PTWS: Danny Soufi makes a successful start to his title defence at Estoril

The 2025 Prototype Winter Series fired into life with a pair of 50-minute +1 lap races at the Circuito Estoril. Reigning champion Danny Soufi started his title defence with a sweep of the opening weekend, winning races held in vastly different weather.

Saturday:

Konrad Motorsport’s Soufi started the Ligier JSP320 from pole position in Saturday’s opener, which was held in pristine conditions. His pole time – a 1:32.813 – was over two seconds quicker than the second place starter, High Class Racing’s Philip Lindberg.

Every team with two drivers began the race with their Bronze-rated competitor at the wheel, which allowed Soufi and Lindberg – both Silver-rated drivers – to streak away at the front of the pack. Lindberg was not able to match the pace of his American rival; as the mandatory pitstop window opened, Soufi held an advantage in excess of 16 seconds.

In the Prototype Winter Series, longer mandatory pitstop times are required for line-ups exclusively featuring Silver and Gold drivers, in order to balance the field. This meant that – upon pitting – Lindberg lost second place to Laurents Hörr, who had taken over the DKR Engineering Duqueine from Jon Brownson. Soon, the Dane also came under pressure from David Droux, who ultimately passed the High Class Ligier to secure third place for CLX Motorsport.

Pierre Kaffer, running a lap down in the M Racing Ligier he took over from Michael Doppelmayr, found himself on the back of race leader Danny Soufi. After biding his time, he unlapped himself with an overtake at the first corner, only to spin just two turns later. Kaffer quickly recovered.

Soufi ultimately won the race by ten seconds over Hörr. Soufi was acting as his own data engineer at Estoril, and had made adjustments to the car prior to qualifying on Saturday Morning. It was clear that these efforts had paid off.

Sunday:

Sunday was a stark contrast to the previous afternoon in the skies, as heavy rain had replaced a gentle January warmth.

Soufi – who had a major collision in wet conditions while aquaplaning at Estoril in 2024 – started from pole position once again.

This time, he and Laurents Hörr broke away from the rest of the pack. Hörr kept Soufi within his eyeline throughout the first 20 minutes of the race, before losing control of the car at the high-speed turn 8 kink. The DKR Engineering Duqueine was beached in the gravel, and a brief Safety Car period was deployed to allow recovery of the #3 car.

This Safety Car slightly delayed the pit window, and brought the field closer together just prior to the stops. As a result of this bunching effect, along with the pitstop handicaps, Soufi rejoined the race in third place.

Racing Experience’s Wolfgang Payr had received the #12 Duqueine from 18-year old Mathias Bjerre Jakobsen, who fought admirably with M Racing’s Pierre Kaffer during the first stint. Payr seemed acutely aware that his fight was not with Konrad Motorsport’s Soufi, and the American driver moved into second with great ease. Shortly thereafter, CLX Motorsport’s Quentin Joseph came into view in the Ligier he had taken over from David Droux. In the treacherous conditions, Soufi again had the confidence to quickly dispatch the Belgian.

With less than five minutes to go, Michael Doppelmayr spun at the penultimate corner, and came to rest with his rear-axle firmly planted in the gravel. This necessitated a Full Course Yellow, which would remain in place until the end of the race.

Soufi crossed the line at an idle to win his second race of the weekend, ahead of Quentin Joseph, who may have fallen to third without the FCY intervention. Philip Lindberg had been on the charge for High Class Racing, and was mere car lengths away from second place as the race was neutralised.

Payr ultimately finished fourth, ahead of Jon Brownson and Laurents Hörr’s DKR Duqueine, which finished two laps down after its gravel excursion.

Soufi’s clean sweep leaves him on 50 points in the championship, 17 clear of second-placed Quentin Joseph and David Droux.

Portimao: Intrigue expected as PTWS makes its second Portuguese stop

The Autodromo Internacional do Algarve is the next stop for the Prototype Winter Series, and it is anticipated that Soufi will face a challenge.

Drivers such as Philip Lindberg and Mathias Bjerre Jakobsen, who are taking their first steps in LMP3, will continually improve as the season goes on. Meanwhile, the established pairing of Laurents Hörr and Jon Brownson will be keen to secure their first victory since joining the series in 2024.

New competition will also be present, including Racing Spirit of Leman’s Christian and Vincent Gisy. All of the action from Portimão will be streamed live on the GEDLICH Winter Series YouTube channel, On January 25-26.