January 23, 2025 | GT Winter Series
Saturday:
The first GT Winter Series race of 2025 was held in near-perfect conditions. A multi-class fight at the front of the order enthralled observers trackside on Saturday evening.
Uniq Racing’s Jerzy Spinkiewicz started the race from pole position in his Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo II, alongside the CBRX by SPS Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Dexter Muller.
However, as the 30-minute race began, the #76 AF Corse Ferrari 296 Challenge car of Andreas Bogh Sorsensen surged up the field from the third row of the grid. The Dane found himself in the race lead by the first corner. He would hold this position for two laps, before Spinkiewicz capitalised on an opportunity to lunge for the lead at turn one.
Spinkiewicz proceeded to build a gap at the front, however, an electrical issue would strike the Lamborghini two laps later.
Sorsensen inherited the lead once more, and was immediately under scrutiny from GT3 Poland’s Seweryn Mazur in a Super Trofeo-spec Lamborghini. In a near-replica of Spinkiewicz’s earlier move, Mazur braved a dive to the inside at the first corner, and emerged as the leader. Sorensen was demoted to second, and in the clutches of two GT3 Mercedes; Muller and Kenenth Heyer (SR Motorsport).
Muller found his way by and proceeded to build a gap. However, Heyer struggled to pass Sorensen’s Cup 1-entered Ferrari, which had a noticeable edge on the main straight. After over ten minutes where Heyer – the reigning GT Winter Series champion – had to exercise patience, opportunity finally beckoned as the pair swapped positions over half a lap. The decisive move came at turn three, seemingly dropping Sorensen out of the overall podium places.
However, it was not to be for the #1 SR Motorsport Mercedes, which limped into the pits with a technical glitch. Sorensen, after a race of hard battling, claimed third overall and the Cup 1 win, behind GT3 class winner Dexter Muller in second.
Seweryn Mazur, in his Cup 4 Lamborghini, held firm at the front to take victory for his GT3 Poland team. For the second year in a row, the Polish outfit claimed the first overall win of the GT Winter Series season.
Sunday:
Sunday morning announced itself with sheets of rain at Estoril, which would persist for much of the day.
A home nation hero emerged in Sunday’s 30-minute sprint, as Portugal’s Cristiano Maciel moved through the order in his Ferrari 296 Challenge. The AF Corse driver took Cup 1 honours and overall victory from seventh on the grid, a stunning achievement in his second ever motor race.
The wet conditions appeared to suit the Cup 1 Ferrari Challenge cars, as second overall fell to Goncalo Araujo in his 296. Cup 4 racer Jerzy Spinkiewicz took third overall in his Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo, while Andreas Bogh Sorensen took fourth overall. Moritz Wiskirchen in the #1 SR Mercedes finished fifth and won the GT3 class.
The 55-minute pitstop race took place in the toughest conditions of the day. The safety car was deployed twice to recover stranded cars, and ultimately, a red flag would signal an early conclusion. After battling at the front throughout the weekend, Andreas Bogh Sorensen finally took an overall race victory for AF Corse, as well as the Cup 1 honours. However, Sorensen was one of several drivers to lose control in increasingly wet conditions. He found the barriers after aquaplaning at turn five, and as several others also suffered incidents on the same lap, the race was red-flagged with just under ten minutes remaining.
Sorensen was awarded the victory on count-back. Cristiano Maciel and Rui Aguas finished second overall, followed by GT3 class winners Kenneth Heyer and Moritz Wiskirchen.
Round two: Bigger grids and excitement expected at one of the world’s most exciting tracks
As the GT Winter Series gets ready for its second round at Portimao, many eyes will be focused on young talent Keanu Al Azhari. The 17-year-old Emirati was a winner in last year’s Formula Winter Series, and will make his GT3 racing debut with SSR Performance this coming weekend in a Porsche 992 GT3 R.
Thomas Andersen and Simon Birch join the field, in their first race outing with the Razoon Porsche they are set to race in ADAC GT Masters. Konrad Motorsport, Pellin Racing and Attempto Racing are also set to join the grid.
The Cup classes will benefit from additional Ferrari 296 Challenge entries from AF Corse, a pair of KTM X-Bow GT2s from MZR, and the first appearance of Greystone GT on the GT Winter Series grid, with Oliver Webb and Ryan James in a McLaren Artura Trophy.
All of the action will be streamed live on the Gedlich Racing Winter Series YouTube channel, on January 25-26.
