London, U.K. – Felix Serralles drove one the best race stints of his career at Brands Hatch this weekend for the second round of the 2017 Blancpain GT Sprint Cup, but trouble in the pit lane dashed a podium finish for the #88 Mercedes GT of Serralles and teammate Daniel Juncadella.

This weekend’s racing took part on the GP circuit layout of the former British Grand Prix circuit. Narrow throughout with several testing corners, including the spectators’ favourite undulating exit of Turn 1, Brands Hatch is a circuit with little room to overtake and little room for driver error. The chance of a safety car was expected during the course of the weekend and both of the Blancpain races on Sunday featured safety car periods which bunched the pack together during the hour long races.

Serralles was quickly on the pace on Saturday during free practice and was fourth fastest in the first qualifying session of the afternoon before handing the car over to Juncadella for the final two qualifying sessions. The Puerto Rican was comfortable in the car and found a unique approach into the Druids hairpin which led to his fastest lap of the session, just +0.248s off the P1 time of Andy Soucek in the Bentley.

Speaking about his weekend, Serralles said:

“It was great to be back in the UK as it has always felt like a second home for me and Brands Hatch especially as it was the first circuit I drove when I came for the Team USA scholarship.

“The weekend was a great start from the beginning and I felt really comfortable on the GP circuit with the Mercedes AMG GT3. The first race for us was good, finishing P4 and the first stint of the main race was the best I’ve driven since I’ve been in this car.

“I’m looking forward to working on what we have to move forward and the best thing is Silverstone is already here this coming weekend and I’m dying to get back in the car!”

Commenting from the paddock, Serralles’ manager Henry James added:

“Felix’s performance behind the wheel this weekend has been nothing short of excellent. He proved that overtaking is not impossible at Brands as he timed his overtake to perfection at Turn 3 during his first stint of the feature race to move into P3 ahead of the mandatory drive change pit stop at half distance.

“Felix and Dani were the fastest Mercedes pairing and quicker in race pace than the #19 Lamborghini despite their speed advantage, so I am devastated for them that a slow pit stop and an unsafe release had to take away their spot on the podium. The guys will be working very hard to remedy their pit stops for Silverstone.”

The second round of the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup at Silverstone takes place from 13-14 May and is available for live streaming via the Blancpain GT Series app.