MORA AND ALMEIDA LEAD GT4 FREE PRACTICE AT JARAMA

Under the intense heat that traditionally accompanies the Supercars Endurance visit to Madrid, Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal emerged at the forefront of the GT4 free practice sessions held this Friday at the Circuito de Madrid Jarama-RACE. Francisco Mora and Rodrigo Almeida set the fastest lap of the session aboard their Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 in a day marked by remarkable competitiveness, with nine cars covered by less than one second, further raising expectations for another thrilling weekend as part of the Jarama Classic.

The high temperatures, a hallmark of the championship's visits to Jarama, once again posed an additional challenge for drivers and teams. Even so, the field displayed extraordinary parity, with nine cars finishing within one second of the benchmark established by the Portuguese-Mozambican pairing.

GT4 Pro once again brought together the leading protagonists of the season. Francisco Mora and Rodrigo Almeida topped both the category and the overall classification, confirming their excellent form following victory in the opening race of the Algarve season opener. Just 0.325 seconds behind were Rafael Rajani and Luís Aguiar, who placed the SMC Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 second in class.

Third place went to Hendrik Still and Carlos Vieira in the Veloso Motorsport Porsche Cayman RS CS GT4, just eleven thousandths of a second behind the McLaren. Close behind came César Machado and Tomás Teixeira, winners of the second GT4 Pro race in Portimão, underlining that several contenders could be involved in the fight for top honours. Eric Gené and Jan Durán, in the BMW España Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO, as well as the NM Racing Team pairing of Filip Vava and Tomás Granzella in a Mercedes-AMG GT4, also remained firmly in contention near the front.

GT4 Pro-Bronze was led by Nuno Pires and Orlando Batina. The Batina Racing duo placed their Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 fifth overall and at the head of the category with a lap time of 1m37.813s.

Second in class were Gianfranco Motorsport's Nuno Afonso and Alexandre Areia, overall winners of the second Algarve race, who finished just 0.632 seconds adrift of the category leaders. The top three was completed by Guillermo Aso and Mario Pinazo of NM Racing Team in a Mercedes-AMG GT4.

Also finishing close behind were Francisco Abreu and José Carlos Pires of Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal, together with Himar Acosta and Kyam Potez of CV Performance x JP Motorsport, confirming one of the most closely contested divisions on the grid.

GT4 Bronze was headed by Ricardo Costa and Andrés Prieto in the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4. The Colombian-Portuguese pairing set the benchmark in class with a lap of 1m38.392s.

Home favourites Borja Hormigos and Héctor Hernández placed the Autoworks Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 second in the category, while Luís Calheiros and Paulo Macedo guided the Veloso Motorsport Porsche Cayman RS CS GT4 to third place, separated by just eight thousandths of a second. Vasco Oliveira and Ivan Velasco, in the Racar Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO, also remained firmly in the battle for the leading positions.

In GT4 Am, Jaime Sanchis and Alex Wendt were the quickest competitors of the session in the SMC Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4, setting a best time of 1m40.449s.

The Spanish pairing finished only 0.248 seconds ahead of Smörg and Javier Macías of Promotion Motorsport, driving a BMW M4 GT4 EVO.

The competitiveness on display was evident throughout the session, with all the ingredients in place for another spectacular weekend at the Jarama Classic. The Supercars Endurance GT4 races will take place at the Circuito de Madrid Jarama-RACE on Saturday at 15:25 and Sunday at 14:15, with live coverage available on DAZN Portugal and DAZN Spain. International coverage will also be provided by Motorsport TV Deutschland for German audiences, Parc Fermé in Italy and Braking Zone TV, bringing the championship's action to Brazilian fans. Tomorrow morning, the first qualifying session will take place at 10:40, followed by the second at 11:00.