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.
Source. Race Ready
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