April 8, 2025 | GT4 Winter Series
The battle for the season would be contested by two front-running teams from the 2024 campaign; Elite, and SR Motorsport. The likes of W&S Motorsport, RAFA Racing by Race Lab and Racing Spirit of Leman also came into the season as part of a hugely-competitive field.
Estoril and Portimão: Flying starts and giant-killing performances
Elite Motorsport started its season on a high, with three race victories at the Circuito Estoril in its McLaren Artura GT4.
McKenzy Cresswell, along with Josh Rattican, swept the weekend in dominant fashion. In the first race, SR Motorsport’s Enrico Förderer was able to keep pace with Rattican. However, the Mercedes-AMG GT4 began slowing down, and lost second position to RAFA Racing’s Charlie Hart. The Mercedes entered a limp-home mode, but still made it to the chequered flag in third.
The second race of the weekend took place in wet conditions, and the RAFA McLaren seemed to struggle with Callum Davies at the wheel. At the front of the field, Cresswell excelled in his first-ever GT4 race, winning by 17 seconds despite the treacherous weather. Peter Terting won the PRO-AM class in second overall for his Plusline Racing Team, while SR Motorsport’s Jay Mo Hartling rounded out the podium.
The third and final race of the weekend saw Elite win by over 25 seconds, ahead of the W&S Motorsport Porsche driven by Alon Gabbay and GT4 debutant Maximilian Schreyer. Hartling and Förderer rounded out the overall podium once again.
Next time out in Portimão, McKenzy Cresswell started off the weekend with yet another victory for Elite Motorsport. In second position, the FK Performance BMW of Benjamin Sylvestersson made an impression in its first appearance of the year. The RAFA McLaren of Callum Davies was second on the road, but was dropped to third for track limits penalties.
BWT Mücke and SR Motorsport’s Mercedes’ finished fourth and fifth. Enrico Förderer had a collision with Baudouin Detout on the first lap, which resulted in a drive-through penalty for Förderer, and a subsequent recovery drive.
Sunday morning’s second race marked the first race victory of the season for SR Motorsport, as Jay Mo Hartling performed a brilliant drive. Hartling moved from third to first at the expense of the two McLarens, with a particularly forceful move against Josh Rattican for second. The final result listed Hartling as the winner, ahead of Rattican and Plusline’s Peter Terting. RAFA Racing’s Charlie Hart was demoted from third to fifth after accruing 15 second of track limit penalties.
The final race of the weekend saw a magnificent outing for the AM class entry of Joachim Bölting, at times outpacing all of the PRO cars and even leading the race. The greasy conditions on-circuit played into Bölting’s hands, but as the weather slowly dried out, the Plusline Porsche driver started to struggle.
He would ultimately finish fourth on the road, but was demoted to seventh after gaining some 35 seconds of penalties for track limits.
RAFA Racing’s Callum Davies and Charlie Hart won the 60-minute endurance race, ahead of Elite Motorsport’s McKenzy Cresswell and Josh Rattican. Alon Gabbay and Maximilian Schreyer of W&S Motorsport finished third, ahead of Bölting.
Valencia and Aragon: SR Motorsport sweeps Valencia, but Elite fires back in Aragon
Coming out of Portimão, Elite’s Cresswell and Rattican held a 54-point lead over RAFA Racing’s Hart and Davies in the championship. However, Rattican would not return for Valencia or the remainder of the season, handing the reins over to GT4 Winter Series returnee Tom Lebbon.
The Valencia weekend marked the finest hour of the 2025 season for Förderer and Hartling. The German duo won all three races, bringing them much closer to the championship lead. The same could not be said for RAFA Racing, whose McLaren was set to start from pole in race one. However, a gear selection on the sighting lap resulted in a non-start for the British team.
While the top step of the podium was reserved for SR Motorsport, Elite still finished on the podium for every race. The gap in the overall championship battle was down to 32 points, now with SR Motorsport established in the second position.
SR Motorsport’s Motorland Aragon weekend started well, with yet another race victory courtesy of Förderer. Elite’s McKenzy Cresswell finished second, while Baudouin Detout scored the first podium of the season for Racing Spirit of Leman after a challenging weekend at Valencia.
Sunday morning’s race two was held in wet conditions, in which W&S Motorsport’s Alon Gabbay excelled. A late safety car was triggered by a spin for his W&S teammate Daniel Blickle, but this did not affect Gabbay, who still won the race ahead of Elite’s Tom Lebbon. Jay Mo Hartling rounded out the podium for SR Motorsport.
Race three was a victory for Elite’s Cresswell and Lebbon. It was another commanding performance from the McLaren pairing, who won the race by 15 seconds. Hartling and Förderer ensured that they still had a shot at winning the title with a strong second place finish, while Callum Davies and Charlie Hart rounded out the podium for RAFA Racing by Race Lab.
Barcelona: Largest-ever entry to conclude the season
Going into the season finale, there were 75 points available to score, and 35 between McKenzy Cresswell and SR Motorsport’s pairing. At the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the largest-ever field in the short history of the GT4 Winter Series was assembled, with 27 cars taking the start. Particularly in the case of SR Motorsport, this meant increased competition to go up against, as they attempted to score the required points to win the title.
Race one of the weekend marked yet another McLaren 1-2. On the road, this was led by the Elite McLaren of Tom Lebbon. However, track limit abuse led to a five-second penalty, and the win was therefore handed to Charlie Hart of RAFA Racing. Lebbon was still classified in second place, just ahead of Enrico Förderer. The points gap had grown to 38, now with only 50 left to score.
Race two marked a victory for Razoon – more than racing, who made their first GT4 appearance of the season. Denny Berndt handled difficult conditions to win the race, ahead of W&S Motorsport’s Alon Gabbay and the RAFA McLaren, now driven by Callum Davies.
Going into the race, SR Motorsport’s Jay Mo Hartling had to outscore the Elite McLaren. With McKenzy Cresswell starting second, and Jay Mo lining-up eighth, this would always be a long shot. Jay Mo was only able to move up a single spot to seventh, and with the black and yellow McLaren crossing the line in fourth, this confirmed that the 2025 titles would head to Elite and Cresswell.
The final race of the season offered one last drama, as RAFA Racing by Race Lab were stripped of victory courtesy of leaving the pitlane with a red light on, shortly after the Safety Car came out.
This allowed Cresswell and Tom Lebbon to inherit the victory, and end the season on a high. Hartling and Förderer came home in second position, ahead of the FK Performance BMW of Joseph Ellerine and Benjamin Sylvestersson.
While the second half of the season proved that the difference between SR Motorsport and Elite was minimal, the early-stage dominance of the McLaren team proved too great to overcome.
In their second season in the GT4 Winter Series, Elite Motorsport are now champions. The 2025 grid offered spectacular racing and a compelling line-up of entrants, and this will continue to be the case in 2026. The new season of the GT4 Winter Series will begin in January.
