Three weeks after a trip to Nevers Magny-Cours that saw the tables turn in both the Pro-Am and AM categories, the GT4 European Series Southern Cup riders and runners are primed for a high-profile cross-border visit to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on September 29-October 1.
Round five of this year’s campaign will be part of the Festival de la Velocidad de Barcelona, which hosts the 2017 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and Blancpain GT Sports Club season finales, and no less than 38 GT4 chargers are expected to roar around the Spanish Grand Prix venue.
The must-attend event will also feature the rising single-seaters stars of the French F4 Championship, while pitting as well the Porsche Carrera Cup France aces against their Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Benelux counterparts in what is shaping up to be a real barn-burner!
PRO-AM CHAMPIONSHIP RACE HOTS UP
New Pro-Am points leaders Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche (#8 Speed Car Ginetta G55 GT4) travel to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with 15 points in hand over erstwhile front-runners Mike Parisy-Gilles Vannelet on the #30 CD Sport-run Porsche Cayman Clubsport MR GT4.
The two line-ups have proved very consistent so far this year. What’s more, both can rely on a sister car that has shown the race-winning pedigree to steal points from their rivals. Indeed, Speed Car has the #444 Ginetta of Philippe Salini and Gael Castelli, who sits sixth in the standings, while CD Sport also enters the #31 Porsche for Morgan Moullin-Traffort and David Hallyday.
Several other pairings are nourishing ambitions to challenge at the sharper end of the field though, starting with BMW Team France’s Julien Piguet and Fred Johais who are coming off a perfect two-win weekend at Nevers Magny-Cours with the #9 BMW Ekris M4 GT4. Also expected in the mix are Martinet By Alméras crew-mates Steven Palette and Henry Hassid on the #18 Porsche, who occupy third place in the pecking order, just ahead of Piguet-Johais, after another solid podium finish at the previous round.
Porsche remains the main purveyor in the Pro-Am class, with the German manufacturer’s contingent including the likes of Eric Tremoulet-Olivier Jouffret, who are fifth in the standings aboard the #64 Vic’Team Cayman, as well as Gregoire Demoustier and Alain Ferté. Racing the #4 Energy By ART Porsche, the duo is coming off a two-win weekend at the Nürburgring during the GT4 European Series Northern Cup season finale.
2017 Total 24 Hours of Spa winners Sainteloc Racing are entering their usual #66 and #69 Caymans for respectively Sebastien Dumez-Valentin Simonet and Greg Guilvert-Manu Rodrigues. Elsewhere, Martinet By Alméras has a second Porsche in the field, as Anthony Beltoise and Olivier Estèves once again team up on the #22 machine.
Regular points scorers and Pau Grand Prix Race 1 winners Racing Technology entrust their #1 Cayman to Jim Pla-Pierre Sancinéna, while their #11 charger is raced by the usual Jimmy Antunes-Franck Leherpeur pairing.
Long-time crew-mates Lonni Martins and Christophe Hamon continue to fly the Riviera Motorsport banner (#5 Porsche), while TFT Racing’s #2 and #19 (Eric Clement-Romain Iannetta) season entries are part of the Barcelona cast as well. The Tony Pereira-led outfit is set to run a third Porsche (#21) for Pierre Hirschi and another driver whose identity will be revealed in due course.
Furthermore, TFT is home for the only Spaniard in the FFSA GT field in Ander Vilariño, who races alongside Swiss driver Niki Leutwiler on the #2 Porsche. “For me, it is always a great feeling to race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya,” said Vilariño ahead of his home event.
“The track and facilities are amazing so coming here with the GT4 European Series Southern Cup is going to be a lot of fun for the teams and drivers, as well as for the fans of course! We have nearly 40 GT4 cars on the grid and many prominent brands involved: this is an event you can’t miss!”
With Street Art Racing’s #117 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 having shown the pace to challenge for the podium since Dijon-Prenois, the British marque’s hopes will once again rely on the Belgian outfit and their Eric Cayrolle-Arno Santamato line-up.
Also worth noting is the return of the #33 Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4 prepared by Classic & Modern Racing (CMR). Thierry Soave is set to partner Paul Belmondo, who is making his maiden appearance in the Southern Cup this year. CMR is also fielding the #26 Ginetta for Soheil Ayari-Nicolas Tardif, who secured a strong podium finish last time out at Nevers Magny-Cours.
ALL-NEW BMW M4 GT4, NORTHERN CUP FRONT-RUNNERS READY TO HIT THE TRACK
Besides the bumper entry list, the main attraction of the upcoming Barcelona contests is the Southern Cup debut of the brand new BMW M4 GT4, which will sport the Schubert Motorsport colours. The famed racing team has been enjoying close ties with the German constructor for several years and will run two members of its BMW Motorsport Junior Programme in German ace Dennis Marschall and Dutch female racer Beitske Visser. Along with Cora Schumacher, who is set to compete in the AM class aboard the #20 Besagroup Racing Team Porsche, they will be the first two female drivers entering a round of the Southern Cup this year.
Having notched up a maiden top-three result in this year’s FFSA French GT championship last time out, McLaren is ready to launch a four-pronged attack on the Pro-Am category in Spain. Besides the #3 challenger entered for Simon Gachet-Bruno Hernandez, more 570S GT4s will be found at Equipe Verschuur, Las Moras Racing, and Bullitt Racing, all of which have starred in the GT4 European Series Northern Cup this season.
Csaba Mór and Finlay Hutchison once again team up on the #10 car, while Max Braams and Duncan Huisman race the #99 machine that won the Northern Cup’s Pro-Am honours. Andy Meyrick and Stephen Pattrick complete the McLaren battalion by sharing the wheel of the #333 entry.
Newly-crowned Silver Cup champions Max Koebolt and Ricardo van der Ende will be back with the #888 Ekris Motorsport-run BMW Ekris M4 GT4 they had driven to victory at the Pau Grand Prix earlier this year.
FIRST TITLES ON THE LINE IN THE AM CATEGORY
Stéphane Tribaudini’s breakthough season continued at Nevers Magny-Cours where the gamer-turned-racer grabbed the Southern Cup AM championship points lead following another pair of wins aboard the #111 CMR-run Ginetta. The Nice-based driver will once again partner GT4 newcomer Michael Petit in Barcelona.
With a 31-point cushion over CMR team-mates Fabien Michal and Georges Cabanne, Tribaudini could actually wrap up the AM title with one round to spare if his lead were to increase above 50 points. In the Teams’ standings, the Charly Bourachot-led outfit could also seal the crown, as it enjoys a 70-point buffer over second-placed Vic’Team. Furthermore, CMR fields another pair of Ginettas with Alain Grand-Didier Moureu driving the #65 G55 when Sylvain Debs-Gwenael Delomier compete at the wheel of the #999 charger.
CMR and Tribaudini’s rivals will be eager to prevent any early celebrations at the Home of the Spanish Grand Prix though, in particular Paul and Jean-Philippe Lamic. After ruling the first half of the season, the two brothers slipped down the order following a challenging weekend marred by incidents at Nevers Magny-Cours.
Coming off a double podium finish, movie stuntman Jean-Claude Lagniez and crew-mate Gregoire Depauw are out to confirm the strong potential of their #6 BMW Team France-entered BMW Ekris M4 GT4.
Porsche is involved in the FFSA GT AM championship as well, thanks to Imsa Performance’s #27 Cayman entered for Michael Blanchemain and uncle Jean-Luc. The German manufacturer is also represented by Northern Cup regulars Besagroup Racing Team, who field the #20 Porsche for Franjo Kovac and Cora Schumacher.
Last but not least, Maserati will have two cars in the AM field. GP34 by Gemo Motorsport runs the #34 GranTurismo, while Polish outfit Esky Akvo Racing Team races the same model with Lukasz Kreski and Maciej Marcinkiewicz sharing the wheel of the #77 machine.
BARCELONA SCHEDULE*
Friday 29 September
10:30 – 11:30: Free practice 1
12:40 – 13:40: Free practice 2
16:40 – 17:20: Qualifying (15’ + 10’ + 15’)
Saturday 30 September
12h35 – 13h25: Race 1 (rolling start)
Sunday 1 October
13:05 – 14:05 : Race 2 (rolling start)
TV COVERAGE
Both GT4 European Series Southern Cup races will be streamed live on the championship’s official website and Facebook page, as well as on SRO Motorsports Group’s GT World YouTube channel. You can also catch up highlights of the Barcelona weekend with an 80-minute programme shown on media partner la chaine L’Equipe the week after the event.
