The GT Winter Series starts the new racing season with a spectacular grid.

The GT Winter Series starts its fourth racing season in Portimão. Six stops await the racing teams, with the season highlight in March at the Formula 1 circuit in Barcelona. The kick-off on the Algarve coast will see 37 cars on the grid. Other events during the season are now approaching 40 cars and are therefore likely to be reported as sold out soon.

Four car brands in GT3 class

In the GT3 class, fans can look forward to cars from Audi, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. Established teams from Germany like Phoenix Racing and Team Joos Sportwagentechnik will meet European teams like Olimp Racing, among others.
While Phoenix Racing driver Florian Blatter will celebrate his racing debut, Michael Joos has already achieved good results in the ADAC GT Masters and in important endurance races. The two Olimp Racing drivers Marcin Jedlinski and Karol Basz will travel to Portimão as reigning champions in the ProAM class of the International GT Open. Special attention should also be paid to Benji Hethrington, the Briton will be making his debut in the GT3 class with his Valluga Racing team, having last competed in British GT with a GT4.
As the season progresses, cars from Aston Martin and BMW can still be expected in the GT3 class, so GT Winter Series activity will continue to increase.

LMP3 drivers fight for overall victory

The two LMP3 Ligiers will battle it out with the GT3 cars for overall victory at the races in Portugal. GT Winter Series perennial contender Javier Ibran Pardo will start for BE Motorsport. In addition, Easy Formula will field a car for Gilles and Christopher Brenier.

KTM, Ligier, Lamborghini and Porsche in Cup X

A colourful mix of cars also awaits in the Cup X class. At the start of the season, cars from KTM, Ligier, Lamborghini and Porsche will compete in the Cup X class. GT3 Poland will start with a Lamborghini Hurácan Super Trofeo EVO driven by Gregorz Moczulski and Andrej Lewandowski.
A total of six KTMs will compete in the class. The Motorsport Zentrum Ried will be bringing two arrow-quick KTM X-BOW GTXs to the start. Razoon – more than racing will also enter one of the GTX KTMs. Dominik Olbert’s Austrian team will also field two X-BOW R and one X-BOW GT4.
Rounding out the class will be a Ligier JS2R from ANS Motorsport and a Porsche Cayman S from Sorg Rennsport driven by Christian Leukers.

World premiere in Portimao

There will be a world premiere in Portimão, the first time the new BMW M4 GT4 will start in a race in customer hands. Richard Gonda and Robert Šenkýř are the drivers of the Šenkýř Motorsport M4 GT4. The two drivers will be competing against rivals from Audi and Mercedes, even though the car will have to start in the Cup X class, as the car has not yet been approved and homologated by SRO for the start in the GT4 class and will only start in the GT4 class from the second event in January. Auto Lounge Racing will field two Audi R8 LMS GT4 cars on the circuit, which is well known from Formula 1 and MotoGP. In addition, CV Performance Group and the British Motus One Racing team each entered two Mercedes-AMG GT4s. This means that the brand new M4 GT4 will be able to compete directly with its German rivals at the GT Winter Series opener.

Large Porsche Cup starting fields

With ten vehicles, the Cup 2 class for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars has the largest starting field. Renowned teams such as Black Falcon or the Porsche Carrera Cup champion team Huber Racing compete here in the GT Winter Series. KKrämer Racing, Laptime Performance, LMR Racar Motorsport, MS Racing, Lionspeed GP, PRE operated by Manthey Racing and PTT Racing will also be competing in the class. The grid already promises exciting one-make cup action before the two days of the event. PRE operated by Manthey Racing is the Porsche customer programme “Porsche Racing Experience”, which uses the GT Winter Series and the Endless Summer trackdays to train its customers.
The Cup 3 class, in which Porsche Cayman GT4 models compete, is no less action-packed. KKrämer Racing, MS Racing and Overdrive Racing from Bulgaria have entered a total of four cars.
In the Cup 1 class, MERTEL Motorsport will bring a Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo to the start, driven by Matthias Tomann and Francesco Lopez.

Three races per event

The GT Winter Series completes three races per event. Two sprint races last 25 minutes each, and the drivers also have to complete a one-hour race. The two sprint races will take place at the season opener on Tuesday, 13 December at 10:45 and 13:55. The one-hour race, which can be contested by one or two drivers, will conclude the event at 15:50. The race day will also be heralded by a double qualifying session at 9 am. On Monday, 12 December, five test sessions await the drivers and teams.

Schnitzelalm Racing is stepping up for the GT Winter Series race weekend at Motorland Aragon. The team led by Thomas Angerer will field a second Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the north-east of Spain. Kenneth Heyer and Jay Mo Härtling in the other Schnitzelalm Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 lead the overall GT Winter Series standings after two-thirds of the season.

The team’s second Mercedes-AMG will be driven by American David Thilenius. Over the past two years, Thilenius has made occasional starts with the team led by Thomas Angerer and GT3 programme manager Günter Aberer on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.

The second driver at the wheel of the car from the Schnitzelalm team is youngster Moritz Wiskirchen, who was runner-up in the GTC Race last year. He also competed in the ADAC GT Masters with the Mercedes team.

Prominent newcomer for the GT Winter Series in Valencia: Nicki Thiim will compete in the fourth race weekend. The two-time champion in the GTE Pro class of the FIA WEC, 2013 champion in the Porsche Supercup and 2014 winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTE Am class will be competing in a Lamborghini Hurácan GT3 EVO2 from SSR Performance.

This is not only Thiim’s debut in the GT Winter Series, but also the first time the current Hurácan GT3 EVO2 will be on the grid in GEDLICH Racing’s racing series. SSR Performance from Munich already took part in Portimao with a Porsche 911 GT3 R of the 991.2 generation.

Nicki Thiim will use the race weekend at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo to prepare for the upcoming season in the DTM under race conditions, where he will also drive a Lamborghini for the SSR team. He is not the only driver preparing in Valencia for the summer programmes in the well-known German racing series. Michael Kapfinger in the Joos by Twin Busch Porsche team and the two Haupt Racing Team drivers Finn Wiebelhaus and Kwanda Mokoena are also using the race weekend to prepare for the ADAC GT Masters.

Team Joos Sportwagentechnik will compete in the GT Winter Series opener in Portimao with a Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The GT Winter Series in Portimao will see another prominent GT3 team on the grid. Team Joos Sportwagentechnik will start with a Porsche 911 GT3 R. Michael Joos will act as both driver and team boss.

For the team, the start in Portugal will be the conclusion of a successful year 2022. The racing team finished the ADAC GT Masters season with Christian Engelhart and Ayhancan Güven as runners-up. In addition, the team also successfully competed in the Porsche Sports Cup Germany.

Winning driver in GT Winter Series

Michael Joos has already triumphed in the GT Winter Series. With the Porsche 911 GT3 R, which was still wearing its manga design at the time, Joos won both sprint races in Jerez in the 2021/2022 season. “I’m giving everything to repeat the victories, but I also know that it will be difficult against the strong GT3 competition and the LMP3 cars,” says Joos before the start in Portugal. But Joos also showed strong performances in the cockpit of GT3 cars in guest starts in the ADAC GT Masters as well as at the 24h Dubai and the 24h Spa.

Schedule:

12.12. – 13.12.2022 – Portimão (PRT)
14.01. – 15.01.2023 – Estoril (PRT)
11.02. – 12-02.2023 – Jerez (ESP)
18.02. – 19.02.2023 – Valencia (ESP)
04.03. – 05.03.2023 – Navarra (ESP)
11.03. – 12.03.2023 – Barcelona (ESP)

Kkrämer Racing will participate in the GT Winter Series with no less than three Porsche cars.

Kkrämer Racing from Bergisch Gladbach will participate in the GT Winter Series with a large contingent. Karsten Krämer’s team, which is known from the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie but has also participated in the GT Winter Series before, will start with three Porsche cars. It is currently planned to start on the first three race weekends.

The team will field a 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Team boss Karsten Krämer will drive the car at the first three events and will be supported by Marco Speakerwas at the season opener in Portimão. With the car, the racing team was also able to take a class victory in the 24h race at the Nürburgring this year and also celebrate further class victories in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie.

Two GT4 Porsches

In addition, the team from Bergisch Gladbach will field one Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport each of the 981 and 982 generations. Guido Toenessen will drive the older of the two Caymans, while Jose Garcia will pilot the 982-generation vehicle. Both Caymans will start in the Cup 3 class.

Schedule:

SR Motorsport had a happy outing in Andalucia as its Mercedes AMG GT3 claimed the Sunday enduro and one of the two sprint races at Jerez.

While Jay Mo Hartling and Kenneth Heyer had plenty to celebrate, the biggest smile belonged to another Mercedes driver, Martin Kaczmarski. That was after the Pole took the biggest win of his car racing career in the Sunday morning sprint.

Race 1
With Hartling having taken pole by an enormous margin of over three seconds, it was no surprise to see him streak to victory in the Saturday sprint.
But despite being pulverised by the SR Motorsport Mercedes, most of the opposition were happy at the end of the race. Second-placed Kaczmarski was thrilled with his first taste of GT3 machinery, while Ibrahim Badawi had reason to celebrate after pulling off a terrific display of defensive driving to keep the similar Cup Lamborghini of Adrian Lewandowski at bay.
Kaczmarski, whose background includes a Dakar Rally, rallycross and low-level Porsche racing, briefly grabbed the lead at the start. Hartling had no time to attack him before the safety car signs started flashing, thanks to Alfredo Hernandez going off at Turn 2.
Hartling wasted no time at the restart, however, sweeping past his fellow AMG GT3 into Turn 1. He then started touring around 2.5s per lap quicker than Kaczmarski, who had a lonely but enjoyable race from there.
“Every season I seem to do something new,” said Kaczmarski. “This is my first race with the Mercedes and I love this car. But the guy in front of me showed me how to use the car. So I need to work a lot. I can’t expect a better result when it’s the first time in my life I’m driving this car…but, you know, I’m ambitious!”
The battle for third place was the highlight of this race. Lewandowski was briefly ahead after the restart, but gave the spot back with an error later in the lap. And try though it might, the GT3 Poland Lambo never could get in front of the DL Racing example again.
Much of this triumph in the Cup Lamborghini class was down to some canny tactics from the clearly slower Badawi, who avoided mistakes, made his car wide and picked some smart moments to wrong-foot his chaser.
“From the middle of the race onwards, I could feel the tyre was degrading,” reported the Egyptian. “The car was snapping a lot in the middle of the corners and the exits. I focused on playing defensive, because I wasn’t going to build a gap.”
Badawi conceded that not every slow moment in the middle of the corners was down to his handling troubles.
“I have to admit I did that on purpose sometimes – in Turn 5, the last corner and also Turn 2. Because I knew he was going to have a very good exit [otherwise]!”
It worked exceedingly well, with Lewandowski only managing to get alongside once, only to outbrake himself.
Hubert Darmetko (PTT Racing) showed how to pull off a late move when he overhauled Leandro Martins (Racar Motorsport) to win the battle for both fifth place and Cup Porsche honours. Best in the Cup Ferrari class was John Dhillon (AF Corse).

Handy links:

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Race 2
The ambitious Kaczmarski did not have long to wait before beating that SR Motorsport Mercedes. With Hartling stepping out of the rival machine for Sunday’s wet race, this was the Pole’s chance and he grabbed it.
Andrzej Lewandowski could certainly have challenged him. The two cars ran together from the start of this fully wet race and appeared to have similar speed. But in what is becoming something of a habit where the GT3 Poland entry is concerned, the Lewandowski car found a way to ruin its own chances.
On this occasion, it was Lewandowski Senior’s transgression at the start that spoiled things. He was blatantly out of formation at the green flag, and inevitably had to serve a drive-through penalty for it. That meant Kaczmarski only had to keep his car pointing the right way to take the biggest win of his car racing career – and he made no mistake on that front.
Lewandowski still came home a comfortable second, such was the pace advantage of the first two finishers. But Darmetko nonetheless produced an impressive drive to complete the overall podium, working hard to find a way past first Martins and then Kenneth Heyer, the man now at the wheel of Saturday’s winning car.
Martins eventually followed Darmetko through to secure fourth, with Heyer fifth. Badawi struggled in comparison to the dry first race, and could only manage ninth.
Class winners were Andrzej Lewandowski, Darmetko and Dhillon.

Race 3
The enduro went ahead in similar conditions to the morning sprint, but shared cockpits always make for a change of dynamic. Mateusz Lisowski, who always sits out the sprint races, would also add another dimension with his Cup Porsche.
The PTT Racing Pole went from row two to the lead by Turn 3, while front-row men Heyer and Kaczmarski slotted in behind him.
The safety car then made an early appearance as the Dhillon Ferrari broke down amid plenty of smoke.
Racing resumed on lap six, with Kaczmarski passing fellow solo driver Lisowski a lap later. Heyer then followed him through on lap nine. That’s how it stayed until the pits opened, with Adrian Lewandowski some way back in fourth.
After the leaders had completed their stops, Kaczmarski had his nemesis Hartling to deal with once again. Though the Pole had improved in terms of lap time deficit to the German, it wasn’t enough to stop Hartling breezing past within a couple of laps.
Kaczmarski then settled into a respectable second place, finishing within five seconds of Hartling.
Lisowski was hit with a drive-through for registering too short a pitstop, but had enough of an advantage to stay ahead of Andrzej Lewandowski.
Lewandowski then spun off anyway, leading to a second safety car just before the finish. With the top three already set up in an order corresponding to their speed, it was an uneventful restart and run to the flag as far as the leaders were concerned.
Lisowski took the Cup Porsche class ahead of the car shared by Martins and Dieter Svepes.
Hernandez (BDR Competition) finished best of the Lambos, while the Kessel Racing duo of Petros Makris and Marco Bonanomi scored the win among the Cup Ferraris.
Badawi was never in contention in this race after starting from the pits and then being issued a penalty for a pitstop infringement.

Finn Wiebelhaus completed what he described as his “best weekend” by storming to dominant victories in both sprint races and the endurance round in the GT Winter Series in Valencia. Another great event with over 10.000 spectators visiting the permanent circuit in Cheste.

The clean sweep was supported by strong performance by South African team-mate Kwanda Mokoena on his debut weekend for the German Haupt Racing Team and its Mercedes AMG GT3 cars.

Race 1
As the sun began to set on a warm Spanish Saturday afternoon, Wiebelhaus put in a serene performance to score a third victory from four races in the GTWS. His Haupt Mercedes made a perfect getaway from pole position and quickly built a gap to a guesting Nicki Thiim in SSR Performance’s Lamborghini Huracan. By the end of the 30-minute sprint, Wiebelhaus was 4.116s to the good.

“It was a nice race, quite fun,” said the winner. “I love the track and the car which was perfectly set up, so it was a real pleasure. It was the plan to build a gap and be in front of the Lamborghini before we started lapping cars. Nicki is a good reference, a really experienced and fast guy, so it was a pleasure to race against him.”

Thiim was impressed, the experienced Dane making a one-off GTWS appearance in preparation for his forthcoming season racing the Lamborghini in the DTM. “Good credit to the winner,” he said. “A fast kid you’ve got there, so I hope he has a good future. It was good preparation, I learnt a lot about the car. Thank you for having us, really good preparation for our season.”

But the battle for the final podium spot was far less straightforward. Mokoena in the second Haupt Mercedes faced a race-long threat from Team Joos by Twin Busch Porsche driver Michael Kapfinger, the green and blue 992 GT3 R pressing throughout the race to find a way past. But the white Mercedes was not to be denied, as Mokoena capped an impressive debut. “A bit of a tricky race,” he said. “I felt like we had the pace, we just have a little fine tuning to do with the car. But overall I have to be super-happy. A podium in our first race, I couldn’t ask for more.”

Hubert Darmetko claimed Porsche Cup honours for PTT Racing in ninth overall, with Petros Makris the best of the two Ferrari Challenge entries.

Handy links:

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» Re-Live Saturday

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Race 2
Wiebelhaus completed the sprint race double on Sunday with a straightforward victory from pole position without breaking a sweat in front of a big Valencia crowd. “It was a really nice race, I could settle the pace, the car was brilliant – I could push, push, push – and it was a lot of fun,” he said. “The atmosphere was brilliant.”

But there was heartbreak for Mokoena, who started on the front row and ran second throughout despite pressure from the charging Porsche of Kapfinger. Then on the last lap, Mokoena lost his Mercedes at Turn 4 and spun into the tyre wall. Haupt quickly ruled out driver error. “It was going perfectly, we managed to get the one-two off the line and hold P2 until the last lap,” he said. “Unfortunately we had a failure on a brake caliper. As soon as I went into the corner I only had rear brakes and it locked the rear.”

That should have left Kapfinger to inherit second place. But two penalties for track limit violations amounting to 10 seconds dropped him to third and elevated Thiim to another second-place finish – when fourth had looked like his best hope in this race.

Jonas Karklys in his Juta Racing Audi held off the Mercedes of Martin Kaczmarski for fourth, with Kenneth Heyer completing the top six for SR Motorsport.

Race 3
All that was left for Wiebelhaus was to repeat his form in the 55-minute endurance race – and that’s what he did, driving solo to complete his perfect weekend. The 17-year-old belied his age with a mature drive, making a clean start, completing his stop without a drama and leading team-mate Mokoena at the chequered flag by an impressive 23.984s. No wonder his mentor, two-time Le Mans winner Manuel Reuter, was smiling.

“My best weekend so far in the GT3 class,” said a satisfied Wiebelhaus. “The car was amazing, I could push every lap, on the limit. A nice car makes it really fun to drive.”

Mokoena’s runner-up finish made up for his Race 2 disappointment, but he had to work hard for it in the early stages. Kapfinger was pushing to pass in the Joos Porsche, until a mistake on lap 13 dropped him back. “I tried to overtake the Mercedes and just drive to my pace,” he said. “It was really difficult with cold tyres at the start, but I tried my best and with the dirty air of the Mercedes it was not possible. I had a close call in Turn 7, he braked really early and I thought ‘oh, what the hell is going on?’ Then I moved to the right, there was the pick-up and dirt on the outside of the corner, the car was understeering and I had a little trip through the gravel bed.”

Kapfinger did well to recover, then handed the car over to Michael Joos for the second stint and the pair completed the podium.

SR Motorsport’s Mo Hartling and Heyer finished fourth in their Mercedes, with the two Juta Racing Audis in fifth and sixth. PTT Racing’s Mateusz Lisowski claimed the Porsche Cup class in ninth overall, while Frank Kewitz and Kevin Mirocha took Ferrari Challenge honours for JVO Racing.

Good Speed Racing will compete in the GT Winter Series with a Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Good Speed Racing will also be represented in the GT Winter Series in the 2022/2023 season. The Polish team will field a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the racing series, which is organised by Gedlich Racing. Piotr Wira from Poland will drive the GT3 car.

In the 2021/2022 season, Wira finished the championship in 16th place. The Pole did not take part in the season finale in Barcelona, but was able to record some strong results at the other three race weekends.

Full season

For the 2022/2023 campaign, the team, which is also strongly represented in Eastern European motorsport, plans to participate in all six race weekends. Thus, the Polish team will strengthen a strong GT3 grid.

Schedule:

At the fourth round of the season in Valencia, the GT Winter Series will see a new addition from Lithuania. Juta Racing will enter two Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II at the world-famous Circuit Ricardo Tormo, where the MotoGP season finale is held every year.

The racing team, which is managed by Jonas Gelžinis, is best known to GT fans for last year’s programme of up to two Audi cars in the ADAC GT Masters, but the team has also been represented in the 24H Series for many years. The team was founded back in 1988 and has not only focussed on circuit racing. The team from Kaunas has also been represented in karting, the World Rally Championship and the European Rally Championship.

At the GT Winter Series in Valencia, last year’s ADAC GT Masters driver Jonas Karklys, who was previously also active in the ADAC TCR Germany and the Renault Clio Cup Central Europe in Germany, will compete in the popular racing series organised by GEDLICH Racing. He will share the car with his compatriot Arūnas Gečiauskas, who has gained a lot of experience in TCR racing.

The second car will be driven by Ukrainian Yevgen Sokolovskiy, who has gained experience in recent years in GT4 cars, in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and also in the Juta Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II in endurance races. He will share the car with the Swede Lukas Sundahl, who has been competing in the Scandinavian Porsche Carrera Cup since 2016 and will now make his GT3 debut.

The new BMW M4 GT4 makes its debut in customer racing at the GT Winter Series season opener.

The Czech team Šenkýř Motorsport provides a world premiere. At the GT Winter Series opener in Portimão, Portugal, the team is fielding the new BMW M4 GT4 for the first time. For the new customer racing car from Munich, this will be the first race in customer racing; up to now, the GT4 car has only completed test races in factory use.

“It is a great honour for us that Šenkýř Motorsport will complete the first customer entry of the new BMW M4 GT4 in the GT Winter Series,” says GTWS project manager Robin Selbach. The former ADAC GT Masters team has been a loyal supporter of Gedlich Racing’s platform for quite some time.

Experienced driver

At the first race in Portugal, an experienced driver duo will pilot the new car. Richard Gonda from Slovakia and team owner Robert Šenkýř will take turns at the wheel. On the mountain and valley track on the Algarve coast, it’s all about testing the car as best as possible under racing conditions for the two drivers. It is currently unclear who will drive the car from the second round of the season. The team also completed a final rollout on the traditional Czech circuit in Brno before heading to Portugal for the season opener.

Schedule:

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