Race 1
Reiter Young Stars Mads Siljehaug and Maciej Dreszer won the first race of the Competition102 GT4 European Series at Zandvoort, claiming their second victory of the season. The RYS Team Hohenberg KTM X-Bow GT4 took the lead on the penultimate lap, passing the Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport Ekris M4 GT4 that had been in the lead for 22 laps. With an eighth place overall finish and sixth in GT4 PRO, PROsport Performance drivers Peter Terting and Jörg Viebahn secured the GT4 European Series title with one race left to run.
The Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport M4 GT4s were fast off the line, beating the Brookspeed Porsche GT4 Clubsport MR that had started from pole position. Ekris drivers Ricardo van der Ende and Simon Knap were unable to pull away, however, as the safety car was deployed when Lennart Marioneck crashed the KTM X-Bow GT4. Marioneck was able to walk away unharmed from the crash and was cleared after a check-up at the circuit’s medical centre.
On the restart, 13 minutes later, Van der Ende and Knap pulled away from Duncan Huisman, while Academy Motorsport’s Dennis Strandberg moved into fourth place. Knap was the first of the top four drivers to come in during the pit window, followed by Van der Ende, Huisman and Strandberg one lap later. While the pit window was open, Antoni Chodzen went off after contact with the #40 Brookspeed Porsche. This resulted in a second safety car period to recover the stranded Maserati.
After the pit window had closed Van Oranje was in the lead, ahead of Will Moore and Luc Braams, with Mads Siljehaug in fifth place. The RYS Team Hohenberg driver fought his way past Braams and Rob Severs, before overtaking Moore with three minutes left on the clock. There was contact between the two, but both cars continued and Siljehaug went after Van Oranje. On the penultimate lap Siljehaug attacked the Ekris M4 GT4 and passed the Dutch driver on the inside at turn 9. Van Oranje was unable to fight back and eventually finished 2.606s behind the race winning KTM.
PROsport Performance drivers Peter Terting and Jörg Viebahn finished the race sixth in class, which was enough for them to secure the Competition102 GT4 European Series PRO drivers’ title with one race to go. With 139.5 points the German pairing now has a 34.5-point lead over teammates Nicolaj Møller Madsen and Andreas Patzelt, who finished ninth in class. Mads Siljehaug and Maciej Dreszer’s victory means they are now third in the championship with 97.5 points.
In GT4 AM, Street Art Racing drivers Jérôme Demay and Damien Dupont scored their third win of the season, reducing the gap to points leader Jan Kasperlik to just 7.5 points. Should the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 take another victory this afternoon, Allied Racing driver Kasperlik will have to finish in second place to win the title. Romanian drivers Sergiu Nicolae and Eduard Anton took third place in the first race of the day.
Race 2
In the final race of the season, Simon Knap and Rob Severs scored the first win for the Ekris M4 GT4. The Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport drivers enjoyed a one-two finish at their home track, albeit not in the expected order. Knap took the race win, after teammate Van der Ende was tapped into a spin late in the race. Jérôme Demay clinched the GT4 European Series AM drivers’ title in what turned into a dramatic season finale.
The Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport drivers started from the front row and were still first and second into the first corner. A crash on the pit straight, however, initially resulted in a safety car, before the race director decided to red flag the race and order the cars back into the pits. After the stranded cars had been removed and the track had been cleaned, the race was restarted.
After the restart, Van Oranje and Severs ran first and second all the way until they made their mandatory pit stops. This briefly handed the lead to Villorba Corse’s Patrick Zamparini, but once all the pit stops were made Ricardo van der Ende was back in the lead. Behind him it was the Villorba Corse Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4 of Luca Anselmi and the second Ekris M4 GT4 of Simon Knap. Anselmi rapidly closed the gap to Van der Ende and the Italian started looking for options to pass the Dutch driver and his Ekris M4 GT4. Van der Ende defended his lead from the Italian, but with two and a half minutes plus a lap left in the race, Anselmi hit the back of Van der Ende’s car in the Tarzan corner.
Van der Ende spun and Anselmi took the lead, but soon after the Villorba Corse driver was given a drive through penalty for causing a collision. As he served the penalty, both Knap and Van der Ende passed the Maserati, making it a one-two again. The Dutch duo went on to take Ekris’ first victory of the season, the first win for the Ekris M4 GT4 and second place in the GT4 European Series Teams’ championship, behind new champions PROsport Performance. The RYS Team Hohenberg KTM X-Bow of Mads Siljehaug and Maciej Dreszer also passed the Villorba Corse Maserati, resulting in a third place finish and second place in the GT4 PRO drivers’ championship for the Norwegian-Polish duo.
In GT4 AM Jan Kasperlik started the race with a 7.5-point lead over Jérôme Demay, but before the cars had made it to the first corner the German’s race was over. The Porsche GT4 Clubsport MRs of Kasperlik and Graeme Mundy made contact on the pit straight, sending both cars into the wall and out of the race. Kasperlik’s accident meant the Street Art Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 would only need to finish for Demay to claim the AM drivers’ title.
Demay’s teammate, Damien Dupont, who had taken the class lead on the opening lap held onto the lead until handing over to his teammate. Demay initially had a trouble-free run on his way to the title, before getting into a fight for position with the NMT Racing BMW M3 GT4.0
There was contact twice, before Tristan Boorsma passed Demay to take the lead and the race win. One corner later the Generation AMR Super Racing Aston Martin hit Demay, sending the French driver into a spin. Fortunately, Demay could carry on and he would finish seventh in class. With the first two cars in GT4 AM not eligible for points, Demay scored enough to claim the title. Sofia Car Motorsport finished the race in second place, with Autorlando Sport taking the final podium position.
