Lappalainen had a lot of traffic in the midfield but was able to win the Ferrari fight with the #71 AF Corse and take 13th place.

After the pitstops, the two Emil Frey Racing Ferraris were in 6th and 14th place. Ben Green was able to work his way up to 12th place in his stint in the #14 car, but unfortunately, he was ultimately missing out on important points in the battle for the championship title.

Emil Frey Racing did not make it onto the top step of the podium this weekend, but still managed to take third place in the Sprint Cup team classification with drivers Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen. Thierry Vermeulen and Giacomo Altoè finished sixth in the drivers' standings.

Team Quotes Emil Frey Racing
Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal 
“The first race was absolute chaos, especially with the pitstop window during the Safety Car phase, which meant we lost a lot of places. When we started the race on Sunday from the difficult positions, we weren't able to make more of it. In general, of course, it's very good that we finished the championship in third place, but we're here to win and will give it our all again next week at the DTM season finale.”

Jürg Flach, Technical Director 
“On the one hand, I'm pleased that we secured third place in the team and driver standings with Ben and Konsta. On the other hand, I expected more from this weekend. Yesterday's race was marked by a big mistake by race control during the Safety Car period, which had a decisive impact on the race result. In today's race, after a disappointing qualifying with P13 and P14, we showed a good performance, especially with the number 69.”

Driver Quotes - #69 
Thierry Vermeulen (The Netherlands)
“A disappointing last weekend. If I had had a better qualifying, then the race on Saturday would certainly have been different for us. On Sunday we got the maximum out of it, but we still dropped back to sixth place in the championship. A big thank you to the whole team, even though we gave it our all, it's still a result we can't be happy with in the end.”

Giacomo Altoè (Italy)
“The race on Sunday was definitely great! We certainly gained in confidence and pace over the course of the weekend and improved all the time. It's a great feeling to finish with a great stint and race! A big thank you to the whole team for all their efforts this season.”

Driver Quotes - #14
Konsta Lappalainen (Finland)
“We are obviously happy with third place in the championship, but it was certainly not a satisfactory weekend. We had a good year, but we definitely want to attack harder. It was a lot of fun, but it was also hard work and I hope to continue this work next season!”

Ben Green (Great Britain)
“It was a difficult end to the season. Nevertheless, I'm proud of our team for continuing to improve. In the second race, we finally had a more competitive package with which we were able to show good speed and carry out some overtaking moves. We finish the season in third place overall, which is a great feeling for me personally in my first season in GTWC Sprint. Above all, I would like to thank everyone in the team for their efforts and for making me feel so welcome in their environment.”