Le Fay Led 1-2 Completes Near Perfect Baku GP for Solvalou

Racing Team Solvalou sweeps both Baku Grand Prix races after Morgan Le Fay wins Race 2 from pole position on Sunday.

Le Fay controlled the pace out in front of the field for the first three quarters of the twenty lap race, pulling out a gap of two seconds over teammate and fellow front row starter Antonio Fazio. Fazio behind would lead a group of three cars with Jacques Malenfant and Tomo Kazama holding station in third and fourth. Kazama would pass Malenfant for third before half distance but would not be able to mount a attack for second after Kazama hit the outside wall exiting turn 12. Malenfant was left with no where to go but into the rear of Kazama’s Ford at low speed, putting them out of reach of the top two for the rest of the race. This allowed Fazio to put on a attack for the lead, looking to score his first GT Super Series victory after being in the series since its inception in 2016.

Fazio would make his move for the lead under braking for turn one at the start of lap 16, he and Le Fay going side by side into one with Fazio, the pair banging doors before Fazio powered ahead on the run to turn 2. Le Fay would not give up in the laps following, keeping within a second of her Italian teammate; the by-product of it allowing Malenfant and Kazama to close back up to the top two. Le Fay spent the next few laps preparing for the one last attack for the outright victory. The attack would come on the last lap when Le Fay returned the favor on the prior bump which took Fazio for the lead with a bump and run of her own to retake the lead at turn 1. There would be not enough time for Fazio to try and strike back, even though he and the pair behind remained close in the final run to the flag. There would be no last second dramas at the front of the field, resulting in Morgan Le Fay taking home her car’s second victory of the season after her and Chris Winter’s outright victory in Indianapolis.

With Fazio’s second place however, he secured the maximum fifteen points in the Driver’s and Team’s Championships for the weekend when combined with Emma Pescatore’s victory on Saturday. Le Fay’s victory on Sunday elevated her and Chris Winter to second place for the weekend, rounding out a standout weekend for Racing Team Solvalou which finished with the 1-2 result on Sunday. Malenfant’s third place finish put him and Joey Alliot on fourth for the weekend, with Kazama and Rhys Davies third on the weekend after finishing with the same tally of points from the two races, but a higher finish from the Saturday race gives them the tie break.

A quiet but consistent result gave the Pagani duo of Anton Robishaud and Giulio Mari fifth place points for the weekend. While early on in both races Robishaud and Mari would keep up with the leading group, as the tires would start to wear they would start to lose sight of the leaders resulting in their ultimately quiet races. Mari would end up nine seconds behind Malenfant and Kazama, and leading home a trio of cars that featured the other MacMillan car driven by Markus Jacobson and the GP Racing Lister of Ryota Wong.

Sweeping both races in the Independent’s Trophy was the Team LKM duo of Harrison Wilkinson and Carlton Cho. Even though the South Korean driver initially lost the lead in Race Two to Oliver Motorsports driver David Simmons. Simmons took the class lead at the start of the race after gaining four positions in the opening corners, putting him inside the top ten. Cho would quickly clear the Ravenwest Aston Martin of Andrej Kremnicky who was then in between him and Simmons. Cho would then waste little time catching Simmons before the Oliver Motorsports driver ran wide over the kerbing exiting turn one, opening the door for the Team LKM driver to take the class lead and never looked back. Not only did Wilkinson and Cho take Independent honors for the weekend, they were also the only Independent entry to score outright points for the weekend.

Race Results – After 20 Laps

Fastest Lap – Car 40 (MacMillan Ford – Tomo Kazama) – 2:10.635