CAÇOILO AND VARELA LEAD THE OPENING DAY OF THE GTC/TOURING CARS WEEKEND

The second round of the Supercars Endurance season got underway on Friday under high temperatures at the historic Circuito de Madrid Jarama-RACE, with Gabriel Caçoilo and Máximo Varela topping the GTC and Touring Cars free practice session. At the wheel of a Ligier JS2 R, the pair set the fastest time of the session with a lap of 1m40.385s, confirming their excellent form following their GTX victory in the opening round at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.

The characteristic heat of the Madrid event once again made its presence felt, placing significant demands on drivers, tyres and machinery alike. Even so, the session delivered a highly competitive display that points towards particularly closely fought races throughout a weekend counting exclusively towards the Campeonato de España de Supercars and forming part of the Jarama Classic, one of the largest motorsport festivals on the Iberian Peninsula.

GTX once again proved to be the largest and most competitive division on the grid. Gabriel Caçoilo and Máximo Varela, winners of one of the category’s races in the Algarve season opener, led the session in the Chefo by PetroGold Ligier JS2 R. Second place went to Alba Vázquez and Txus Jaio Arrizabalaga, driving an identical car from the same team, less than two seconds behind the pace-setters. Third place was secured by Ángel Santos and Alejandro Iribas, confirming the dominance of the French-built cars fielded by the Spanish outfit.

Also close to the front were Stephanie Hobeika and Ivo Prada in the TRS McLaren 570S GT4, as well as António Almeida and Aubrey Hall in the Tockwith Motorsport Ginetta G55, reinforcing the impression that the battle for the leading positions remains completely open.

Daniel Teixeira claimed second place overall, further establishing himself as the benchmark in TC+. The Portuguese driver of the JT59 Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR posted a time of 1m41.912s, finishing 1.864 seconds clear of André Ferreira, who enjoyed a very positive debut aboard the revived LOB Motorsport Kia Ceed TCR, setting the seventh-fastest time overall.

Bruno Arruda and Bruno Martins were the quickest competitors in GTX Am with the TRS McLaren 570S GT4. The pair recorded a lap of 1m44.028s and comfortably placed themselves among the top ten overall. Second in class were Nicole Drought and Lucas Fothergill in the Protech Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS.

The Cup division delivered remarkable balance. Ramiro García-Pumarino was the fastest driver in the category at the wheel of the Lan GP Racing Porsche 911, setting a time of 1m44.460s. Second place went to Ángel Lanchares, also driving a Porsche 911 for the Spanish team, 0.764 seconds behind the class leader. The top three was completed by Marcus Fothergill and Dave Benett of Protech Motorsport, who finished just 0.063 seconds behind the second-placed crew. Rui Miritta, representing Monteiros Competições, ended the session close to the front-runners, further highlighting the depth of competition within the category.

The M2 Cup division once again attracted considerable attention at Jarama, now with a larger field of cars on track. Francisca “Kika” Queiroz was the fastest driver in the category aboard the LOB Motorsport BMW M2 Racing, finishing fourteenth overall. Diego Sirgado and Gonçalo Moura placed the FPAK Junior Team BMW, run by BeFast Motorsport, second in class, while Bernardo Passanha and Nathan Corbet secured third place, also as part of the Portuguese federation’s development initiative. The presence of the new BMW M2 Racing cars continues to be one of the major stories of the season.

As can be seen, there are plenty of reasons to follow this weekend’s racing. The GTC and Touring Cars contests will take place at the Circuito de Madrid Jarama-RACE, with Race 1 scheduled for Saturday at 15:15 and Race 2 on Sunday at 14:05. Both races will be broadcast live on DAZN Portugal, DAZN Spain and the Race Ready YouTube channel, with commentary in Spanish and English. Additional international coverage will be provided by Motorsport TV Deutschland in Germany, Parc Fermé in Italy and Braking Zone TV in Brazil. On Saturday, the first qualifying session will take place at 09:00, followed by the second at 11:20.