Race 1: Viebahn / Terting Cayman Wins win Evening Race on Streets of Pau
The first race of the Competition102 GT4 European Series around the tight, twisty and challenging Pau street circuit was won by Peter Terting and Jörg Viebahn .
The race emerged as a duel between a pair of Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4, the pair held off fellow PROsport Performance drivers Andreas Patzelt and Nicolaj Møller Madsen.
Allied Racing competitors Dietmar Lackinger and Jan Kasperlik were ranked best in the AM class, finishing fifth overall in a race that started in daylight and ended in the dark.
Patzelt and Viebahn got away smoothly from front row. While Viebahn passed his team-mate, both temporarily pulled away from the rest of the field. Chris Vlok in the KTM X-BOW GT4 closed the gap to the front runners in ten minutes. The three competitors performed close racing but no overtaking manoeuvre could be reported.
It started to rain when the pit lane opened for the obligatory pit stop and eventual driver change. Most teams opted for rain tyres, but PROsport Performance drivers stayed out on slicks. When Terting took over from Viebahn, he expanded his lead up to eight seconds. Møller Madsen, sharing the Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4 with Patzelt, followed in second.
Both had created a significant advantage over Maciej Drezer who formed a team with Mads Siljehaug. The drivers who are part of the Reiter Young Stars programme, were able to hold third and took their first trophies of the season. Behind them it was Donald Molenaar, after he took over the V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4 from Marcel Nooren, hunting down a podium spot, but finished in fourth.
In front, Terting saw his gap decreasing after he had to lap fellow competitors. However, the German finished with a 4.5 seconds lead in first position. “It was a great race. But in the end the conditions were quite difficult,” said Terting. “I could create a big gap after the pit stop and then I thought I could take it easy because it started to rain, to slow down a bit in order to be safe on track. Then I needed to start lapping others and this was the difficult part. The guys received the blue flag but that was difficult to see because of the dark and therefore I couldn’t always pass directly. Anyway, the race was fun, but busy.”
In the AM category Allied Racing’s Lackinger and Kasperlik were always fighting for a top five position against the PRO teams and managed to take fifth despite smoke coming out of the BMW M3 GT4. “It was a crazy ride”, commented Kasperlik. “I had an accident in my second lap; touched the curbstones on the left which pushed me right and had an impact in the wall. The car behaved strange, but I could continue. The race engineer said; ‘you have four wheels and a steering wheel, so go ahead’. From there it was eleven or twelve laps to the finish.”
In the AM division local drivers Eric Cayrolle and Didier Moreu finished in second. Brookspeed drivers Graeme Mundy and Steven Liquorish were ranked in third place.
Race 1 Result
1. Jörg Viebahn / Peter Terting, Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4, 34 laps in 52:08,660 minutes,
2. Andreas Patzelt / Nicolaj Madsen, Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4, + 4,546 seconds,
3. Mads Siljehaug / Maciej Dreszer, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 1:28,748 minutes,
4. Marcel Nooren / Donald Molenaar, Chevrolet Camaro, + 1 lap,
5. Dietmar Lackinger / Jan Kasperlik, BMW M3 GT4, + 1 lap,
6. André Grammatico / Ricardo van der Ende, BMW M3 GT4, + 1 lap,
7. Eric Cayrolle / Didier Moureu, Ginetta G55 GT4, + 1 lap,
8. Tim Stupple / Lennart Marioneck, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 1 lap,
9. Luca Anselmi, Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, + 1 lap,
10. Laura Kraihamer / Jamie Vandenbalck, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 1 lap,
11. Chris Vlok / Immanuel Vinke, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 1 lap,
12. Giuseppe Fascicolo / Mauro Calamia, Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, + 2 laps,
13. Rebecca Jackson / Thomas Krebs, KTM B-XOW GT4, + 2 laps,
14. Andreas Guelden / Hendrik Still, Sin R1 GT4, + 2 laps,
15. Anna Rathe / Cédric Freiburghaus, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 2 laps,
16. Caitlin Wood / Marko Helistekangas, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 2 laps,
17. Steven Liquorish / Graeme Mundy, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 3 laps,
18. Alessandro Fogliani / Patrick Zamparini, Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, + 3 laps,
19. Albert Bloem / Jérôme Demay, Aston Martin Vantage GT4, + 5 laps
Not classified
Luc Braams / Duncan Huisman, Chevrolet Camaro, + 9 laps,
Rob Severs / Simon Knap, Ekris M4 GT4, + 25 laps
Race 2: Crash and Win for Møller Madsen / Patzelt Porsche
After finishing second at the street track on Saturday evening, Nicolaj Møller Madsen and Andreas Patzelt were lucky to be able to make it to the chequered flag on Sunday.
While battling for the lead, Patzelt survived a crash after he was touched by a fellow competitor in the penultimate lap. The Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4 spun around multiple times and hit the guardrails. However, the German was able to finish the race in first position. The AM class Jan Kasperlik and Dietmar Lackinger also won the second race with the BMW M3 GT4.
The race got underway when the French national flag was waived after technical problems had struck the starting lights. Ricardo van der Ende took the lead starting from second while Duncan Huisman made up two places to chase his countryman, passing both Porsches Cayman PRO4 GT4. Saturday’s winner Peter Terting seemed to experience car trouble and retired.
While van der Ende extended his lead to ten seconds, Huisman defended very well against the charging Møller Madsen for second place. After ten laps the Porsche driver passed Huisman at the hairpin. Behind the pair three KTM X-BOW GT4 drivers were battling for position. They were accompanied by Donald Molenaar.
When Marcel Nooren took over the wheel from Molenaar, the Dutchman stranded with damage on the rear and the front right. It brought out the safety car to recover the Chevrolet Camaro GT4. Grammatico, who was now in front after he was handed the BMW M3 GT4 from van der Ende, saw an eleven second gap being destroyed.
After the restart Grammatico regained a bit of his margin while Patzelt, who took over from Møller Madsen, had first to get through traffic. The final minutes marked the battle for the race win. In the penultimate lap Patzelt made a successful move on Grammatico but the Frenchman touched the Porsche, that went spinning around and hit the guardrails multiple times. It was a miracle that Patzelt was able to continue.
Despite visible damage on the car, Patzelt passed the finish flag first with a lead of eight seconds over Luc Braams, who shared the Chevrolet Camaro GT4 with Huisman. Classified third were Lennart Marioneck and Tim Stupple who started the race with the KTM X-BOW GT4 in eleventh position.
“It was really a thrilling race, I can’t find the words”, said Patzelt. “It’s my first weekend in GT4, first weekend in Pau and first race on a street circuit. It could not have been better. In the final laps there was no space to overtake quickly. I was faster than Grammatico and I did a move in the first corner. He was still fast and then I got hit at the rear. My car was okay and I was told I had to push. A big thanks to the team as the guys did a really good job.”
In the AM class Jan Kasperlik and Dietmar Lackinger experienced an eventful race. “We’re happy with two victories in our division, but we are also looking at the overall result”, said Kasperlik. “I did a mistake by hitting a KTM and received a drive through penalty for that. Then I speeded in the pit lane and was handed another one. Luckily Dietmar did a great job and he rescued the race and secured the win. Pau was crazy but a fun track to race at. Hopefully we’ll be visiting the street track in the future.”
The third round of the Competition102 GT4 European Series will be held on 11 and 12 June at Silverstone.
Race 2 Result
1 Andreas Patzelt / Nicolaj Møller Madsen, Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4, 31 laps in 59:59.162 minutes
2 Luc Braams / Duncan Huisman, Chevrolet Camaro GT4, +8.489 seconds
3 Tim Stupple / Lennart Marioneck, KTM X-BOW GT4, +9.582
4 Giuseppe Fascicolo / Mauro Calamia, Maserati Trofeo MC GT4, +21.437
5 Dietmar Lackinger / Jan Kasperlik, BMW M3 GT4, +24.696
6 Rebecca Jackson / Thomas Krebs, KTM X-BOW GT4, +28.897
7 Andreas Guelden / Hendrik Still, Sin Cars Sin R1 GT4, +29.627
8 Caitlin Wood / Marko Helistekangas, KTM X-BOW GT4, +36.117
9 Laura Kraihamer / Jamie Vandenbalck, KTM X-BOW GT4, +47.074
10 Luca Anselmi, Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, +1:26.855
11 Eric Cayrolle / Didier Moureu, Ginetta G55 GT4, +1 lap
12 Steven Liquorish / Graeme Mundy, Porsche Cayman Clubsport GT4, +1 lap
13 Albert Bloem / Jérôme Demay, Aston Martin Vantage GT4, +1 lap
14 Alessandro Fogliani / Patrick Zamparini, Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, +1 lap
15 Andre Grammatico / Ricardo van der Ende, BMW M3 GT4, +2 laps
Not classified
16 Marcel Nooren / Donald Molenaar, Chevrolet Camaro GT4, +14 laps
17 Anna Rathe / Cédric Freiburghaus, KTM X-BOW GT4, +20 laps
18 Chris Vlok / Immanuel Vinke, KTM X-BOW GT4, +26 laps
19 Mads Siljehaug / Maciej Dreszer, KTM X-BOW GT4, +26 laps
20 Joerg Viebahn / Peter Terting, Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4, +28 laps
DNS
21 Rob Severs / Simon KNAP, Ekris M4 GT4
Championship Standings after round 2
GT4 PRO class
1. Duncan Huisman / Luc Braams, 46 points
2. Andreas Patzelt / Nicolaj Møller Madsen, 43
3. Luca Anselmi, 41
4. Marcel Nooren, 39
5. Ricardo van der Ende, 39
6. Lennart Marioneck / Tim Stupple, 35
GT4 AM class
1. Jan Kasperlik / Dietmar Lackinger, 86 points
2. Alessandro Fogliani, 62
3. Ghezzi Giuseppe / Giovanelli Allessandro, 37
GT4 TEAM class
1. V8 Racing International, 55 points
2. PROsport Performance, 51
3. Allied Racing, 42
Pics © Co van der Gragt, Essay Produkties
