Castellacci and Leo secure FIA GT3 crown at Zandvoort

Francesco Castellacci and Federico Leo have won the FIA GT3 European Championship following a measured weekend at Zandvoort.

The Italian duo took ninth in race one and P4 in the second run to secure title glory at the Dutch venue. The AF Corse Ferrari pairing have led the way for much of the season despite kicking off the campaign with a non-start in Portugal.

The weekend's first race was won by the Prospeed entry of Paul van Splunteren and Maxime Soulet, the Porsche beating the Scuderia Italia of Michael Lyons and Filip Salaquadra. The Reiter Engineering machine of Albert von Thurn und Taxis and Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof completed the podium.

The season-closing race was won by the #33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 entry of Christopher Haase and Belgian racer Enzo Ide. The victory was Ide's third of the year - two more than the champions recorded - but the Belgian has not enjoyed the same consistency as the Ferrari drivers.

Brice Bosi and Dominik Baumann were second in the #44 HEICO Mercedes-Benz with the #3 Graff Racing Merc of Mike Parisy and Gregoire Demoustier completing the podium. Parisy ends the season as championship runner-up.

Behind the Mercedes the Ferrari crossed the line in P4 to seal the title, nine points clear of Parisy. Ide ended the year fourth ahead of the Baumann/Bosi pairing.

Watch the FIA GT3 European Championship on Motors TV


James Weeks