THOUSANDTHS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE IN THRILLING VILA REAL QUALIFYING

Qualifying sessions for the Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade in the 54th Edition of the Circuito Internacional de Vila Real round of the  proved to be fiercely contested, with pole positions decided by the narrowest of margins.

Q1: César Machado Claims Pole by 0.001s

As anticipated, the battle for pole was intense, with César Machado of Speedy Motorsport and Francisco Mora of Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal - both at the wheel of Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 cars - emerging as the key contenders.

In a thrilling duel, the reigning Portuguese GT Champion edged out his rival by the slimmest of margins - just one thousandth of a second.

Roberto Faria, in the Racar Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, was a close observer of the battle up front, ultimately securing third place ahead of José Carlos Pires (Speedy Motorsport, Toyota), who impressed with a solid debut at Vila Real.

Vasco Oliveira, also in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO prepared by Racar Motorsport, put in an excellent performance to go fifth fastest overall and take top honours in GT4 Bronze.

Bruno Pires, making his debut this weekend aboard the Veloso Motorsport Porsche Cayman CS RS, did well considering his limited familiarity with the German made machine, setting the fastest time among GT4 Pro-Bronze drivers.

Meanwhile, Pedro Bastos Rezende retained the upper hand in GT4 Am, piloting the Gianfranco Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 to the top time in class.

Rui Miritta remained unfazed, once again asserting his dominance in the Cup division, putting the Monteiros Competições Porsche 911 Cup ahead of the field and continuing his winning momentum in Vila Real.

After showing strong pace in free practice, Pompeu Simões topped the timesheets in GTX, steering the Speedy Motorsport-prepared Porsche Cayman CS to pole ahead of Luca Staccini in the Tockwith Motorsport Ginetta G55.

Q2: The Master and the Apprentice

The second qualifying session was just as fiercely contested, this time showcasing two Speedy Motorsport drivers with deep roots in Vila Real - Pedro Salvador and Rafael Lobato.

In the end, it was the ‘master’ Salvador who came out on top, narrowly beating his protégé by just 0.068s, taking pole on his one-off return to competition.

Once again, a Racar Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 was close behind, with Mathieu Martins securing third place, six tenths off the pole time.

Madeira native Francisco Abreu couldn’t quite extract the full potential from his Toyota, finishing fourth for Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal.

Orlando Batina impressed by taking his Batina Racing Toyota to fifth overall and setting the fastest time among the GT4 Pro-Bronze runners. The driver from Aveiro clocked his best lap on his final attempt, narrowly edging out the surprise series returnee Nuno Teixeira, who put the NM Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT4 at the top of the GT4 Bronze class.

Ruben Vaquinhas backed up his team-mate’s performance by going quickest in GT4 Am, while Rui Miritta remained untouchable in the Cup division, again topping the times.

Thomas Roche caused a stir by claiming the fastest time in GTC on his debut at the demanding Vila Real street circuit.

As usual, the races will be broadcast live on DAZN Portugal and streamed on Race Ready’s YouTube channel. Race 1 takes place today at 18:10 (local time, GMT+1), with Race 2 set for Sunday at 15:30.