Borusan Otomotiv BMWs
Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport will return to field two cars in this year’s GT4 European Series, with one featuring reigning GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club champion Gabriele Piana.
The Turkish team has become a fan favourite with its twin bright-blue BMWs regularly fighting for the tops spots. This year will mark Borusan’s seventh consecutive GT4 European Series campaign running BMWs.
Reigning champion Piana will race alongside the team’s regular title challenger Berkay Besler in the first Silver entry. Alongside them, Yağiz Gedik will also continue with the team, and will share the second Silver entry with promising young Brazilian driver Pedro Ebrahim.
Italian driver Piana has enjoyed a stunning GT4 career so far. Having celebrated the ADAC GT4 Germany Championship in 2021 he made the full-time switch into the GT4 European Series last year, winning three times overall to claim the Silver Championship at his first attempt with Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport. He’s also been a class-winner in the Nürburgring 24 Hours multiple times.
Besler has been a star of recent GT4 Europe seasons. Since making his debut in the championship back in 2021 he;s gone on to score 10 podium finishes and claimed his breakthrough overall race win last year at Misano. He finished third in the 2023 championship points and will be aiming even higher alongside Piana.
Gedik has raced with the Borusan team since 2017 and has achieved considerable success both domestically in Turkey and also in Europe. Champion in the 2017 Turkish Track Super Group Championship, he also finished second in the 2020 GT4 European Series Pro-Am standings.
His new team-mate will be one to watch. Brazilian driver Ebrahim started his career when he was 11, winning his first karting championship at just 13. He then went on to finish third in NASCAR Brazil when he was still just 15. Last year he raced a modified Ginetta LMP3 in the Brazilian Endurance Championship and secured a top-10 finish in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe points. He will make his GT4 European Series debut this year.
Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport team principal Ahmet Köseleci said: “We are very proud to have kept Berkay, who has been part of the BOM family for many years and has grown with us to become a very promising driver. Together we have added one of the reigning champions in Gabriele, whose record and experience speaks for itself creating one of the strongest line ups in the championship.
“We are very happy to work with Yağız again, continuing our good relationship and we are very excited by the prospect of Pedro. Together we have the perfect balance of youth, speed and experience and are very excited by their potential.”
GPA Racing Aston Martin
GPA Racing will return to the GT4 European Series fielding an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 for Kévin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud.
The French team has been a regular competitor since making its GT4 Europe debut during the 2022 season finale at Barcelona, with the team scoring an Am class win in Spain.
Last year Jimenez and Grizaud celebrated six Am class podium finishes on their way to fifth in the championship, with GPA finishing fourth in the teams’ points. The pair will now return for a second full season aboard a new Vantage GT4.
Frenchman Jimenez began his career racing touring cars and then moved into Renault Clios, finishing fifth overall in the Clio Eurocup on two occasions before making the switch to GT racing in 2022. His association with the GPA team goes back almost a decade.
Grizaud, also from France, followed a similar route to his team-mate, being a race winner in the FFSA Tourisme championship in a Peugeot RCZ before switching to GTs and winning races in both French GT4 and Europe.
Teichmann Continental Toyota
Teichmann Continental Racing will make its GT4 European Series debut this year, running a Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo for Andrey Solukovtsev and Vasily Vladykin.
The team is operated by German motorsport powerhouse Teichmann Racing and has recruited two experienced drivers to make the move with its Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo.
Solukovtsev is a familiar name in the championship, having enjoyed huge success at the wheel of a W&S Motorsport Porsche back in 2022, securing three wins on his way to the Am class drivers’ crown alongside Mikhail Loboda. Last year he also celebrated a string of titles in the 24 Hour Series, including winning the three-round Middle East Trophy and being a GT4 class winner in the Dubai 24 Hours with Teichmann.
Vladykin began his career racing saloon cars and claimed several race wins in the Renault Clio Cup Middle East before moving into GT racing. Last year he made a handful of appearances in both the British GT Championship and GT4 European Series, and returns for his first full campaign this season. He competed alongside Solukovtsev last year, sharing both the Middle East Trophy and Dubai 24Hr successes.
W&S Motorsport Porsches
W&S Motorsport will return to the GT4 European Series with a multi-car entry this season, and has confirmed Max Kronberg and Finn Zulauf as its first pairing.
The German team has been a regular in the championship since 2022, and will again field a clutch of Porsche 718 Cayman RS CS GT4s this term. Of its three cars available, the first will be a Pro-Am entry for the returning Kronberg and GT4 European Series newcomer Zulauf.
Kronberg has marked himself out as one of the most promising amateur drivers on the grid since stepping into the series two years ago. He finished third in the Pro-Am points last year and took both a landmark outright race win and an overall podium finish alongside Hendrik Still at Hockenheim.
Zulauf steps up to the GT4 European Series for the first time this year. Aged just 19, he brings with him an impressive racing CV that includes several successes in other championships with W&S Motorsport. He’s been an outright race winner in ADAC GT4 Germany in both 2022 and 2023 and finished third in the Junior class standings in each season. He also helped the AVIA W&S Motorsport squad to the teams’ championship last year.
With the step into the GT4 European Series, Zulauf also wants to gain experience at international level and establish himself as a professional racing driver. W&S Motorsport’s new livery design is due to be revealed soon.
Max Kronberg says: “I am very happy to continue racing with W&S Motorsport in the GT4 European Series. It will be my third season in the series and the first with a new team-mate. Finn is a very fast, young driver and hungry for success. I think that we will work well together and I am looking forward to the season with him.”
Finn Zulauf says: “I am really looking forward to competing in the GT4 European Series for the first time this year and also to working with Max. We have known each other since 2021 and in my opinion, he is one of the best bronze drivers. I think we have a good chance of achieving good results. I can’t wait for the season to start at Paul Ricard and thank everyone involved for this great opportunity to take another step towards becoming a professional racing driver!”
W&S Motorsport team principal Daniel Schellhaas adds: “With Max and Finn, we have a strong and promising driver pairing in the GT4 European Series. Both have developed very well in recent years and have made a name for themselves as winning drivers in various racing series. I am very proud to have them in the team and I am sure that we have the right package to have a say in the championship.”
JSB Competition Porsche
JSB Competition has revealed its second of three Porsche entries for this year’s GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club, with team regulars Julien Briché and Jean-Laurent Navarro set to team up again.
Having run Aston Martins across recent years, French team JSB has invested in a trio of new Porsche 718 Cayman RS CS GT4s for the coming campaign, and has already confirmed Viny Beltramelli and Florian Briché as its first entry into the Silver class.
That duo will now be joined by long-time JSB driver Julien Briché and Navarro aboard a Pro-Am class car, with the third entry set to be revealed soon.
Julien Briché has a long history of racing both GT and touring cars, and a CV that includes titles in the Peugeot 206 CC Cup, the French SEAT Leon Supercopa, The Peugeot 308 Racing Cup and a Le Mans 24 Hours start. Briché switched to GT4 racing in 2021 and has raced regularly in both the French and European championships since.
Navarro also has a long background in touring car racing, the Frenchman having competed in single-make Renault and SEAT series before switching to the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. He moved into GT4 racing in 2020 and made his European championship debut in 2022 sharing a JSB-run Alpine A110 T4 with Briché. A race winner in the FFSA French GT Championship in each of the last two seasons, Navarro returns to the GT4 European Series for his second full season this year.
PROsport Aston Martins
PROsport Racing is planning to return for the full GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club season with a two-car team, with drivers set to be announced soon.
The German team only made a single guest appearance in the championship last year – at the opening round in Monza running an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 for Andreas and Jessica Backman. Prior to that the team was a star of the 2022 championship, running Mike David Ortmann and Hugo Sasse to three overall race wins and third in the Silver Cup points, while PROsport secured third in the Teams’ Championship.
PROsport celebrates its 20th anniversary this season, with team founder Chris Esser marking 50 years of his own motorsport career. Together with entries into ADAC GT4 Germany and endurance races on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, PROsport is also set to field two Aston Martins for the 2024 GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club.
PROsport team boss Esser says: “We would rather concentrate on our programme and do it right than get carried away and do too much, which would ultimately harm the entire team. However, the great interest [in racing with the team this year] makes me very proud and it is the result of years of intensive work with the corresponding results.”
Drivers have yet to be revealed, but PROsport says its teams “will combine experienced and successful GT4 drivers as well as promising young talents.”
Schumacher CLRT Alpine
The new Schumacher CLRT squad has unveiled Pascal Huteau and Laurent Hurgon as the first confirmed drivers for its Alpine attack in this year’s GT4 European Series.
The new team is an amalgamation of several experienced racing companies, including Autosport GP, LS Group Performance and Côme Ledogar Racing, brought together to pool resources under the Schumacher CLRT banner. The team is competing across a variety of championships this year, including GT4 in both France and Europe.
Schumacher CLRT plans to field at least two Alpine A110 GT4 Evos this season, with Frenchmen Huteau and Hurgon the first two drivers confirmed for the project. They will compete in the Am class.
Huteau will make his GT4 European Series debut this year having impressed in the FFSA French GT Championship in recent years. He was twice a Pro-Am race winner last season in an Autosport GP-run Alpine, finishing fifth in the championship points. Before that Huteau was part of Team Fullmotorsport’s Audi entry in French GT, finishing second in the Am class points in 2020. He also helped the K-Worx Ginetta team to second in the championship in 2019.
Hurgon is gearing up for his third GT4 European Series season, having made his debut back in 2022. He boasts huge experience of racing Alpines, and last season finished third in the Am class points, scoring a class win and six podium finishes. He is also the reigning French GT Am class champion and before that was a multiple race winner in the Alpine Cup.
