January 28, 2025 | GT4 Winter Series
The Elite McLaren Artura GT4 started on pole for the first 30-minute sprint on Saturday, and its driver McKenzy Cresswell maintained the lead off the start. On the first lap, Enrico Förderer of SR Motorsport dropped back from third on the grid, and then made contact with the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin at turn 13, sending Baudouin Detout into a spin.
In the early stages of the race, Cresswell was pursued by W&S Motorsport’s Maximilian Schreyer. However, the W&S Porsche Cayman faded, and looked to be slightly imbalanced. After recovering through the order, SR Motorsport’s Enrico Förderer soon moved into second place, and began closing in on the leader. However, just as the SR Mercedes started to lurk in the mirrors of the Elite McLaren, race control handed down a drive-through penalty for Förderer’s involvement in the collision with Detout.
This allowed McKenzy Cresswell to secure yet another win for Elite Motorsport. On the road, it was a McLaren 1-2. However, the RAFA Racing by Race Lab entry of Callum Davies was dropped down to third owing to track limits penalties. Therefore, the second spot was inherited by Benjamin Sylvestersson in the FK Performance BMW M4 GT4.
BWT Mucke Motorsport’s Axel Bengtsson finished fourth, just ahead of the recovering Enrico Förderer.
RAFA Racing McLaren’s Charlie Hart started on pole for race two, alongside Josh Rattican’s similar Elite entry. As the race began, Hart held the lead early on, while SR Motorsport’s Jay Mo Härtling immediately applied pressure to Rattican.
The top three would soon break away, and Härtling split the McLarens ten minutes into the race with a physical move at turn ten. Once he passed Rattican, the SR Motorsport driver set about pressuring Charlie Hart. Hart tried to defend against Härtling, but compromised his run through the first corner covering the inside line, leaving the door open for the Mercedes through turns two and three.
Rattican found his way by the Rafa Racing McLaren too, but was not able to match the pace of Jay Mo Härtling, who claimed the victory. Rattican was followed across the line by Hart, but much like his teammate Callum Davies, he had accrued track limits penalties. Therefore, third overall went to the PRO-AM class winner Peter Terting.
The 60-minute pitstop race was an immense challenge, as rain began to fall on the pre-grid. Most teams switched to wet tyres before the formation laps, but the drivers would still have to fight the cars on their stiffer dry setups.
Elite’s McKenzy Cresswell and W&S Motorsport’s Maximilian Schreyer started on the front row, and immediately broke away at the front. With nearly 15 minutes elapsed, Schreyer saw an opportunity to make a lunge for the lead at turn five, while Cresswell arced to the inside to try and squeeze the W&S Porsche out. The pair met at the apex, colliding and sending the Elite McLaren into a spin. Schreyer took the lead, while Cresswell fell to third behind the RAFA Racing McLaren of Callum Davies.
Schreyer would soon receive a drive-through penalty for the contact, which was ultimately served by his co-driver Alon Gabbay. Less than three minutes before the pit window opened, Callum Davies moved up to the lead after Schreyer drifted wide at turn 10 and 11. Remarkably, the lead pair were now joined in battle by AM driver Joachim Bölting, who drove magnificently in the damp conditions. During the pit window, Bölting would briefly lead, before rejoining the race in second behind the RAFA Racing McLaren, now driven by Charlie Hart. Josh Rattican found a way past Bölting’s Plusline Porsche Cayman for second. Bölting looked set to hold on to third overall, however, a late error at turn one allowed Alon Gabbay to get past on the final lap.
Charlie Hart and Callum Davies won the race for RAFA Racing, ahead of Josh Rattican and McKenzy Cresswell in the Elite McLaren.
16 JAN – 19 JAN ESTORIL /P
23 JAN – 26 JAN PORTIMAO /P
30 JAN – 02 FEB 6h of PORTIMÃO /P
13 FEB – 16 FEB VALENCIA /E
27 FEB – 2 MAR ARAGÓN /E
6 MAR – 9 MAR BARCELONA /E
13 MAR – 16 MAR 6h of BARCELONA /E
