SUPER SPAS: GT2 EUROPEAN SERIES TAKES ITS TURN IN THE SUN AT SPEEDWEEK
CMR and Razoon – more than racing share the wins in Belgium
GT Academy fight closes up after round two
The GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli brought the heat to the annual SRO Speedweek this weekend (June 19-21), producing two thrilling races that featured drama aplenty.
With the weekend held under scorching 30+ degree weather, the temperature on track rose even higher thanks to a pair of absorbing races that featured two breakthrough winners. CMR’s Ethan Gialdini and Mikkel Njor took glory for Ginetta in the opener before Razoon – more than racing took advantage of troubles for the British cars in the second with Simon Birch and Thomas Andersen scoring big for KTM.
With the event headlined by a 55-car ‘mega-grid’ featuring cars from the British GT Championship, FFSA GT and the Alpine Cup, plus races from FFSA Tourisme, Formula 4, the Porsche Carrera Cup France and Trophée MitJet, a total of 16 action-packed races were offered completely free to spectators with no charge for entry to Spa-Francorchamps across the weekend, providing the perfect warm-up for next week’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
GINETTA AND KTM SHARE THE SPOILS
From the four GT2 Europe races so far, four different brands have come out on top as both Ginetta and KTM added their names to the winners’ list to join Maserati and Mercedes-AMG following their success at Monza last month.
Ginetta was a force all weekend, dominating the opener with Gialdini and Njor controlling the race from pole in their #3 CMR G56 GT2 to secure their first overall victory. Lawrence Tomlinson and Mike Simpson doubled both the brand and the team’s glory by also claiming Pro-Am honours, but things turned sour on Sunday morning when an intra-team clash cost both the chance of a repeat act and opened the door for series returnees Birch and Andersen to win.
Gialdini started the #3 from pole in Race 1 and made a clean getaway from early drama behind, with the team’s strategy to run the Frenchman long into the pit window allowing him to build a comfortable gap to hand to Njor, which was also enough to overcome the car’s maximum pit stop compensation time following its class win at Monza. Likewise, Tomlinson and Simpson backed up their Pro-Am pole with a commanding performance.
Ginetta again looked well-placed for glory in Race 2, with Simpson and Njor locking out the front row for CMR, but their luck would turn with a collision at Turn 1. Simpson and Njor rubbed on the exit of La Source, damaging Simpson’s tyre and dropping Njor back. While the #62 was forced to pit for a replacement Pirelli, Simpson and Tomlinson continued to finish eighth overall – with Simpson also setting the fastest lap as a sign of what could have been – while the #3 was taken out by a technical issue late on.
Those troubles allowed Birch into the early race lead and, with no extra time to serve on his stop, Andersen rejoined well clear after the pit cycle. The highlight of the race was unquestionably Antoine Potty’s fight back up the order. Having finished second in Race 1, Potty emerged in a tight three-car fight with Gialdini and Adrian Ferrer’s NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG across the second half, with the Belgian finding a way past both thanks to a brave move through Blanchimont. Potty then ate into Andersen’s lead, falling just 0.3s shy of the overall victory.
David Thilenius and Jay-Mo Härtling kept up their strong points-scoring form with two second places in Pro-Am for SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm, keeping them at the top of the class standings.
After nearly a full calendar year, Philippe Prette’s Masters winning streak finally came to an end thanks to Shota Abkhazava. The ART-Line Lamborghini was a star of Race 1, impressively running clear to finish third overall. Abkhazava looked set to do the double after working his way to the front in Race 2, only for a penalty for contact to drop him back, handing a first win of the season to Lennart Marioneck and Viktor Mraz’s RTR Projects KTM. Prette’s consistency of two more second places means he leaves Spa still with a comfortable points lead.
SRO GT ACADEMY FIGHT HEATS UP AT SPA
The performance of both Gialdini and Njor will have caught the judges’ eye in the SRO GT Academy contest, with each driver producing strong qualifying performances allied to impressive race pace.
Early leader Jay-Mo Härtling won’t be displaced easily though, adding two consistent Pro-Am performances here to his maximum score at Monza. Potty bounced back from his Race 2 retirement in Italy to score strongly with a win and a second in Silver, while Branden Oxley and Adrian Ferrer will be boosted by twin class podium finishes.
After a difficult first round, Moritz Wiskirchen claimed his first Pro-Am podium finish of the season in Race 1 for SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm. Niccolo Pirri again endured a luckless weekend, with his team-mate Thomas Yu Lee caught in an early Race 1 clash before Pirri suffered a nasty accident at Raidillon in Race 2, thankfully emerging unharmed from the LP Racing Maserati.
The fight for both the GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli class titles, and the SRO GT Academy continues at Misano across July 17-19.
