Lotus Return With PB Racing
Lotus will become the tenth different manufacturer on this year’s GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club grid with PB Racing confirming its new Emira GT4 for the full season.
Stefano D’Aste and Alberto Naska will share the team’s yellow-liveried Emira, competing in the Pro-Am category. The team will race as the official entry of the Lotus brand.
Italian racer D’Aste boasts huge experience of competing in both GT and touring car racing. He completed in the World Touring Car Championship for ten seasons, nine with BMW machinery and his final year in a Chevrolet. He made his GT4 European Cup debut back in 2011 as an official driver of the Lotus Evora GT4, finishing third in the points. In recent years he has competed in the 24H Series. D’Aste founded the PB Racing team as an official Lotus workshop in 1998.
Naska is a social media personality and the reigning Lotus Cup Italy champion. Prior to that he was a multiple race-winner in the NASCAR Euro Series, finishing second in the 2022 championship standings in a Chevrolet Camaro. He also has experience of racing Formula 4, Legends and MitJet cars. While he has also competed in GT4 Italy before, this will be his first full season of European GT4 competition.
PB Racing, founded in 1998 is the organiser of the Lotus Cup Italia, the championship utilising the Lotus Elise Cup PB-R, a car based on the Elise 220 and developed for competitions by PB Racing and Hexathron Racing Systems.
RAFA RACING Return
RAFA Racing will return to the GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club with a two-car team this season after forging a new partnership with British team RACELAB.
RAFA fields its own team for the second consecutive year, this time with Callum Davies and Charlie Hart plus Aston Millar and Julius Dinesen crewing its pair of McLaren Arturas.
The effort will now be run by the RACELAB team, which has gained experience in championships including British GT with Euan Hankey as sporting director.
Davies began his GT racing career in Ginettas in the UK, finishing second in the Ginetta GT Championship in 2023. He was then a multiple race-winner in the GT Cup and eventually went on to become a podium finisher in British GT4 last season with a RACELAB McLaren.
Similarly, Hart is a graduate of the Ginetta Junior Championship, finishing third in 2024 before graduating to GT4 and joining forces with Davies for this year’s GT4 Winter Series where they celebrated their breakthrough victory at Barcelona.
Aston Millar was Ginetta Junior champion in the UK in 2021 and then went on to become a regular in the British GT Championship, scoring his first race win at Snetterton last year. He made his GT4 Europe debut in a one-off appearance last season at Spa and now signs up for the full season.
Danish driver Dinesen graduated from karting to formula racing in 2022 and won the Danish Formula 4 title in 2022 before moving into the BMW M2 Cup in Germany. This will be his maiden season of GT4 competition.
Davies says: “I’m beyond excited to be competing in the 2025 GT4 European Series with RAFA Racing by RACELAB, alongside Charlie Hart for what has already been a race-winning partnership in the GT4 Winter Series. The anticipation for Round 1 at Paul Ricard is growing, and I can’t wait to hit the track and give it my all with this incredible team.”
Hart says: “Absolutely buzzing to start the GT4 European Series with RAFA Racing by RACELAB at Paul Ricard! Feeling very confident with the amazing McLaren Artura GT4, showing some great performances in the Winter Series earlier this year, and looking to snatch even more poles and wins! As always, a big thank you to RAFA Racing and RACELAB for this opportunity. I cannot wait to get underway.”
Millar says: “I am super excited to start my 2025 campaign with RAFA Racing Club by RACELAB. Being back in the McLaren Artura is great and even better to be racing in European GT4. It’s been a challenging winter getting it together with a lot of training. Thankfully it has paid off and I can’t wait to see how we perform. I would also like to thank McLaren Customer Racing and RAFA Racing Club by RACELAB for their support, I’m sure we will be right at the front carrying on from where I left off in 2024!”
Dinesen says: “I’m very excited to join RAFA Racing Club By RACELAB for the GT4 European Series this year in the Mclaren Artura. It’s an exciting opportunity for me as a driver to develop as much as possible with the best environment around me, which I’m 100% sure the team will be able to give me! I will be teaming up with Aston, who is an experienced and fast driver and will help me get up to speed quick. I’m looking forward to hitting the track very soon at Circuit Paul Ricard.”
RACELAB sporting director Euan Hankey adds: “RACELAB is super excited to have a great partnership with the RAFA Racing Club for the 2025 season, and to have such strong driver pairings as Callum and Charlie and of course Julius and Aston. It will be our first year racing in the GT4 European Series, however we had a very strong showing across the Winter Series, proving that we can fight strong on circuit with the best of the pack. I’m really looking forward to the season opener and can’t wait to see what these boys can achieve over the coming months.”
Professional driver, and RAFA Racing Club mainstay, Jon Lancaster adds: “I’m very proud of the strong line up we have to take on the toughest GT4 category in the world. We have a brilliant mix of pure young talent in Callum, Julius and Charlie combined with a proven GT4 winner in Aston. We know our car is very competitive with Charlie and Callum taking multiple wins in the Winter Series and many pole positions against the current champions. We have all the ingredients to aim for top spot and bring even more success to RAFA Racing Club by RACELAB.”
Former AM Champ For Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport Evo BMW
Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport will field a new BMW M4 GT4 Evo in the full GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club campaign, with a former series champion at the wheel.
Am class champion from 2022, Mikhail Loboda, will make a full-time return to the series after almost two years away, sharing the new BMW with the returning Vasily Vladykin in a promising Pro-Am partnership.
Vladykin competed under the Continental Racing brand at the wheel of a Toyota GR Supra last season, but will now switch to the BMW operated by British team Simpson Motorsport for 2025. The Cypriot driver has competed with the squad in the 24H Series across recent seasons, securing second place in the GT3 Am class of this year’s Abu Dhabi 6 Hours and also finishing runner-up in the Middle East Trophy. Prior to that he was a participant in the British GT Championship and won the GT4 class of the 2024 Dubai 24 Hours.
Russian racer Loboda began his career in Autocross, lifting the national title in 2007 before moving on to compete in saloon racing before making his GT racing debut in 2014. He enjoyed a stellar first GT4 Europe season in 2022, celebrating three Am class race wins alongside Andrey Solukovtsev on his way to the class title. He raced alongside Vladykin in the GT4 class-winning performance at the 24H Dubai in 2024.
Simpson Motorsport team boss Julian Simpson says: “Simpson Motorsport has enjoyed great success with our BMW M4 GT4 across numerous endurance and sprint races, while our collaboration with Continental Racing has already brought us strong podium finishes in events like the 6H Abu Dhabi 2025 & 12H Mugello 2025. Bringing together a proven car and a winning driver line-up felt like the perfect formula – so stepping into the GT4 European Series for 2025 as Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport is an exciting next chapter”
