The GT4 European Series is heading to the UK this weekend (5-6 May) for the second meeting of the 2018 season. A capacity entry of 46 cars will take part in this year’s race, as two British GT contenders will make a guest appareance and join the regular entry of 44 cars on the 3.9km Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
SILVER CUP: TREGURTHA AND MIDDLETON AIM TO INCREASE LEAD
Silver Cup points leaders Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton will be keen to increase their championship lead in front of their home fans. The reigning British GT4 champions head to Brands Hatch, having in mind that last year’s GT4 European Series weekend ended with a double Ginetta victory.
The HHC Motorsport drivers claimed a win and a second-place finish on their series debut at Zolder last month and aim to do even better at one of Britain’s best-loved motor racing circuits, but there are more candidates for victory in the Silver Cup this weekend, including Zolder race winners Phoenix Racing (Audi) and French squad CMR (Ginetta).
BMW teams MDM Motorsport and 3Y Technology hope to collect more points in the UK, while Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport as well as RN Vision STS drivers Gabriele Piana and Razvan Umbrarescu hope to score their first points. Dennis Marschall will join Beitske Visser in the #110 RN Vision STS BMW M4 GT4, replacing Nico Menzel. Last year, Marschall and Visser gave the new M4 its debut win in the GT4 European Series race at Barcelona.
Leipert Motorsport (Mercedes), Equipe Verschuur and Team GT (McLaren) claimed top five finishes in Belgium and will be eager to at least match those results, while KTM teams True Racing and Felbermayr-Reiter hope to bounce back with a solid display at Brands Hatch.
BRITISH GT TEAMS TO MAKE PRO-AM GUEST APPEARANCE
Schwede Motorsport and Racing One will travel to Brands Hatch as joint leaders in Pro-Am category. Phillip Bethke and Marc Basseng won the first race at Zolder, while Patrick Zamparini and Csaba Mor were victorious in the second race. At Brands both teams will target another trip to the top step of the podium, but there are more candidates for victory this weekend.
Phoenix Racing, W&D Racing Team and V8 Racing return to the series after securing top five finishes in Belgium, while the Bullitt Racing and Academy Motorsport drivers will try to score valuable points in front of their home fans.
Two guest entries from the British GT championship will be challenging for Pro-Am victory at Brands Hatch. Tolman Motorsport will enter its #56 McLaren 570S GT4 for David Pattison and Joe Osborne in Pro-Am, while HHC Motorsport will field a second Ginetta for Mike Newbould and Will Burns.
Allied-Racing’s Jan Kasperlik will miss the British round. The German driver and his wife are expecting their first child. Kasperlik will be replaced by British driver JM Littman in the #43 Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR.
3Y Technology (BMW) and Street Art Racing (Aston Martin) will have unchanged lineups in the UK. Bas Schouten and Ward Sluys are set to join the series in the #31 Selleslagh Mercedes-AMG GT4.
WHO CAN CHALLENGE TFT RACING IN AM?
In the Am category all eyes will be on Porsche Zentrum Oberer Zürichsee by TFT Racing driver Niki Leutwiler after a dominant showing in Belgium. However, the Swiss driver can expect tough opposition from Eric Mouez and David Loger in the #36 CMR Ginetta G55 GT4, based on the Ginetta’s results at Brands Hatch in recent years and at Zolder last month.
3Y Technology will field a BMW M4 GT4 for Gwenael Delomier and Sylvain Debs again, while Selleslagh Racing Team will enter two Mercedes-AMG GT4s, including the Zolder race 1 winning car of Nicolas Vandierendonck and Johan Vannerum.
Las Moras Racing by Equipe Verschuur, Academy Motorsport, Phoenix Racing and Allied Racing are set to run one car each in AM, with Autorlando Sport bringing its two Porsches.
LIVE COVERAGE
All GT4 European Series sessions at Brands Hatch will be streamed live on the GT4 European Series website, Facebook page and YouTube channel, as well SRO’s GT World Youtube channel. Both races will have English and German commentary.
BRANDS HATCH SCHEDULE
Saturday, 5 May
10.40 – 11.40: Free Practice 1
14.00 – 15.00: Free Practice 2
17.40 – 18.30: Qualifying (20’/10’/20′)
Sunday, 6 May
10.15 – 11.15: Race 1
14.40 – 15.40: Race 2
Source. SRO Motorsports Group
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