Time flies and some more months have passed since the last GT Winter Series race – the final 60-minute endurance race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on March 10th – took place. As much as we love to look back on the amazing winter season of 2024, we took a step in the other direction and took a quick look at what and how our GT Winter Series competitors are doing during the summer season.

In the ever-popular Cup 2 class of the GT Winter Series, drivers in Porsche 992 Cup machinery go head-to-head. During the 2024 season, Racar Motorsport’s Leandro Martins and PTT Racing’s Hubert Darmetko proved to be two of the strongest forces in the class. Perhaps unsurprisingly, their race-winning form has continued into the summer.

Leandro Martins is racing domestically in the Campeonato De Espana De GT, and internationally in the GT Cup Open Europe, alongside co-driver Dieter Svepes. The Austrian-Brazilian line-up secured GT Winter Series vice-champion status in our 2024 season.
Both of their summer campaigns began in Portimao, and in the European series, Martins and Svepes won the opening race of the season overall. Further success came at Hockenheim, as the pair secured two victories within the AM class. Round three at Spa was not as fruitful, however, the Racar Motorsport duo still lead the AM championship heading into Paul Ricard.

Meanwhile, in the Spanish championship, Martins and Svepes performed a clean sweep of the season opening weekend, winning both races. This secured a strong early championship lead, which only grew at the second round in Navarra. Two second place finishes in the north of Spain means a 28-point advantage early in the season!

Hubert Darmetko, who made his first-ever racing appearances in GT Winter Series this year, is having a similarly impressive run in the ESET GT Series.
On the season-opening weekend at the newly-built Balaton Park, Darmetko took the GTC1 class honours in both sprint races as well as the endurance. It was a great weekend for Darmetko and the PTT Racing team, who also secured two victories with Martin Kaczmarski and the Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo that is a familiar sight to the GTWS paddock.

Darmetko followed up with two GTC1 class wins at the Red Bull Ring. The endurance race on the same weekend saw Darmetko share his Porsche 992 with Mateusz Lisowski, and the pair finished second in class. The Polish racer’s strong form continued into the third round, held at the Slovakia Ring on June 8-9. The two sprint races presented the Polish racer with yet another victory in race one, and a runners-up finish in race two.

Darmetko rounded out the weekend in winning form during the endurance race alongside Lisowski, taking GTC1 honours by over 30 seconds.
Points are scored separately for the endurance races and the sprints in ESET GT; Darmetko is currently second in both points tables.
Congratulations to our Cup 2 stalwarts of the 2024 GT Winter Series, on a successful summer so far!

More than two months have passed since the last GT Winter Series race – the final 60-minute endurance race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on March 10th took place. As much as we love to look back on the amazing winter season of 2024, we took a step in the other direction and took a quick look at what and how our GT Winter Series competitors are doing during the summer season.

The Haupt Racing Team left Motorsport Arena Oschersleben leading both the DTM and ADAC GT Masters team championships, successfully continuing a 2024 campaign that began in the GT Winter Series.

In the DTM, Luca Stolz and Arjun Maini both had strong starts to the season, with Stolz sitting third, just a point behind championship leader Luca Engstler. Thanks to the pair’s efforts, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT lead the teams’ championship by seven points over 2022/2023 GT Winter Series frontrunners Schubert Motorsport.

Meanwhile, both Finn Wiebelhaus and Kwanda Mokoena had great starts to the GT Masters season after having great outings in GT Winter Series. Wiebelhaus, who took a total of seven victories during GEDLICH’s Iberian season, left Oschersleben third in the points along with co-driver Jannes Fittje. South African racer Kwanda Mokoena is behind, fifth in the standings alongside his teammate Max Reis.

Between them, in fourth, is Team Joos Sportwagentechnik’s pairing of Michael and Johannes Kapfinger. The GT Winter Series regulars had a strong start to the German competition, and will be looking to front yet another title bid for Michael Joos’ team.

As an organisation founded by and for passionate racers, GEDLICH Racing always works to ensure that the Winter Series calendar offers the very best circuits available. And, while the track itself is always the first consideration, the GEDLICH approach goes much further.

Our calendar of globally renowned facilities is chosen based not just on engagement for those behind the wheel, but also on important matters such as paddock space, modern garages and great circuit staff.

The calendar is constructed to optimise team travel plans, starting in southern Portugal, heading east into Spain, and then travelling north for our final two events. This allows teams based in northern Europe to create a logical journey plan through the Winter Series season.

Whether you’re starting off your 2025 in the Winter Series ahead of a summer programme, or focusing your year’s racing efforts on our events, the selection of circuits in our compact schedule will suit your needs.

Rossocorsa Racing will celebrate its season debut at the season finale of the GT Winter Series in Barcelona. The Italian team will field a Ferrari 296 GT3. The team is based in Milan and has enjoyed great success in the Ferrari Challenge to date. 15 drivers’ titles, twelve team titles and six world championships speak an impressive language.

The two Italians Stefano Marazzi and Samuele Butarelli will drive the Ferrari 296 GT3 on the world-famous Formula 1 circuit. Marazzi has so far mainly competed for the team in the Ferrari Challenge. Butarelli will act as his driver coach; in 2022, he won a title in the GTCUP Am class in the Endurance classification of the Italian GT Championship.

A total of eleven GT3 cars will therefore be competing in the GT Winter Series at the gates of the Spanish metropolis! Fans can therefore look forward to spectacular races and battles for victory! Rossocorsa Racing will be up against well-known GT teams such as Haupt Racing Team, Proton Huber Competition, Schnitzelalm Racing and Joos Sportwagentechnik.

The second event of the GT Winter Series will take place in Estoril, which promises a lot of excitement with a terrific starting field.

Already 2 ½ weeks before the race weekend at the westernmost circuit on the European mainland in Estoril, the GT Winter Series with its spectacular grid is causing anticipation. No less than 38 GT cars and sports cars are named for the second race event of the 2022/2023 season.

GT3 vs. LMP3 – who will take the overall victory?

While at the season opener in Portimao the GT3 grid was reduced to two cars for the race rounds due to technical and health reasons, seven cars have been named so far for the event at the gates of Lisbon. The Joos Sportwagentechnik Porsche of Michael Joos and Klaus Horn, which won both sprint races at the start of the season, will be on the grid again. The Good Speed Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, which won the one-hour Endurance race, will also start on the traditional circuit. In addition, the Phoenix Racing Audi and the two Olimp Racing cars, which retired during the event at the season opener, will return. In addition, the GT3 field will be bolstered by the Die Biermacher Racing Ferrari of Uwe Lauer and the Spanish E2P Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Pablo Burguera and Javier Morcillo.

The BE Motorsports Ligier JSP3 of Javier Ibran Pardo and Mathijs Bakker also wants to join the fight for overall victory. The arrow-quick LMP3 prototype was slowed down by the changeable weather conditions in the first race event and was therefore unable to show its usual performance.

GT4 – who beats the CV Performance Group?

In Portimao, the CV Performance Group dominated the action in the production-based GT category. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Simon Connor Primm and Luci Trefz won all three rounds on the Algarve coast, making the two drivers the championship leaders in the GT Winter Series after the first event. In Estoril, Christian Voß’s team will again be competing with two AMGs. With a total of eight cars, the GT4 category will also grow for the second race weekend. As at the season opener in mid-December, Overdrive Racing from Bulgaria will field a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport driven by Mikhail Mihaylov. East Racing from Sachsenring is also flying the Porsche flag. Thomas Röpke and Pedro Salvador will pilot the two older Caymans. The event in Estoril will be a special race weekend for Pierre Lemmerz, who will be supported by Daniel Schwerfeld. Lemmerz will contest his first car race with his Audi R8 LMS GT4! Also much anticipated is the debut of reigning champion team Schnitzelalm Racing in the 2022/2023 GT Winter Series season. Thomas Angerer’s racing team will take part in the race weekend in Estoril with two GT4 cars from AMG and will have exciting young drivers in the field.

Five Ferrari in Cup 1 class

While only Mertens Motorsport competed in the Cup 1 class in Portimao, five Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars will be on the grid at the second event. The successful British team FF Corse will field two of the Challenge cars. In addition, the racing team of former DTM star Jörg van Ommen will bring three cars to Estoril. For Van Ommen Racing, Dominik Schwager and Gabriela Jilkova, the overall champion of the 2020/2021 GT Winter Series season, will also be on the grid, two well-known GT drivers who will be on hand to offer advice and support to the team’s customers.

Porsche Cup classes will also thrill in Estoril

The Cup 2 class impressed in Portimao. With ten vehicles, the class for the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup was the best-staffed category on the grid. Two handfuls of one-make cup cars have also been entered for the second event so far. At the season opener, Dustin Blattner won both sprint races in the PRE car fielded by Manthey Racing – Igor Klaja and Polish racing pro Mateusz Lisowski won the Endurance race in the PTT Racing car. Huber Racing driver Johannes Kapfinger was also in excellent form, attracting attention with spectacular duels and thrilling the race series attendants.

Under these conditions, the Cup 2 class promises to be a blast again in Estoril! Bluemle Motorsport and Kurt Ecke Motorsport will be making their season debuts in the process.

The Cup 3 class also promises excitement after the wins in Portimao went to Andreas Greilung and Jens Richter in the MS Racing car and Mark Speakerwas in the Cayman of KKrämer Racing. A total of four cars will be competing in the Cayman Cup class in Estoril. The Swedish WILECO team will compete in the category for the first time this season with Ronnie Gustafsson and Thomas Tedenström.

Exoticism in Cup X

Things will get exotic in the Cup X class, which will consist of three cars in Estoril. ANS Motorsport will be making its debut in the GT Winter Series with a Nova NP02 driven by Jonathan Brossard. The French team will also field a Ligier JS2R for Julien Lemoine. Araújo Competição completes the class with a McLaren 570S Cup for local hero Alvaro Ramos.

After the season opener, CV Performance Group drivers Luci Trefz and Simon Connor Primm lead the overall standings with 27.51 points. On their heels is Dustin Blattner with 26.44 points. KTM rider Robert Schiftner is third with 22.25 points, but his Razoon team will not be able to compete in Estoril due to a scheduling conflict.

The event on the 4.360 kilometre circuit will take place on 14 and 15 January. While the first day will be used for practice, things will get serious on Sunday, 15 January. After a two-part qualifying session, the two sprint races will take place during the day before the one-hour Endurance race is held in the late afternoon.

British team FF Corse is adding to the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo line-up in the GT Winter Series.

The second race weekend of the GT Winter Series at Estoril will see the Cup 1 class, which is for Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars, grow. FF Corse will field two of the Italian one-make cup cars at the event.

The British team, which is accustomed to success, has scored over 250 race wins in 14 years. In the coming year, FF Corse plans to compete in a wide range of Ferrari Challenge series. In addition, a start in the British GT or the British GT Cup is an option. But the team will also regularly compete in the GT Winter Series from the second race weekend onwards.

Experienced drivers

Experienced drivers will take their place at the wheel of the two 488 Challenge Evo Ferraris. James Owen will drive the Ferrari with the starting number #10. Thomas Fleming will start in the second Cavallino rampante on the former Formula 1 circuit.

“We are delighted that the Cup 1 class will grow for the second race weekend in Estoril. As things stand, five Ferraris will start there. I am sure that the Ferraris will also show us such exciting motorsport as we know from the Porsche Cup classes,” says GTWS project manager Robin Selbach.

Season premiere in the GT Winter Series! At this year’s season finale at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a KTM X-BOW GT2 will be competing in the GEDLICH Racing series for the first time this year. The spectacular GT car will compete in Class X.

The car will be entered by Razoon – more than racing. Dominik Olbert’s team has been a permanent fixture in the Winter Series racing series for many years and has focussed on the GT4 Winter Series so far this year, where the racing team is competing successfully.

The car is driven by the two Danes Thomas Andersen and the talented young driver Simon Birch. Andersen contested two race weekends with the GT2 KTM last year and celebrated two podium finishes in Navarra.

The experienced Porsche racing team Kurt Ecke Motorsport will contest the GT Winter Series in Estoril with two Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars.

Kurt Ecke Motorsport from Rot am See has become an integral part of the Porsche motorsport scene. It is impossible to imagine racing series in historic sport, popular sport or the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland without the team.

In Estoril, the team joins the GT Winter Series and will start with two cars in the Cup 2 class. Already at the season opener in Portimao, the class shone with the largest starting field and exciting racing. This will also be the case at the second event in Estoril. As things stand, ten cars have been entered for the event on the traditional circuit just outside Lisbon.

One 992 GT3 Cup, one 991.2 GT3 Cup

The racing team will compete in the popular class with two Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The team will field one 992 and one 991.2 generation car each. The latter car will be driven by the pseudonymous driver “Felix”. The current Cup car is driven by former Porsche Carrera Cup driver Sebastian Glaser.

The experienced team is planning further starts at the following events of the race series organised by GEDLICH RACING.

Mertel Motorsport from Nuremberg will contest the GT Winter Series for the first time in 2024 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after the team competed in the series last year. For the Bavarian team, it is the start of the season after a successful previous year with the title win in the GT Cup Open and the world championship title in the Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondali.

The team will field two Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars in Barcelona. Arturo Melgar and Tommaso Lovati as well as Mark Speakerwas and Maurizio Ceresoli will drive the two cars of the Franconian racing team.

The two driver duos will face strong competition in Barcelona! No fewer than eight Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars have been entered for the season finale of the GT Winter Series and will show exciting one-make cup action in the Cup 1 class!