Isaac Tutumlu performs well at GTWC's season finale 03.10.2022: The Spaniard of Kurdish heritage completed a solid final round of the 2022 GT World Challenge Endurance Cup, which took place at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in his Leipert Motorsport-run Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo in Kurdistan Racing Team by Tigris c

The Spaniard of Kurdish heritage completed a solid final round of the 2022 GT World Challenge Endurance Cup, which took place at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in his Leipert Motorsport-run Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo in Kurdistan Racing Team by Tigris colors.



Tutumlu, alongside Brendon Leitch and Tyler Cooke, fought back after an early drive through penalty and put themselves in contention for a top-ten finish in the Silver Cup class.  
 


Isaac Tutumlu completed a strong weekend at his home round of the 2022 GT World Challenge Endurance Cup, which was held at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Despite it wasn’t an incident-free 3-hour race, Tutumlu and his teammates Brendon Leitch and Tyler Cooke delivered a hard-fought performance in Barcelona. The Leipert Motorsport-entered Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo in Kurdistan Racing Team by Tigris colors emerged as one of the fastest cars of the weekend in the Silver Cup class.



On Saturday, Tutumlu and his teammates clocked a lap time of 1m46.160s, which put them in the middle of the 48-car grid. Later in prequalifying, the drivers of Kurdistan Racing Team by Tigris posted a best lap time of 1m47.103s. On Sunday, the team encountered some issues with traffic.



Tutumlu was blocked and hit twice for the same rival and the Spaniard couldn’t improve a lap of 1m46.471s, despite he could have put together a lap 6 tenths quicker. Then, Cooke also had a clash in Q2 and was unable to improve his time of 1m48.332s, In Q3, Leitch set a lap time of 1m46.078s in a damaged car but it still forced them to start from the back of the grid.



Tutumlu made the opening stint and he proved to be a man on a mission. The Spaniard of Kurdish ancestry moved up five spots in the first lap and after ten laps he was running right behind former F1 star and factory Ferrari driver Giancarlo Fisichella. Unfortunately, Tutumlu handed over a drive through penalty after making contact with a McLaren but he still pushed to make it back in the top-20 overall.



After one hour, he handed over to Cooke with New Zealander Leitch competing the final stint from lap 63 onwards. At the end, Leitch took the checkered flag in 14th place.



“We had a competitive car this weekend. I made a very good start and I got involved in battles with top drivers such as Fisichella or Robert Renauer. Unfortunately, I received a drive through penalty after making smooth contact with a McLaren. The driver didn’t notice me on the inside and he spun. I think it’s unfair because Valentino Rossi hit our car and we were forced to retire and he just served a 5-second penalty.



Today, I have handed a more severe penalty despite the McLaren could rejoin”, explained Tutumlu. He added “overall it was a good weekend and I feel satisfied with my performance. We are already working on the 2023 season and other projects during winter to be announced in due time.”



-CTR Press - photos SRO