Carl Bennett and AF Corse battled through a challenging penultimate event of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup at Circuit Zandvoort this past weekend, overcoming an early retirement in Race 1 to return to the top-ten in the weekend’s second race. Bennett and co-driver Felix Hirsiger arrived at the Dutch circuit in the #71 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, looking to carry their momentum into the final two races of the Sprint Cup season.
After practice and qualifying, all eyes were on Race 1; however, the pair’s race ended early when an issue forced the #71 Ferrari to retire after just four laps, leaving them with little chance to fight for a result.
The team regrouped ahead of Race 2, and Bennett and Hirsiger returned to the track determined to make the most of their second opportunity. The pair delivered a strong recovery drive, bringing the Ferrari home in seventh place to close the weekend on a positive note.
“It was definitely not the weekend we wanted after having to retire so early in Race 1, but the entire team did a great job of regrouping and giving us a car we could fight with in the second race,” said Bennett. “To come back and finish seventh shows the pace and resilience we have. Now we need to put everything together for the finale and finish the season on a high.”
Bennett will now turn his attention to the final event of the GT World Challenge Europe season, with the championship heading to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya October 2-4 for the season finale. After a difficult weekend at Zandvoort, Bennett and AF Corse will look to close out the campaign with a strong final showing in Spain.
For more information, news, photos, and more for Carl Bennett, head over to CarlBennettRacing.com. You can also follow along in real-time by following Carl at his social media links below.
Photo Credit: GT World Challenge Europe