Miguel Cristóvão and Francisco Abreu won the opening race of the GT4 South European Series’ Round 5 held at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, Spain. Gabriele Correia / Francisco Carvalho (AM Cup class) and Marmaduke Hall / Edward Moore (GTC) also claimed class wins today.
Miguel Cristóvão started from the pole position in the 50-minute race and pulled away from the rest of the field as Marmaduke Hall couldn’t match his pace. The Portuguese driver headed into the pit lane for the mandatory pit stop with a solid lead.
When the pit stop window came to an end, two other drivers took the eye-catcher role: Francisco Abreu and Matthew George. James Holder, who is teaming up with George, ran in third place during his stint but after the pit stop he had already moved up to second in his Generation AMR SuperRacing-entered Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.
Matthew George set the pace with Francisco Abreu’s Mercedes in his sights, but the Portuguese had built a 16-second gap and kept his Briton rival at bay. Finally, Abreu took the checkered flag in first securing his third win of the season with Cristóvão.
The British duo of Marmaduke Hall / Edward Moore at the wheel of the Tockwith Motorsport’s Ginetta G50 GT4 stepped third onto the podium and also grabbed top honors in the GTC Cup.
After an accident during Free Practice 2, Mariano Pires and César Machado did not take part in the race. The ABM Grand Prix team did everything they could to get the Ginetta G55 GT4 ready for the race, but a transmission failure due the morning accident prevented the quick Portuguese duo to start the race.
AM Cup: Strong debut for Gabriela Correia and Francisco Carvalho
KTM X-Bow GT4 driver Francisco Carvalho led Am Cup class from the start, even threading the overall third position of James Holder’s Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. The Guarda native, who was doing his first appearance at the wheel of the Austrian-made car, handed over the Iberian KTM X-Bow distributor – the KTM España – machine to Gabriela Correia in the first position.
Despite being her first ever GT race, the 17-year-old female driver showed a consistent pace, taking the #6 Veloso Motorsport KTM X-Bow GT4 entry to the Am Cup win.
Diogo Ferrão (#95 Team Virage Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) had a good performance on this GT4 South European Series debut, crossing the finish line in second in the class after overtaking Carlos Moreira da Silva (#16 Veloso Motorsport Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport) with ten minutes to go. The Race Ready CEO had to comeback from a drive through penalty for disrespecting the three minutes before the start procedure.
Carlos Moreira da Silva e Carlos Barbot took the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport to third in the class after receiving a 10-second penalty for running over the white line at the pitlane exit.
GT4 South European Series Round 6 will take place tomorrow at 10:10 (local time). Great Britain’s Matthew George will start from the pole-position with Portugal’s Francisco Abreu next to him in the front row. Edward Moore and Diogo Ferrão, the GTC Cup and AM Cup quickest in the second Qualifying today respectively, will share the second row of the grid.
The 50-minute race can be followed live on Porto Canal or on Facebook at GT4 South European Series.
Emotion to the last breath
Miguel Cristóvão and Francisco Abreu (Veloso Motorsport – Mercedes AMG) scored the win in a breathtaking final overtaking in the last lap in the GT4 South Europen Series Round 5 at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, Spain. Marmaduke Hall and Edward Moore won the GTC class as Gabriela Correia and Francisco Carvalho repeated yesterday’s win in the Am Cup.
Matthew George (Generation AMR Superracing – Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) started from pole-position and never lost the top spot, except for his only pit stop in the 50-minute race. Francisco Abreu saw himself under pressure of Edward Moore that kept the #15 Tockwith Motorsport Ginetta G50 GT4 close to the Portuguese Mercedes-AMG entry.
Despite yesterday’s technical problems that prevented the #23 ABM Grand Prix Ginetta G55 GT4 to hit the asphalt. Lining up from sixth on the grid, César Machado moved quickly to fourth overall.
The positions didn’t change until the pit-stop window opened with the four first-placed cars running close.
Marmaduke Hall (Tockwith Motorsport – Ginetta G50 GT4) came up in first after the pit-stops, followed by James Holder (Generation AMR SuperRacing – Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4), Miguel Cristóvão (Veloso Motorsport – Mercedes-AMG GT4) and Mariano Pires (ABM Grand Prix – Ginetta G55 GT4), with all the cars covered by three seconds. Both the Mercedes-AMG and the Ginetta G55 GT4 overtook the Aston Martin, but Pires’ car had no pace to match the two front-runners.
The difference between the first and the second was close to two seconds but Cristóvão managed to reduce the gap, making an aggressive move in the very last lap. This second Pro-Am Cup win helped the Veloso Motorsport pair to distance themselves in the top spot of the standings.
In the Pro-Am Cup Mariano Pires / César Machado finished second as James Holder and Matthew George crossed the finish line in third.
Marmaduke Hall / Edward Moore took the honours in the GTC Cup.
Am Cup: Battles and surprises
An eventful race saw the Am Cup class with Gabriela Correia (#6 Veloso Motorsport – KTM X-Bow) and Carlos Moreira da Silva (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport) swapping the second position numerous times in the first half of the race.
Diogo Ferrão (Team Virage – Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) took advantage from the fight right behind him to built a comfortable gap ahead.
Francisco Carvalho, who took over from Gabriela Correia in the Portuguese-entered KTM X-Bow GT4 in second place, put in a strong pace even if the Austrian-made car’s gearbox was not working perfectly. The Guarda native stoically stayed on track to benefit from Ferrão’s technical troubles to win the Betano Portugal sponsored series Am Cup class for the second time this week.
Carlos Barbot (#16 Veloso Motorsport – Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport) completed the race in third in the Am Cup class.
After Round 6 of the inaugural GT4 South European Series, Francisco Abreu and Miguel Cristóvão are leading the Pro-Am Cup class as Marmaduke Hall / Edward Moore is now lying in first in the GTC. In Am Cup, there are three teams sharing the top spot of the classification with 50 points each: Gabriela Correia / Francisco Carvalho, Axel Van Straaten / Remi Van Straaten and A. Martín / Jorge Cabezas.
The next event of GT4 South European Series will take place at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve from October 25 to 27.
Source. Race Ready
Sportscar Racing News 
Discussion
No comments yet.