Race 1
NM Racing Team drivers Lluc Ibañez and Alexandre Papadopulos were commanding winners in a dramatic opening GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club race at Misano on Saturday, guiding their Mercedes-AMG clear of the chaos to score their first victory of the year.
Ibañez controlled the one-hour contest from the front and impressed during a disrupted opening stint, building a comfortable advantage over Benjamin Lariche in the Team Speedcar Audi R8 LMS. Papadopulos then kept Robert Consani at bay across the final 20 minutes to secure the result.
The JSB Competition Porsche crew of Julien Briche and Jean-Laurent Navarro managed to convert their Pro-Am pole position into a first win of the year, but enjoyed more than a little luck as their biggest rivals hit trouble.
Schumacher CLRT lost its unbeaten streak in the Am class when Pascal Huteau was forced to stop his Alpine with suspension failure early on. That opened the door for the GPA Racing Aston Martin, shared by Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud, to take victory.
Having been a winner at Misano in 2022, Ibañez was always going to be one to watch when he put the #15 Mercedes-AMG on pole, dipping below his own qualifying lap record in the process. The plan was simple: make a clean getaway and pull enough of a gap to help team-mate Papadopulos hold off the rival Team Speedcar Audi, which started alongside.
Ibañez did get a great start, but his progress was halted when the safety car was called to attend to a multi-car accident further back in the pack. With the debris cleared and the drivers OK, racing resumed on lap seven, with Ibañez once again leading the field.
Lariche struggled to stay with the Mercedes-AMG, and by the time the pit window opened Ibañez had built a cushion of almost five seconds to hand to Papadopulos. After a clean stop, the American driver rejoined well clear, and successfully held off Lariche’s team-mate Consani to the flag. In doing so he scored both the first win of the year for the team, as well as his own breakthrough victory in the championship.
Elite Motorsport McLaren drivers Tom Lebbon and Josh Rattican kept up their podium streak by fighting to third, holding off a race-long challenge from both the Wimmer Werk Porsche of Ivan Ekelchik/Nicolaj Möller-Madsen, and Herolind Nuredini/Leo Pichler in the #22 Allied-Racing version.
Despite a tough qualifying, championship leaders Enzo Joulié and Etienne Cheli kept things clean to finish sixth in their Matmut Évolution Toyota. They picked up places when other cars hit trouble, such as both Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMWs and the L’Espace Bienvenue M4 suffering punctures.
Pro-Am again proved very tight, with Briche and Navarro coming out on top after a late fight for class honours. The #46 Porsche was in the lead pack throughout and took control when the leading W&S Motorsport Porsche suffered a puncture, while the #7 Mirage Racing Aston Martin of Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub lost time to a penalty for contact. They were able to recover to second and maintain the class points lead, with Gregory Guilvert and Antoni de Barn completing the podium in their Chazel Technologie Course BMW.
Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud left it late to settle the Am class fight, with the GPA Racing Aston Martin pair passing the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG of Andy Cantu and Dilantha Malagamuwa in the closing laps. Father-and-son Mikael and Christoffer Brunnhagen completed the podium in their Toyota Gazoo Racing Sweden GR Supra, moving them into second in the class points behind Huteau and Laurent Hurgon after their Schumacher CLRT Alpine limped out early.
Race 2
Benjamin Lessennes and Ricardo van der Ende celebrated their first GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club win of the season in race two at Misano on Sunday, snatching the glory from the Team Speedcar Audi in a breathless finish.
While Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche led almost the entire race in the Audi, contact between Lariche and Berkay Besler in the second-placed Borusan Otomotiv BMW earned Lariche a 10 second penalty. Then when Besler suffered a puncture on the last lap, it became a straight fight between Lariche and Lessennes, who inherited second. Lariche needed to pull a 10-second lead to keep the win, but fell just 0.3s shy, allowing the L’Espace Bienvenue BMW to move ahead on corrected times.
Yağiz Gedik and Pedro Ebrahim Carvalho did salvage a podium for Borusan, ahead of the Elite Motorsport McLaren shared by Tom Lebbon and Josh Rattican, who took the Silver championship lead after another consistent weekend.
Few would have bet on the L’Espace Bienvenue BMW taking victory. Starting back in 15th, the car made constant progress up the order in the hands of first van der Ende and then Lessennes to work into a podium place, which eventually became the win.
Robert Consani added the qualifying lap record to his existing race lap record to put the Audi on pole, and he was given a clear run to turn one when an alternator problem stopped the #81 RAFA Racing Team McLaren from joining him on the front row.
Consani led away, and stayed clear of drama behind when Lebbon clipped the rear of Leo Pichler in the #22 Allied-Racing Porsche, spinning it in front of the pack. The race one-winning NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG driven by Alexandre Papadopulos could not avoid Lebbon and hit the rear of the McLaren, sustaining front-end damage that would end its race early.
Only Consani and Alex Denning in the second Elite McLaren escaped delay, with Denning briefly stealing the lead before Consani fought back ahead. Denning then fell back into the pack, eventually picking up damage.
Gabriele Piana enjoyed a great start, working into second ahead of the sister Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW driven by Carvalho. But Piana could not catch Consani, who had a comfortable lead when he pitted for Lariche. Then the race began to turn.
While Lariche rejoined well clear, a safety car was called to clear a Lotus that had stopped on track, and Lariche found himself with both Borusan BMWs on his tail at the restart. Besler had taken over from Piana and got alongside the Audi when racing resumed before contact between the two helped Lariche stay in front. The stewards handed Lariche the 10s penalty for his stubborn defence. That looked to hand the win to Besler, but the #12 BMW suffered a second puncture of the weekend as it started the final lap.
Lessennes, meanwhile, had built on the work of van der Ende to bring the L’Espace Bienvenue car into third, which then became second after Besler’s puncture. Starting the final lap, Lariche was 8.4s ahead, but needed the full 10s to hold the win. While he pushed like mad, the gap at the flag was 9.666s. Lariche still held second, ahead of Gedik/Carvalho in the #11 BMW.
Fourth handed Rattican and Lebbon the championship lead after Enzo Joulié and Etienne Cheli ended their weekend in the gravel having run inside the top five.
Noam Abramczyk and Paul Petit controlled Pro-Am from the start in their AV Racing Porsche. Abramczyk passed Max Kronberg in the W&S Porsche that had started on pole and pulled clear, with the win made easier by penalties for their rivals. Kronberg picked up a time penalty for contact, before team-mate Finn Zulauf suffered a puncture. Championship leaders Safronov and Vaintrub shook off a 10s pit penalty for a collision on Saturday to finish second, with race one winners Julien Briche and Jean-Laurent Navarro taking third in their JSB Porsche ahead of the Matéo Herrero/Jean-Mathieu Leandri in the Chazel Alpine. After losing its front-row start with the #81, RAFA Racing Team did score an impressive fifth in Pro-Am with Rafael Martinez and Jon Lancaster.
Schumacher CLRT was untouchable in Am, with Hurgon qualifying well clear of his class rivals and running clear before handing to Huteau to bring it home. GPA Racing Aston Martin crew Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud had to settle for second, with Toyota Gazoo Racing pair Mikael and Christoffer Brunnhagen taking a second podium of the weekend.
The GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club is next in action in support of the world’s biggest GT3 race, the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa, on June 25-30.
