After enjoying a great karting career, talented Swedish driver Emil Skärås is now making a name for himself in the GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club. This season he is sharing a Toyota Gazoo Racing Sweden GR Supra GT4 Evo with Hans Holmlund in the Pro-Am class.
Emil, welcome to the GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club, and your first full season this year?
“Yes, this is my first time doing all of the rounds, but we have been around the championship in past years with GT4 Scandinavia, doing just one round [Spa] in 2022, and then two [Circuit Paul Ricard and Spa] last season, building towards this first full year.”
Before entering GT racing, you were a champion in karting?
“I started out in karting when I was eight years old, and then was doing national championships in Sweden when I was 12. I did that for a couple of years and then went into international championships in KZ2 and won the European Championship in 2019, and also finished third in the CIK-FIA World Cup.”
So why did you choose GT racing?
“I did do one race in a single-seater, but my first full car racing season was the Porsche Carrera Cup in Italy in 2020. For me, it’s always been about GT cars. When I won the European KZ2 title in 2019 I was already 21-22 years old, and so I was already a bit too old for formula racing. The Carrera Cup and GT gave me more opportunities and opened more doors. I only did one year of the Carrera Cup. It was great to race in and I learned a lot. I was second in the Rookie standings, and toward the end of the season I was quite often in the top five overall, fighting for the main podium spaces. It was a great first season for learning.”
How did you get into GT4?
“After my year in Carrera Cup, I didn’t have the budget for a second season, but during the first year I had some contact with Hans [Holmlund, team-mate], who had already ordered a Supra GT4 and was looking for a co-driver and somebody to do some coaching. The car wasn’t delivered until the end of 2020, so the timing worked out perfectly. Hans was very eager to get started, and asked me to race with him in GT4 Scandinavia and we haven’t looked back since.”
What’s it like joining the full GT4 European Series field?
“GT4 Scandinavia was a great championship, very competitive, even though we had a small grid. But when we joined the GT4 European Series for Spa the first year in 2022, it was like a new world. So many cars, and so difficult. We did not have any testing before that event, so we struggled first year. But last year we did Circuit Paul Ricard and Spa as guest entries, and that really helped us warm up for the challenge. I love being in a grid this big, with so many very talented and fast drivers around us. Here we can really show what we can do.”
What are your aims for this season?
“The goal this year is to win Pro-Am. No holding back. Hans and I have a great relationship and work very well together, plus we are improving on pace all of the time. I also work across the whole Toyota Gazoo Racing Sweden team, helping to coach Mikael and Christoffer [Brunnhagen, father and son] in the second car, help with data and video… it’s all about helping the team move forward as one. The guys in the other car aren’t as experienced as they only started racing last year, but they’re doing really well and showing big improvement. I have worked with Hans now for three years, and we are showing some really good pace in testing and the races. This championship is the best place to learn GT4 racing. The fight at the front is so hard it forces you to learn fast, on amazing circuits and against very good drivers and teams. It’s the best place for us, for sure.”