HOSTILITIES BEGIN IN GT4 AT PORTIMÃO

The opening free practice session for the GT4 category of the inaugural round of the Supercars Endurance championships, held this Friday at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, offered an early indication of what promises to be an extremely competitive season, with very small margins separating the leading contenders across the various divisions.

At the head of the field was the Veloso Motorsport Porsche Cayman CS RS, driven by Philipp Gogollok and Carlos Vieira. The pairing set the fastest lap of the session with a 1m50.878s, immediately confirming the potential of the German car on a grid where the Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 once again proved particularly competitive.

The Veloso Motorsport drivers finished at the top, but by an extremely narrow margin over Francisco Abreu and José Carlos Pires, who were the fastest runners in GT4 Pro-Bronze. The Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal duo placed their Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 just 0.295s off the outright pace. Very close behind were Francisco Mora and Rodrigo Almeida, also in a Supra entered by the official team, completing the top three in the division 0.616s from the outright lead and only 0.321s behind their team-mates.

Also fighting for the leading positions in GT4 Pro were the Speedy Motorsport Toyotas. Luís Tavares and João Aguiar Branco finished the session fourth in class, while Lachlan Evennett and Mees Houben ended up immediately behind them. The pairing of the two young international drivers, who regularly compete in the GT4 European Series, used the Algarve event to gain valuable competitive mileage ahead of their upcoming international commitments.

In GT4 Pro-Bronze, Orlando Batina and Nuno Pires placed the Batina Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 second in class with a lap of 1m51.683s. The duo, entering the new season with clear ambitions, finished 0.284s ahead of the Speedy Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS of Rubén Costa and Raúl Zunzarren, entered in GT4 Pro. Third place in GT4 Pro-Bronze went to reigning Iberian Supercars champions Alexandre Areia and Nuno Afonso, who placed their Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 just 0.284s behind second place in the division.

GT4 Bronze also featured extremely close gaps between the leading runners. Vasco Oliveira and Ivan Velasco took the Racar Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT4 EVO to the top of the category with a time of 1m52.652s, only 0.225s quicker than Paulo Macedo and Luís Calheiros in the Veloso Motorsport Porsche Cayman CS RS. Ricardo Costa and Andrés Prieto completed the top three in class aboard the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4, just 0.192s behind the Porsche from the Póvoa de Lanhoso-based outfit.

In GT4 Am, Jaime Sanchis and Alex Wendt placed the SMC Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 at the top of the division with a lap of 1m55.078s. Smörg and Francisco Javier Macías finished second in the Promotion Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO, ahead of the NGT Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 shared by Fernando Soares and Miguel Ferreira.

The GT4 races will be broadcast live on DAZN Portugal and DAZN Spain, as well as on Race Ready’s official YouTube channel in Spanish, with dedicated international broadcasts also available in English, German and Italian.

The first race, counting towards the Iberian Supercars, Supercars España Championship and Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade, will take place this Saturday at 5:45pm, while the second race is scheduled for Sunday at 2:05pm, both forming part of the Algarve Iberian Racing Weekend at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, in what promises to be one of the most competitive season openers of recent years on the Iberian Peninsula.