BATINA RACING AND TGR CAETANO PORTUGAL ON THE RISE ON DAY ONE AT JARAMA

Test sessions for the Supercars España round took place today at the Circuito de Madrid Jarama – RACE, with Batina Racing and Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal standing out, although it won’t be until tomorrow that teams and drivers get a true sense of their pace for the weekend.

The first test session on the historic Jarama circuit, held early in the afternoon, was dominated by the Toyota teams, with three cars from the Japanese manufacturer occupying the top three positions.

In the first private practice session, debutant Miguel Lobo and Orlando Batina were the fastest in the GR Supra GT4 EVO2 of Batina Racing, also topping the GT4 Pro-Bronze category by placing ahead of the similar car from Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal, which was second, three-tenths of a second behind. That car was driven by Francisco Abreu and Francisco Mora, who were the best in the GT4 Pro class.

Third place went to another Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, this one from Speedy Motorsport and shared by José Carlos Pires and Tomás Guedes, who were seven-tenths of a second off the fastest time.

Chasing the Japanese cars were two BMW M4 GT4 (G82) entries, led by the BMW España Motorsport car driven by Nerea Martí and José de los Milagros. The Bavarian machine entered by Promotion Motorsport, shared by Smörg and Javier Macias, performed excellently and was the best among the GT4 Am competitors, even outperforming the NM Racing Team’s Mercedes AMG GT4, shared by Guillermo Aso and Filip Vava, which finished eighth overall.

Rui Miritta, with seventh place overall, was the best of the Cup class drivers, in a Porsche 911 Cup prepared by Monteiros Competições, comfortably beating Marcus Fothergill, who is also racing solo this weekend in the Tockwith Motorsport Porsche 911 Cup.

Borja Hormigos and Héctor Hernández showed they are determined to repeat last year’s climb to the top step of the podium, setting the fastest time in the GTX division at the wheel of the Autoworks Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 (F82), beating Gracie Mitchell and Luca Staccini in the Tockwith Motorsports Ginetta G55 by three-tenths of a second. This narrow margin made it clear just how competitive the field is.

In the TC division, the young drivers of the FPAK Junior Team had their first taste today of the demanding Circuito de Madrid Jarama – RACE and showed tremendous potential. Rodrigo Vilaça and Diogo Castro were the fastest behind the wheel of the nimble Ginetta G40s, though their teammates were not far behind.

Another Supra on Top in the Second Session

In the second free practice session, the Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2s once again locked out the top three spots on the timesheets, but this time with new leaders – Francisco Abreu and Francisco Mora.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal duo posted a lap of 1:38.014, improving by 1.2 seconds on the time set in the first session by Miguel Lobo and Orlando Batina. However, their effort still fell short of the GT4 lap record set last year by Filip Vava during the second qualifying session – a 1:37.778 lap in an NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4.

The pair, who won the second race in Portimão earlier this year, left Nuno Afonso and Alexandre Areia – making their series debut this season in a Gianfranco Motorsport-prepared car – 1.2 seconds adrift. The latter duo also delivered an impressive performance, finishing second overall and establishing themselves as the fastest pair in GT4 Pro-Bronze.

José Carlos Pires and Tomás Guedes of Speedy Motorsport claimed third place, just ahead of Smörg and Javier Macias. The Promotion Motorsport drivers produced a superb fourth-place finish overall and were the quickest in the GT4 Am category with their BMW M4 GT4 (G82).

NM Racing Team came out on top in GT4 Bronze, with debutant Andrés Prieto and Ricardo Costa placing their Mercedes AMG GT4 eighth overall for the Spanish squad.

After Borja Hormigos and Héctor Hernández had topped the GTX division in the first session, the second featured a fierce battle between the Tockwith Motorsports Ginetta G55 of Gracie Mitchell and Luca Staccini and the Ligier JS2R of Ángel Santos and Alejandro Iribas. The Tockwith duo ultimately edged out the Chefo Sport by Petrogold pair by just two-tenths of a second.

In the Cup category, Marcus Fothergill, driving a Tockwith Motorsports Porsche 911 Cup, emerged as the strongest performer, finishing 17th overall and suggesting he may challenge Rui Miritta’s dominance over the weekend.

Among the young FPAK Junior Team drivers, it was João Faria and Tomás Martins who were fastest this time, narrowly outpacing Martim Romão and Tomás Gomes, with just over a tenth of a second separating the two Ginetta G40s.

 Tomorrow's qualifying sessions will begin at 14:40 and can be followed live on Instagram.

Both races will take place on Sunday, the first at 09:15 and the second at 13:35. They will be broadcast live on DAZN Portugal and DAZN España, as well as on the official competition social media channels, in Spanish.

There will also be live coverage in English on Alpha Live’s YouTube channel, in German on Motorsport Television Deutschland, and in Italian on Parc Fermé TV.