Elite Motorsport’s McKenzy Cresswell and Charlie Hart scored a clean sweep of race wins in the penultimate round of the 2026 GT4 European Series at Zandvoort, vaulting the #78 McLaren Arturo GT4 pairing into the Silver Drivers’ Championship lead.
Race 1
Charlie Hart and McKenzy Cresswell scored a valuable second win of the season in the opening race at Zandvoort, with the result dramatically closing up the Silver title fight.
The #78 Elite Motorsport McLaren pair ran second for most of the race and duly took second on the road behind the sister #77 Artura shared by Yani Stevenheydens and Henry Joslyn. However, a time penalty cost them a dream win on their debut as a pairing, instead handing the result to Hart and Cresswell.
Aside from winning the race, Hart and Cresswell’s result could prove a key one in this year’s title race as points leaders Cedric Fuchs and Enrico Förderer suffered their worst result of the season so far. Having never raced at this track before, the #111 Mercedes-AMG crew could only manage a single point for 10th place.
Hart lined the #78 McLaren up in third and held the spot at the start as Gregory Guilvert led away in the #8 Team Speedcar Audi ahead of Stevenheydens. Guilvert pushed hard but was suffering from high tyre pressures that limited his Audi’s grip, allowing both McLarens to pass him during the opening quarter of the race.
From there, Stevenheydens and Hart pulled clear and the result looked to be heading the way of the #77 McLaren before a penalty for speeding in the pits during its mandatory stop undid the drivers’ hopes. While Joslyn rejoined in the lead, the extra 10 seconds on his race time would drop him to third, allowing Cresswell to shadow him to the flag and take full points.
Mees Houben and Lachlan Evennett scored a superb second after a controlled drive in their #4 Speedy Motorsport GR Supra. Houben also found a way past Guilvert to grab third before Evennett kept things clean to secure the result, finishing close enough to Joslyn to leapfrog a place in the revised result.
The #77 McLaren ended up in third, ahead of the #1 Team Speedcar Audi of Benjamin Lariche and Robert Consani and Roméo Leurs and Roberto Faria’s #9 Mirage Racing GR Supra. Guilvert and Paul Petit should have scored strong points but instead their race ended in the gravel after their Audi dramatically broke a wheel.
It initially seemed that penalties would also prove decisive in Pro-Am, but Viny Beltramelli and Sacha Bottemanne had one overturned to score the win aboard the #3 Team Speedcar Audi.
It looked like runaway championship leaders Victor Bouveng and Joakin Walde were on for another victory aboard the #98 Schubert Motorsport BMW across the first half as Bouveng grabbed the lead over a dramatic opening few laps before then holding off both Beltramelli and the #27 Nova Rosa Porsche of Edvin Hellsten to pit for Walde.
However, things changed after the stops, with Walde playing it safe and losing out to Bottemanne, Ravi Ramyead – who had taken over the #71 Elite Motorsport McLaren from Charlie Robertson in fourth – and Daniel Nilsson, who was in for Hellsten in the Porsche. A late spin compounded things for the Schubert car, dropping Walde to ninth at the flag.
Up front Ramyead attacked Bottemanne, with the Audi’s strong defence earning it a time penalty. Bottemanne raced on and took the flag first, with the penalty then dropping the car to fifth. However, a post-race appeal overturned this, reinstating he and Beltramelli as the class winners.
Ramyead and Robertson were second, while Tim Horrell and Alon Gabbay fought through to score a podium late on aboard the #31 W&S Motorsport Porsche ahead of Nilsson and Joachim Bölting/Hendrik Still’s #32 W&S Motorsport Porsche.
The Am contest was ended early when Max Kronberg had to pit the #30 W&S Motorsport Porsche with a brake problem and lost a lap. A further penalty for pitlane speeding left he and Daniel Blickle well off the pace of the #55 Gazoo Racing Sweden Toyota of Christoffer and Miakel Brunnhagen, who cruised to their second win of the year.
Race 2
A superb attacking drive from McKenzy Cresswell and Charlie Hart in Race 2 helped the pair to a clean sweep of wins at Zandvoort that has moved them into the Silver Drivers’ Championship lead with only two races to go.
Despite dropping from pole to second early on, Cresswell kept the pressure on the race leader before Hart took over and attacked with all he had, eventually squeezing past to do the double in the #78 McLaren.
The result also came at a pivotal time in the championship, with former points leaders Enrico Förderer and Cedric Fuchs suffering their worst event of the year, meaning Cresswell and Hart knock them off the head of the championship for the first time this season.
When the lights went out Cresswell was forced to immediately go on the defensive as Paul Pet it’s #8 Team Speedcar Audi attempted to squeeze between the McLaren and the #68 TeamFloral Mustang that started second in the hands of Kiano Blum.
All three survived the squeeze to continue, but it cost Cresswell the lead as the Ford got the better run through the opening few corners. Blum drove impressively on his GT4 Europe debut, keeping Cresswell at arm’s length across the first half before pitting for Sam Paley. Cresswell opted to stop a lap earlier to hand to Hart, and the Mustang rejoined just in front of the McLaren, which was up to operating temperature already.
Hart made a move for the lead but was squeezed wide. He recovered to attack again, picking his moment perfectly to slip up the inside of Paley and claim a lead the car would not lose. Once ahead, Hart pulled clear to secure a big win.
Paley was also comfortably second to record the best finish for a Mustang so far this year, but the fight for third proved somewhat bizarre. Erik Evans made it two Mustangs inside the top three over the early stages aboard the #61 Academy Motorsport machine, but opted to run long during the pit window, so long that he actually missed it. By the time he was called in to hand to Nathan Vanspringel, the car was handed a 10-second penalty for the infringement, which cost it any hope of a podium.
Thomas Rackl and Gabriele Piana proved the overtaking kings in the #12 BMW, with Rackl making up a load of ground from 18th on the grid before Piana kept up the momentum, drafting past Vanspringel to claim Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport’s first GT4 Europe podium at Zandvoort, a full 15 places up from the car’s starting position.
Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche were fourth in the #1 Team Speedcar Audi ahead of Mees Houben and Lachlan Evennett’s #4 Speedy Motorsport Supra, which completed a strong weekend. Lluc Ibañez and Alex Papadopulos were sixth aboard the #15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG ahead of the penalised #61 Mustang. Fuchs and Förderer again struggled to make progress, and a penalty for a short pitstop just compounded their weekend, leaving them ninth in Silver and outscored by the #78 McLaren by 48 points across the weekend.
Hart/Cresswell therefore lead the Silver Drivers’ Championship by 16 points over Fuchs/Förderer, with Piana/Rackl a further six points back in third.
Elite Motorsport, meanwhile, lead the Teams’ Championship by just three points over Team Speedcar, with SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm and Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport also within 23 points of the top spot.
“Zandvoort was an outstanding weekend for the Elite Motorsport team and a fantastic result in the championship,” reflected Elite Motorsport team owner Eddie Ives.
“Leaving Zandvoort with two outright victories, taking the lead in the Teams’ Championship and having McKenzy and Charlie now leading the Drivers’ standings, is a huge reward for everyone’s hard work. McKenzy and Charlie were exceptional throughout the weekend. To win Race 1 and then produce such a strong performance in Race 2, particularly with Charlie’s move for the lead, was a brilliant effort.
“The McLaren x Elite Talent Pathway is delivering exactly what we hoped it would and it’s great to see them achieving these results together. We now head to Portimão with both Championship titles in our sights. There’s still everything to play for but we couldn’t ask for a better position heading into the final round.”
In Pro-Am, Sacha Bottemanne and Viny Beltramelli knew they had to win to keep their title ambitions alive, and the #3 Team Speedcar Audi proved unshakeable. Bottemanne was well out front of the class competition in the first half before Beltramelli stayed out of trouble to secure a fine double win and keep the pair in sight of the class championship.
Daniel Nilsson and Edvin Hellsten stole second in a photo-finish, the #27 Nova Racing Porsche dragging to the line just 0.007s ahead of the #31 W&S Cayman of Tim Horrell and Alon Gabbay. Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson recovered from being hit into a spin to finish fourth in the #71 Elite Motorsport McLaren, a place ahead of points-leaders Joakim Walde and Victor Bouveng, who leave Zandvoort with their championship lead halved to 30 points after an off-colour weekend for the #98 Schubert Motorsport BMW.
In Portimão, it’s set to be a straight duel between the #98 BMW and #3 Audi, with no one else left in mathematical contention.
And in Am, Daniel Blickle and Max Kronberg’s race looked to be lost when Blickle was shuffled wide and through the Turn 1 gravel at the start. However, consistent stints from both drivers helped the #30 W&S Motorsport Porsche to recover to beat Gazoo Racing Sweden’s #55 Supra of Mikael and Christoffer Brunnhagen. Blickle’s points advantage was then boosted when the #55 was disqualified for a technical infringement post-race, putting the German in prime position to secure the crown in Portugal with a 46-point advantage.
The 2026 GT4 European Series season will conclude at Portimão on 16th to 18th October 2026.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
