Andrius Zeimatis and Alejandro Geppert in the McLaren 570S GT4 were the quickest in the GT field, while Daniel Teixeira in the Cupra TCR was the fastest Touring Car during Friday's free practice at Circuito de Jerez.
The cars have taken to the track at Circuito de Jerez for the restart of the 2023 season, and the teams and drivers have begun to prepare for qualifying sessions and the races in the third round of the Iberian Supercars Endurance.
The weekend's free practice session got underway on a sunny day, with the exuberant GT cars and the efficient Turismo machines revving their engines, kicking off the second half of the Iberian season.
At the end of the single Free Practice session, the fastest GT4 Pro was the SMC Motorsport -run McLaren 570S GT4 shared by Andrius Zeimatis and Alejandro Geppert, with a lap time of 1'52.515. They left the Speedy Motorsport BMW M4 GT4, in the hands of race favourites José Carlos Pires and Francisco Abreu, just 0.076s behind.
Competitiveness was clearly evident in the balance of the different teams, but one of the standout performances was from Spanish pair Alberto de Martín and Nil Montserrat, who, at the controls of the NM Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT4, were just 0.164s off the McLaren, positioning themselves as the quickest among the GT4 Bronze field.
Their main rivals, the Portuguese duo Jorge Rodrigues and Patrick Cunha, who share the Veloso Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4, were second in the GT4 Bronze ranks, albeit by a significant margin. However, the choice of tires used by each team significantly influenced today's performance, and as a result, today's times may not entirely reflect the balance of power on the grid.
Daniel Teixeira continued to lead among the Turismo and TCR competitors, showing his determination to have a perfect weekend in Jerez at the controls of the JT59 Racing Team Cupra TCR, a goal that has eluded him since the start of the season.
Borja Hormigos and Héctor Hernández asserted themselves among the TC division field. The Autoworks Motorsport duo was quicker than the event's novelties— the PRM Racing Mini Coopers, one driven by Alejandro Barambio and Antonio Albacete, and the other by Javier Serrano and Cesar Moreno—along with the Ginetta G40 of Miguel Romero and Manuel Almeida, who positioned themselves between the two distinctive Mini cars, with Barambio and Albacete prevailing in this three-way battle.
Álvaro Ramos and Fernando Soares were the strongest in GTX. The Araújo Motorsport's Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 outperformed André Nabais and Miguel Nabais, who are driving a McLaren 570S GT4 for the first time this season. Even if the Ginetta G50 of Tomás Pinto Abreu and Simon Moore did not complete the session, the Tockwith Motorsport duo posted the third fastest time in the GTX division.
Qualifying sessions will take place tomorrow, with the first session at 12:55 pm and the second at 1:15 pm. The two 45-minute races will be held on Sunday and can be watched live on the Iberian Supercars Endurance social media channels.
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