The GT4 European Series is back in action this weekend at Zandvoort for round four of the 2020 season. Two one-hour races will kick off the second half of the season on the recently renovated Dutch venue.
Located in the dunes on the Dutch coast, 30 km west of Amsterdam, the Zandvoort circuit with its banked corners will be a new challenge for most teams and drivers. Zandvoort will host the GT4 European Series for the ninth time since the series’ first visit in April 2011. A field of 18 cars is set to compete at the 4.2 km circuit, which was originally set to host the third round of the season on June 26-28.
Dutchman Bas Schouten and his RN Vision STS teammate Gabriele Piana struggled at the Nürburgring three weeks ago, but still lead the championship standings ahead of the Zandvoort weekend. With a Silver Cup class win at the Nürburgring, Theo Nouet and Valentin Hasse-Clot closed the gap to just 11 points. The drivers of the #27 AGS Events Aston Martin are eager to take another win at Zandvoort and keep the title fight going.
Lluc Ibanez and Xavier Lloveras (#15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG) will be targeting a return to the podium at Zandvoort, after a tough second race in Germany. The Spanish drivers are currently just three points ahead of the #8 Toyota of Stephane Lemeret and Gael Castelli. The CMR drivers scored three second place finishes so far this season and will aim to for the win in the Netherlands. Their teammates Timothé Buret and Antoine Potty aim for more points.
V8 Racing’s Thijmen Nabuurs and Jop Rappange were unlucky at the Nürburgring and hope to do well at their home track, but they will not be the only Dutch drivers to do so. RN Vision STS drivers Mark van der Aa and Koen Bogaerts will also hope for better luck, while Duncan Huisman is happy to return to Zandvoort in the second V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro. Huisman will share the #99 with Jorge Cabezas again. Selleslagh Racing Team will have one car in the Silver Cup this weekend, with Dutch drivers Willem Meijer and Paul Sieljes racing the #30 Mercedes-AMG this weekend.
After a sensational overall victory at the Nürburgring and winning the last three races, Bastian Buus and Jan Kasperlik head to Zandvoort as the Pro-Am leaders. The Allied Racing drivers have a 22-point lead over Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport’s Yagiz Gedik and Cem Bolukbasi, with teammates Nicolaj Møller-Madsen and Jörg Viebahn currently third in Pro-Am with 98 points. Ivan Jacoma and Joël Camathias, who finished in second place in both races at the Nürburgring, hope to continue that form at Zandvoort.
Am Cup leaders Nicolas Gomar and Gilles Vannelet scored two wins and another three podium finishes in the first six races of the season in the #89 AGS Events Aston Martin, but their closest rival is Selleslagh Racing Team’s Bob Herber. The Dutchman won three of the four races he entered and Herber is looking to add more wins to his total at his home track.
Autorlando Sport has revised lineups for the Zandvoort round, with British racer JM Littman joining Dario Cerati in the #75 Porsche and Jacopo Baratto set to share the #76 Porsche with Giuseppe Ghezzi. Ibrahim Okyay will be the only driver in the #13 Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW.
The Zandvoort weekend gets underway with paid testing session on Thursday afternoon. The first official session is free practice 1 on Friday 25 September at 11.00, followed by another practice session at 15.20 local time. Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday at 12.05 and the opening race will get underway at 18.00 that same day. The final race of the Zandvoort round begins at 11.50 on Sunday morning.
The races will be streamed live on the GT4 European Series website and Facebook page, as well as SRO Motorsports Group’s GT World YouTube channel. English and French commentary feeds will be available for fans.
Source. SRO Motosports Group