Hello again, everybody, and welcome to Paul Ricard in the south of France for race two of the weekend for the SRO GT4 European Series season opener as we have David Addison and former GT4 Europe champion Charlie Fagg, in the commentary box. Yesterday, we saw a dominant victory for Enzo Joulie and Etienne Cheli in their Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO. This morning it is cooler and overcast. We are set for the second one-hour race of the weekend. This massive grid of cars is getting formed up and ready to go racing. Aston Martin's dominate the grid here today for race two. Toyota Gazoo Racing France were on another level in the race yesterday. They really were. We are also going to keep a watchful eye on the two Elite Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4's. The #78 entry of Josh Rattican and Thomas Lebbon had a great race yesterday. But the sister #77 car had one they'd just as soon forget, Thomas Emson, alongside his Irish co-driver Alex Denning.
Hendrik Still is the polesitter. He won races last year in 2023 but in a Porsche Cayman, now at the wheel of an Aston Martin, car #100 for PROSport Racing. The Aston, with tons of power and a front engine layout, should also be competitive here. Lots of work has been done on the car as well. Don't squabble too much and get to the pit window which is 25-35 minutes within the race. We will also keep a close eye on the #91 Porsche Cayman for Wimmer Werk Motorsport. Danish race Nicolaj Moller-Madsen starts the car and will hand over, at the halfway point, to co-driver Ivan Ekelchik.
Everyone must serve a regular pit stop and must be line to line for 88 seconds for the pit delta with a one second joker you can use just one time per weekend. Alex Denning is a very, very quick driver. In that aforementioned Aston Martin, the #100, Hendrik Still will take the second stint in the race today and before him it will be his co-driver Fabio Rauer starting the race. Our pit reporter, Antonia Rankin, interviews Fabio Rauer who hopes for the best and knows he and Hendrik will be pushing hard. Focus on the front. Check the situation at the halfway mark, adapt to it, and go through with the driver change.
This is the same strategy here in GT4 Europe that we always see in the GT4 America SRO races we cover for you on the blog. We're also going to have a sharp eye on the Alpine, the #36 Alpine A110 GT4 for Code Racing Development with Antoine Leclerc starting and then handing off to Nelson Panciatici, in this all-French team. Yesterday, Panciatici was the king of overtaking. We are also going to be keeping an eye out for the #82 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT4 being started by Jamie Day and he will hand over to Matteo Villagomez in the race's second half. Enzo Jouliet is confident, and the race is long.
The grid for this race is down to the qualifying session that took place for it. We will also have a Captain Cook at the oft mentioned #39 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Brazilian forrmer Formula 3 open wheel driver Roberto Faria sharing with Frenchman Baudouin Detout. The GT4 cars are so much more like a road car. Faria is adapting to the production-based coupe. One of the cars is having to start from the pit lane for this event and that is the #44 entry, the Allied-Racing Porsche Cayman being shared by Oskar Kristensen from Denmark and Maksymilian Angelard, the Polish rookie driver.
We've got a couple more key players, or ones to watch, before we get going. Yesterday, we saw the second #99 PROSport Racing Aston Martin come to the fore. This is Raphael Rennhofer sharing with Hugo Sasse. We'll see who else we might have to talk about before this race begins. Yesterday, Rennhofer and Sasse had a wheel break on the car. The weekend is not over for them yet. If you are in the middle of the pack, be very, very careful. Yesterday was pretty clean. But today, oh my heavens, we could see more argy bargy. There is time to repair the cars before the next race which is actually coming up soon. Green flag waves and the formation lap is underway.
Raphael Rennhofer, it looks like he races under an Asutralian license. Will we see the only driver in the field going Marco Solo, actually on the grid today? That is the Porsche Cayman, car #131 for JSB Competition, Mathieu Casalonga start this race today? It is possible. Watch out for contact. It is so hard to see the braking point through the first chicane on the Mistral straightaway. The blue and black lines on the side of the road really mess with your mind. Who will get the best reaction times off the starting line? That's a good question. We have an hour of motor racing ahead of us. Here comes the field.
Hendrik Still and Raphael Rennhofer on the front row. 60 minutes. One hour of racing. The lights flash green! Let's go! It is blastoff! Roberto Faria makes a good start and take a deep breath to squeeze through the trurn. Rennhofer off and back on. Gabriele Piana in one of the BMW M4 GT4's is off and back on. Lots of curb hopping but everyone makes it through Virage du Camp. Poor old Roberto Faria got swamped. Rennhofer cuts the chciane and must give his spot back. Roberto Faria makes a good pass and another car runs wide over the curbs as they wriggle their way through. This is a crowded house as Alex Papadopoulos is squeezed in the #15 Mercedes-AMG GT4. Mercedes #15 for NM Racing Team is off the road. Papadopoulos sharing that automobile, the American, with Lluc Ibanez Trullols of Spain.
Alex Denning and Tom Lebbon in the two Elite Motorsports McLaren's are moving up as we speak. One lap in the books with Hendrik Still leading and Roberto Faria for GPA Racing, he is turning it on right now. Oh, shoot. A spin there for the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT4. That is the EastSide Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Denis Bulatov and Lukas Mayr, both registered under German flags. We also see a slow Aston Martin that could have been involved, too, the Racing Spirit of Leman entry of Swiss driver David Kullmann and Alex Machado, the rookie Brazilian driver.
Trouble in paradise again for the #15 NM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 who runs wide and is going to get mugged by an opponent. Papadopoulos is not having the best start to his motor race. Hendrik Still, he is on a Sunday drive because he has put a good bit of daylight between himself and this massive traffic jam behind him. Aston Martin, Toyota, Alpine, McLaren. Faria, Rennhofer, Cheli, Day, Leclerc, Lebbon, and Denning are all back there trying to keep up. One lap done. But everyone else really need to book it to catch Still. You cannot do loads with GT4 cars for setup but maybe the GPA car has less rear wing on it.
Reigning GT4 Europe champion Gabriele Piana is on the back foot. He is languishing in 34th place. There's contact noted as well between car #300, and #98. #300 is French rookie Nicolas Markiewicz sharing with countryman Adrien Paviot aboard the Team Speedcar Audi R8 LMS GT4 and #98 is the Lestrup Racing Team BMW M4 GT4 shared by Swedish drivers Joakim Walde and Victor Bouveng. Contact before the race start does not tend to go well with Race Control. Nicolaj Moller Madsen is wasting no time, and he makes his move on Ricardo van der Ende. Wimmer Werk Racing Porsche Cayman on L'Espace Bienvenue BMW M4 GT4.
Yellow in sectors one and three, both. Moller Madsen and van der Ende are running nose to tail. Robert Consani in the Audi and Matt Niccoll-Jones in the Ford Mustang GT4, the #62 car. That is the Academy Motorsport car. In the lead, Hendrik Still is only 7/10ths of a second up on Roberto Faria in second place. Etienne Cheli is remaining in the fight and if he stays where he is and hands it off in one piece to co-driver Enzo Jouliet, then they could be in the pound seats to score a W this morning. Consani and van der Ende run into each other! Oh my! What has happened there?! van der Ende is forced out wide and Matt Nicoll-Jones goes by. Robert Consani has damage as well.
Meanwhile, look, Jamie Day makes a move on Rafael Rennhofer! This is classic GT4 racing! Antoine Leclerc fending off Alex Denning. Antoine Leclerc has raced at a level as high as the old FIA GT1 World Championship. But believe me, Alex Denning is all over him like a cheap suit. Mustang and BMW side by side and Marco Signoretti, the Canadian, thwacks into the side of Pedro Carvalo Ebrahim, another Brazilian rookie, in the #11 Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 he shares with Yagiz Gedik, the Turkish driver.
The Mustang and the BMW are two of the meanest, biggest, most in-your-face GT4 cars out there. We're just five minutes into this race and we've got a big picture to think about. Believe me. A lot of the drivers are new to working as a team and sharing a car with another driver. This is not about them alone. It is about them being a true team player. Aston Martin #99 uses the moemntum to make a great pass. Raphael Rennhofer makes a great pass on Jamie Day. Meanwhile, Moller-Madsen in the Porsche passes Consani in the Audi. Moller-Madsen won the Silver division in GT4 Europe years ago but excels in these cars. Consani is a former rally driver turned circuit racer.
The two of them are immediately followed by Matt Nicoll-Jones. The rest of the order behind them is van der Ende, Miller, Signoretti, and Ebrahim Carvalho. Trouble too for the #74 Aston Martin. Consani fending off the Mustang through the chicane. French hillclimb champion Cindy Gudet has gone off the road in the #66 Matmut Evolution Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO she shares with Czech lady racer Gabriela Jilkova. Tom Lebbon in the first of the two Elite Motorsport McLaren's is gaining on Antoine Leclerc in the Alpine. Leclerc's pace is good, and the tire wear is better because it is lighter. Gerald Duvel, Race Director, calls a penalty for one of the drivers for leaving the track.
It sounds like the call is to car #11. It is. Pedro Ebrahim, leaving the track with an advantage. Three-wide, Moller Madsen, Consani, and more! Alex Denning leaves the Porsche hung out to dry and he makes the pass. Moller Madsen right in the slipstream of the McLaren. The Mustang gobbling up the traffic like Pac Man! Consani off the road and back on down the Mistral straight. Ricardo van der Ende in the BMW and Josh Miller in the Aston Martin also in a battle of their own.
Matt Niccoll-Jones cannot find an opening as the Audi runs wide and then the BMW of van der Ende makes his move while poor old Consani in the Audi has bodywork damage. Robert Consani is not going to roll over and have his tummy scratched. He is going to keep fighting and nipping at the heels of these other blokes who have wrangled him out of the way. Matt Nicoll-Jones gets sideways as he is pinballed by both the McLaren and the BMW into the last corner at Virage du Pont! Oy yoy yoy! Niccoll-Jones' Mustang and Alex Denning's McLaren both suffer big damage in that little fracas. Ricardo van der Ende went to the inside, answering the bell, and making up two places.
Robert Consani has good aero and makes it stick on van der Ende in the BMW! Wow! This is a short braking zone. Calm down, dear. Save your scrapping for a later time, please. Rafael Rennhofer, who we saw losing spots earlier, he has uncorked the fastest lap of the motor race thus far in GT4 Europe race two here at Paul Ricard. All of this scrapping we have been looking at is for ninth through 13th place. Ricardo van der Ende won the GT4 Europe event at Spa last year. Consani in the Audi has the straight-line speed. Roberto Faria is still second and within striking distance of Hendrik Still. Faria uncorks fastest lap of the motor race so far. Denning and van der Ende in their battle and van der Ende makes his move!
Roberto Faria, as I said, he has set fastest lap of the motor race thus far. The pit window is coming soon. That was a local yellow. Matt Nicoll Jones has both Miller and Ebrahim-Carvalho right behind him. Tom Lebbon is sixth and now, down the inside goers the BMW on the Aston Martin. Front left puncture for Marco Signoretti and he is in limp home mode in the sister Academy Motorsports Mustang. He will need to make two stops, one for the tire, and one, the regulation pit stop for a driver change. Here, look, this is the battle between Rafael Rennhofer and Etienne Cheli for third spot. Aston Martin vs. Toyota.
Rennhofer is now back at the races and beginning to push. Younger drivers might be inexperienced, but they appear to have the pace. Believe me. Miller also wants a bite of the cherry and poor old Alex Denning is losing spots. Tom Lebbon in the other McLaren has uncorked first sector fastest time and so he is pushing, pushing, pushing, in some contrast to his teammate who is on the back foot. Josh Miller slithers out wide and now he has Nicolai Moller Madsen coming in a big hurry. Moller Madsen also has a head of steam on the McLaren, the Denning automobile.
The McLaren is fast through the turns but might not have the straightaway speed. That is actually the sister Porsche Cayman for Wimmer Werk Motorsport. It is car #92 of Emil Heyerdahl from Norway sharing with American driver Nicholas Maloy. Emil Heyerdahl is making up places as Marco Signoretti is in the pit lane changing the tire. Leading the Pro-Am division is the #75 AV Racing Porsche Cayman of the all-French duo of Noam Abramczyk and Paul Petit. Abramczyk driving now and Petit will take over for the second stint. The McLaren Artura is relatively new and the car can have overheating woes. GT4 cars have road going car components and not race bred parts. So the reliability is different.
If your car is overheating, you will lose top speed. If you overheat you lose pace and get caught in traffic and it is a vicious cycle. The Porsche's are beginning to come alive. Tom Lebbon is ahead of his teammate. The BMW makes a pass and Denning knows he will have to box early and do a driver change. Gabriele Piana is at the wheel of the Borusan BMW. He is an expert GT4 driver. The McLaren is having more troubles being drubbed by the Alpine. Gabriele Piana is a very experienced driver who can definitely motor through the field. He has ten or so minutes left in his drive time before handing the car to his teammate.
Yesterday's Am class winners, look, are back at the top of the shop in the Am class again today. This is the predominantly black #55 Alpine A110 GT4 EVO for Schumacher CLRT, the French duo of Pascal Huteau and Laurent Hurgon. Robert Consani in the Audi has also been busy as he makes a pass on Nicolaj Moller Madsen. Ricardo van der Ende is closing in on these two, for eighth, ninth, and tenth. Three different cars through Virage du Camp. Audi R8 LMS GT4 vs. Porsche Cayman (718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, the proper title), and BMW M4 GT4. In the meantime, Hendrik Still continues on his merry way in the lead. He is two seconds to the good over everybody else.
Roberto Faria may have had a concentration lapse but is now back on the button and you cannot forget about Raphael Rennhofer either. Rennhofer in third spot right now. He is in the #99 PROsport Racing Aston Martin. A time penalty has been given to the #3 car of Robert Consani. Time penalty, five seconds for track limits. He'll serve it at the pit stop. He is eighth and will drop down the order after the pit stop. Good to see an Audi in GT4 racing. We don't see many of them here in Europe or in the North American SRO GT4 championship either. Consani though has two penalties. One for track limits and another for causing a collision!
So, that is a 15 second penalty. He will only be back into the fight if there is a safety car scramble. OK. That clarifies things. Benjamin Lariche, the Frenchman, will take over the car at the pit stop. Consani and Lariche though, will do nothing but hemorrhage time. Rennhofer and Cheli are both moving up. Now, the pit lane is open, and we've got early takers. It's busy, like Castellet International Airport right next to the circuit. Josh Rattican will be next into the McLaren to finish the motor race. The top three have remained on track. Remember, in GT4, there are no tire changes. Make the Pirelli tires last the whole time. This rule applies in Europe as well as in the GT4 America championship. So, it's constant.
Lebbon, Josh Miller, and many others are making the pit stops handing over to the faster drivers. Gabriele Piana will stay out as long as possible before handing to Berkay Besler and Josh Miller has now handed the #5 Mirage Racing Aston Martin to Ruben Del Sarte. Nelson Panciatici has taken over the Alpine. Hendrik Still, still leads... no pun intended. The team is maximizing Still's drive time before he hits the lane and hands off to Fabio Rauer to bring the car to the finish. Roberto Faria has made his way to second, the Brazilian, and Robert Consani is in a phony third spot. It is artificial and not his true position.
Alex Denning brings the #77 Elite Motorsports McLaren to the lane with what looks like damage to the right rear corner. More pit action and driver changes. You do not get tons of track time. So, use the rest of the race as a test session in this second half. That is your best bet. Hendrik Still is really doing quite the job at the front. Nelson Panciatici in the Alpine is also running consistently. Still runs wide and now hits the pit lane. Roberto Faria is in the lane, too. The window is going to close soon. So, Fabio Rauer is now in the car. We've got a battle developing between the two Aston Martin's.
In the foreground of the picture, we also notice the Lotus Emira GT4. This is the #96 Mahiki Racing car being shared by the British duo of Max Bird and Dexter Patterson. The engineers on these cars come from the University of Bolton in England and their National Engineering Center including team member Elise Lewis. If her name is Elise, which it is, working on a Lotus is appropriate since they had a car many moons ago called an Elise which was and is one of their most popular models. Great to see another brand on the grid. The Lotus Emira has looked fast in the British GT Championship also sanctioned by the SRO.
Enzo Joulie, who won race one yesterday, he has now rejoined the motor race ahead of the #100 Aston Martin of Hendrik Still. Excuse me, Fabio Rauer. I think Josh Rattican has also passed by the Aston Martin of Roberto Faria. This race is in it's second half. The Aston Martin's are first and third split by a Toyota Supra in second spot. Hugo Sasse is now at the controls of the sister #99 PROsport Aston Martin. Benjamin Lessennes, the Belgian driver, has taken over from Ricardo van der Ende at the wheel of the #17 L'espace Bienvenue BMW M4 GT4 as well. Hugo Sasse has leapfrogged his teammate and also, Josh Rattican in the McLaren.
Rattican must pass the Aston if he hopes to battle for the victory. #100 in third place was just under 95 seconds while the sister car had an 89 second stop. So, it was a slow pit stop for the #100 car. Rattican is not close enough to make his move. PROSport Aston Martin are in a spot of bother. Hugo Sasse in the sister car is whistling off into the distance but the scoop is, too, Enzo Joulie in the Toyota Supra the #9 car, he is going to be reeling in the Aston as well. At this moment though, Sasse is pushing the bye bye button as he has two seconds in hand over the Toyota. Fabio Rauer not as experienced but he is keeping Josh Rattican at bay, currently.
Nelson Panciatici has trouble brewing because he is on his last warning for track limits before the stewards ping him with a penalty, a drive through penalty. Fabio Rauer just barely ahead of Josh Rattican. Is it power or aerodynamics? They remain nose to tail. I think the Aston Martin will be able to stretch his legs a wee bit. Hang on. I hear a telephone ringing. Is there a phone call? Oh. Nope. It's OK. Wait. I know who was ringing the phone! It was the crew chief for one of the teams saying to his driver, "please, don't wreck the car!" That warning fell on deaf ears, or nobody answered the bell because the Porsche and the Audi have tangled in the chicane on the Mistral straight!
Benjamin Lariche and Ivan Ekelchik have tangled! Poor old Benjamin Lariche! When it's not your day, it is not your day! He has had penalties and is now caught in someone else's tangle. Ekelchik was ahead and Lariche had the door slammed in his face. Hugo Sasse leading the motor race. Benjamin Larchie when through, Ekelchik stood his ground, and they both spun out. Enzo Joulie is the fastest man on the road and now, Josh Rattican makes the move on Fabio Rauer! Holy smokes! Josh Rattican knows he has more pace and needs to defend with 20 minutes to go, into the final third of GT4 Europe race two at Paul Ricard.
Hugo Sasse remains two seconds ahead of Enzo Joulie. Badouin Detout is fifth in the red Aston Martin. A 15 second penalty for a short pit stop for Benjamin Lariche! Oh no! OK. Benjamin, I have an idea. Give it up, park the car in the garage, get a nice bottle of Rose wine and go hang out at the beach and take a nap. Mate, you deserve it. You have been through the ringer way too much today, sunbeam. Treat yourself good. When it's not your day, it's not your day. Rattican is trying to go outside of a backmarker and ends up on the curb, over the blue paint! Oh man! That's close!
Josh Rattican seems to be in good shape though, considering he has cleared Fabio Rauer. Rattican is closing in on Joulie. But, in turn, Hugo Sasse's margin over Enzo Joulie continues to grow. The German is now a second and a half up on the Andorran licensed/Andorran domiciled Frenchman. In the Pro-Am class though, the battle is beating up. The #7 Mirage Racing Aston Martin is the class leader. Stanislav Safronov at the controls. Safronov is in a massive battle, right on the tail of Will Moore in the #62 Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 he is sharing with Matt Niccoll-Jones.
Lluc Ibanez and Tom Emson are in this fight and so is the BMW of Yagiz Gedik. Ford, Aston Martin, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, all in one lump of traffic. It just proves the competitiveness in GT4. Let's take a look at the Pro-Am Cup standings on the screen.
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