Two thirds of the 2023 season have been wrapped up before the summer interval, with two races held at each event at Monza, Circuit Paul Ricard, Spa-Francorchamps and Misano. It has been a hugely entertaining year so far.
Six out of eight races ran in dry conditions. The hottest two no doubt being Race 7 and Race 8 at Misano, with track temperatures during the latter exceeding 50°C!
Two races saw the drivers facing rain. Rather unsurprisingly, one of those was Race 6 at Spa-Francorchamps. The other wet race was caused by a sudden summer downpour which set up a simply incredible finale in Race 4 at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Silver Cup: Multi-brand close racing and multiple winners
In all eight races so far, Silver Cup entries have managed to take the overall wins and even all overall podium places.
Silver drivers may dominate the overall results then, but within the category it has been a different story.
Only two Silver crews were able to book more than one victory so far. Gabriele Piana and Michael Schrey scored an Italian double with wins at Monza and Misano in the #2 Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport BMW M4 GT4. The other double crown could be renamed the rain trophy, as it goes to Antoine Potty and Etienne Cheli in the #8 Xwift Racing Events Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO. They finished P1 In both wet races at Circuit Paul Ricard and Spa-Francorchamps, after impressive drives in difficult conditions.
The four remaining trophies were divided between four different teams:
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Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche in the #3 Team Speedcar Audi R8 LMS GT4 (Monza)
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Victor Weyrich and Konstantin Lachenauer in the #74 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (Circuit Paul Ricard)
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Benjamin Lessennes and Ricardo van der Ende in the #117 L'Espace Bienvenue BMW M4 GT4 (Spa-Francorchamps)
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and Tom Edgar and Berkay Besler who took the maiden win for the #12 Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport team with their BMW M4 GT4 in the last race at Misano
That list makes for six different race winners in cars from four different brands. In total, seven out of the nine represented brands in the GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club have allowed two happy drivers to climb the podium this season.
Best qualifiers in Silver Cup so far have been Consani/Lariche in the #3 Team Speedcar Audi with three Pole Positions: the opening one in Monza and both poles in Misano.
Pro-Am Cup: Three crews with three different brands share the victories
Saintéloc Junior Team started this 2023 season with high ambitions for their #42 Audi R8 LMS GT4 shared by Grégory Guilvert and Christophe Hamon. The all-french crew has certainly delivered over the four events, winning the first race at each venue and the double-header at Misano to make it five overall.
That left only three occasions for other teams to come out on top in Pro-Am. Those were taken by Antoine Leclerc and Loïc Villiger in the #36 Code Racing Development Alpine A110 GT4 EVO with two victories (Monza and Circuit Paul Ricard) and Markus Lungstrass and Lorenz Stegmann in the #18 TSR Team Spirit Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 with a single one at Spa-Francorchamps.
Am Cup: Dominant championship leader followed by fierce podium battle
Am Cup is where the GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club has seen the strongest dominance by one single car this season.
The summer interval will be quite a relaxing one for Alban Varutti and Julien Piguet after driving their #10 AVR-Avvatar Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS to no less than six out of eight Am Cup wins. Only in the second races at Spa-Francorchamps (Leutwiler/Jacoma in the #75 Centri Porsche Ticino Cayman) and Misano (Tresoldi/Meloni in the #53 W&D Racing Team BMW M4 GT4), other crews were able to keep the AVR-Avvatar crew from the highest step on the podium.
Those podium places have been fiercely fought over by the remaining Am entries. Alain Ferté and Laurent Hurgon, in the #55 Autosport GP LS Group Performance Alpine A110 GT4 EVO, have opened champagne bottles as much as six times already so far (four P2's and two P3's). And Kévin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud have celebrated five times already after podium finishes in their #72 GPA Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. A very close battle between very different brands again, leaving it all to play for in the two remaining events of the season.
Those final events with four more races will be held in Hockenheim and Barcelona later this year. Hockenheim restarts the season after the summer interval on September 2nd.
Both qualifying and races will be streamed live in English, French and German via the GT4 European Series website and the GTWorld YouTube channel. On that same channel, all previous races remain available for online viewing.
Enjoy your summer!
