March 4, 2025 | GT Winter Series
For the first race of the weekend, SR Motorsport’s Moritz Wiskirchen led the race in the early stages, from pole position. Further back, Konrad Motorsport’s Carrie Schreiner and Juta Racing’s Eimantas Navikauskas collided, damaging the right-rear of Navikauskas’ Audi. Moments later, at turn 10, the Lithuanian racer spun on his own, seemingly because of damage including bodywork rubbing on the tyre.
At the front of the field, Moritz Wiskirchen led the way for SR Motorsport, while Jonas Karklys followed in second position for Liqui Moly Team Engstler. Charles Dawson was running in third for AKM Motorsport, making his GT3 debut in the team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Behind them, a fabulous battle for fourth took place between two GT3 cars – Thomas Andersen’s Razoon Porsche and Simon Orange’s JMH McLaren – and a pair of Cup 4 Lamborghinis. After plenty of dicing in the early stages, the Super Trofeo-spec Lamborghinis of Shota Abkhazava and Jerzy Spinkiewicz broke away from the GT3 cars, having a great tit-for-tat scrap for the class lead.
Eventually Spinkiewicz found his way past, and a couple of laps later, a late-braking Andersen collided with Abkhazava. The ART-Line driver would continue, but the chance to mount a further challenge to Spinkiewicz had passed. Andersen had to retired the 992 GT3 R due to suspension damage.
Charles Dawson challenged for second place towards the end of the race, however, an error at turn one on the final lap released Karklys from his clutches.
Wiskirchen crossed the line to win by nine seconds, scoring a maximum score of 20 points as the team looked to salvage its overall title defence. Karklys finished second ahead of Dawson, with Spinkiewicz finishing fourth and first within Cup 4 for UNIQ Racing. The Cup 1-winning Ferrari of Cristiano Maciel finished fifth overall, while Calle Bergman won the Cup 2 class for Porsche Cup machinery.
Race 2:
The second race of the weekend was held in the early afternoon of Sunday, and unfortunately, one car would not make it to the pre-grid. An issue with the right-front brake left Luca Engstler stranded on the sighting lap, and the Engstler Motorsport Lamborghini would have to wait until the pitstop race for more action.
This left the stage open for pole-sitter Simon Birch, who dominated proceedings from lights-to-flag. He eventually won the race by 22 seconds over Juta Racing’s Jonas Gelzinis, who celebrated his birthday with a visit to the overall podium. Cup 4’s victor Jerzy Spinkiewicz finished third overall.
The circuit was slippery after overnight rain, and while the top three had clean races, the same couldn’t be said for others. Ryan James had a moment under braking for turn 16, spinning and collecting Przemyslaw Bienkowski’s PTT Racing’s Porsche 992 GT3 Cup. Both cars suffered major damage, but the drivers walked away.
Cristiano Maciel won the Cup 1 class once more, while A-Workx Motorsport’s Ahmed Arif Alkhoori won the Cup 2 class. The Emirati driver was in the midst of his inaugural weekend in racing, meaning he had taken class honours in his second-ever motor race.
Race 3:
The 55-minute pitstop race was shortened to 50 minutes owing to timetable constraints, and Razoon – More than racing’s Thomas Andersen lined-up on pole position. The GT3 Pro class Engstler Lamborghini of Jonas Karklys lined-up second, and was this time able to take the start.
As the field ran towards the first corner on the opening lap, Cristiano Maciel mis-judged his braking. The Ferrari 296 Challenge made contact with Charles Dawson’s AKM Mercedes, damaging both cars and ending the race for both parties. The safety car was deployed to retrieve the Maciel Ferrari.
After the race restart, Karklys took the lead, and set about building a gap at the front.
As the race neared half-distance, it began to drizzle around the circuit. As tyre changes can’t be made during the mandatory stop, and a tyre swap must be part of a two-minute visit to the pits, it was not a straightforward decision to move to wets. Many of the cars on slicks struggled, barring Marcus Clutton, who took over the Orange by JMH McLaren and began lapping quicker than anyone else on the dry weather rubber. Soon, Clutton led the race.
Many, including the Engstler Motorsport team, elected to pit for wets. However, as the race entered its final minutes, the rain had stopped, and the slicks had once again become the tyre of choice. Clutton’s dominant drive allowed he and Simon Orange to secure the victory overall, ahead of Cup 1 winners Andreas Sorsensen and Mikkel Mac. Alessio Ruffini and Milos Pavlovic finished third overall and took the Cup 4 win, after an impressive final stint from Pavlovic.
Barcelona: Title to be decided as a deluxe field takes the start
At the finale, four teams from four classes enter the weekend with a significant opportunity to fight for the title. On 158 points, AF Corse’s Cristiano Maciel and Rui Aguas lead the overall standings from the Cup 1 class. With three Cup 4 podium finishes at Motorland, Auto Sport Racing’s Alessio Ruffini and Milos Pavlovic are in a strong second overall in the points on 150.
Defending champions SR Motorsport sit third overall on 144 points, and will hope for strong GT3 class results for Moritz Wiskirchen and Kenneth Heyer at Barcelona. Wileco Motorsport’s Calle Bergman and Manz Thalin, the Cup 2 leaders, are just two points adrift in fourth.
The likes of Schubert Motorsport, PROsport Racing and NM Racing Team join the grid, BDR Grupoprom and Araujo Competiciao will return, and the AF Corse ranks will once again expand in the Cup 1 and Cup 5 classes. Barcelona will – as always – be an unmissable weekend of GT Winter Series action on 8-9 March.
