Overview
- Lance Stroll jumped into the GT World Challenge Europe six-hour opener at Paul Ricard in a late-arranged Comtoyou Aston Martin with Roberto Merhi and Mari Boya after F1’s Bahrain round was scrubbed.
- The #18 Vantage GT3 Evo qualified 15th, then fell back after an early incident and a string of penalties that included a stop‑and‑go for contact with AF Corse’s #50 Ferrari.
- Stroll took a double stint after dark and showed strong speed with the third‑best average pace in the night phase and the eighth‑fastest lap overall.
- He also served a track‑limits penalty, and the car retired with 15 minutes left due to a gear‑selection failure, leaving it classified 48th of 49.
- Comtoyou’s sister Aston driven by Mattia Drudi, Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim won the race, and Stroll said he wants more GT outings when his F1 schedule allows.