Rast/Mayr-Melnhof win qualifying race

WRT Audi drivers Rene Rast and Niki Mayr-Melnhof claimed victory in the qualifying race in the FIA GT Series finale on the streets of Baku.

The duo's Audi R8 LMS ultra dominated a race that started behind the safety car and was interrupted by another yellow-flag period and then a race stoppage after a track blockage.

Rast, who had qualified on pole, pulled away from team-mate Laurens Vanthoor in the opening stages, opening a gap of more than eight seconds before the mandatory mid-race pit stops.

Mayr-Melnhof resumed in the lead, but an advantage of 19sec over Stephane Ortelli in the second WRT Audi disappeared when the safety car came out while a stranded car was retrieved.

A red flag followed almost immediately when Cesar Campanico in the Novadriver Audi crashed at Turn 5 and dislodged a stack of tires. Just under 15 minutes were left on the clock when the race resumed.

Mayr-Melnhof was able to pull away from Ortelli, who fought a rear-guard action to stay ahead of Rob Bell in the Hexis McLaren MP4-12C he shared with Kevin Estre.

Rast said: "The car was just amazing. Though the corners, it was like a knife going through butter."

Mayr-Melnhof added: "There was a lot of pressure on me. I tried not to overdo it and stay calm."

Ortelli hung on to second, finishing 1.2sec down, to extend his and Vanthoor's championship lead ahead of the season-closing championship race this afternoon.

Bell and Estre took third ahead of the best of the Boutsen McLarens shared by Stef Dusseldorp and Alexander Sims.

The result means that Ortelli and Vanthoor's series lead now stands at eight points.

They scored six points for second, but their nearest title rivals and WRT team-mates Edward Sandstrom and Frank Stippler took three points for finishing fourth of the registered Pro Cup entrants in eighth place overall.

The invitational entries from Hexis, Boutsen and Marc VDS, which finished third, fourth and fifth, are not eligible for points at this event.

HTP Gravity Charouz drivers Andreas Simonsen and Sergei Afanasiev (pictured) took the Pro-Am class in their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG with seventh place overall to seal the title.