London, U.K. – At the midway point of the 2017 Blancpain GT Series, Felix Serralles rests P12 in the standings after a sensational drive for the #88 AMG at the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard this weekend, which crossed the line just a second off the podium.

Despite the long straights of the French circuit playing into the hand of powerful Bentley, Ferrari and Nissan machines, the nimble AMG GT3 has proven time and again that it can be a serious contender in the Blancpain Endurance Cup, as reliability and tyre degradation play pivotal roles in the strength of the Mercedes cars. The #88 Mercedes has in fact demonstrated consistent pace in the Top 10 and often cracking into the Top 5 by Serralles and Dani Juncadella.

In the hilltop circuit of Paul Ricard, heat and humidity lingered throughout the weekend and the #88 squad reserved their tyre allocation as much as possible for Saturday’s 6-hour race between 18:00 and midnight, which was predicted to be especially tough on tyres! Punctures did inflict serious damage and setbacks for a number of cars, while the demanding combination of the heat and high-speed nature of the circuit led to some spectacular engine blowouts for two of the Lamborghinis.

Serralles was the first driver of the #88 to start the race with a 2-hour stint, followed by Dani Juncadella and Renger van de Zande who filled in on official duty for an absent Tristan Vautier. Starting from P9, Serralles had an equally exciting and daunting stint, jostling for position throughout this stint and having to make his way back through the field after an unfortunate puncture after his pit stop that pushed him back to P52. The Puerto Rican found himself leading the race in the final moments of his stint before handing over to Juncadella who would drive through the sunset hours without a tyre change.

The #88 car eventually crossed the line a mere one second behind the WRT Audi, as van de Zande took over from Juncadella in P7 and made his way through the final stint of the night, picking up places and successfully holding off the Nissan, which had a considerable straight-line speed advantage, but a lack of balance to attack through the corners.

After the turmoil of a puncture and finding themselves almost at the back of the 59-car grid, it was a remarkable driving and strategic achievement by the #88 squad to fight back to P4 by the end of the 1000km race. This strong performance will undoubtedly give a lot of confidence to the team as the Blancpain GT Series returns to Spa from 28-30 July for the 24-hour race in the Ardennes.

Reflecting on Paul Ricard, Serralles said:

“It was a great race and I really enjoyed my first double stint. We had a good car from Day 1 and I had a good feeling for the race. Unfortunately after my first pit stop I got a puncture on my front left tyre and I fell down the order. I managed to pass a lot of car and was helped by a few incidents that had full course yellows and safety car periods. By the end of my stint I was leading the race!

“In the end, we managed P4 and was so close to a podium, but some back markers hurt our run in the end as Rast passed us for the last podium spot just towards the end of the race.

“The team have been fantastic all weekend. A great experience and team effort all round.”

Serralles’ manager Henry James added:

“Felix, his teammates and all the AKKA ASP team did an exceptional job last weekend at Paul Ricard. The level of competition was very high and we know the long straight sections are not the forte of the AMG GT3 car. Nevertheless, Felix, Dani and Renger drove very well and managed to bring the car home despite a worrying moment in qualifying when a wheel rim cracked and an unexpected puncture needed to be overcome during Felix’s first stint of the race.

“To finish in fourth place was truly fantastic and now the attention moves to this week’s test day in Spa followed by the main event later in the month.”

You can watch the centre stage 24-hour race via the Blancpain GT Series app as well as official TV broadcasters in your region.