February 5, 2025 | News
The first-ever six-hour race organised by GEDLICH featured a 35-minute minimum combined pitstop time in the first five hours and 30 minutes, across at least five pitstops. Teams took unique approaches to serving the minimum time, and the race proved to be strategically compelling throughout.
As the race began at 11:30am local time, the pole-sitting Razoon Porsche held the early lead with Thomas Andersen at the wheel. However, just minutes into the race, Greystone GT’s Oliver Webb arrived in the Porsche’s wing mirrors, and quickly found a way by. Webb proceeded to fortify an early lead in the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. Meanwhile, Andersen was being hounded by the Landgraf Mercedes of Jörg Viebahn, the similar car driven by AKM Motorsport’s Marco Antonelli, and the Cup 2-leading A-Workx Porsche 992 GT3 Cup driven by Nico Menzel.
As the race approached the conclusion of the first half-hour, Antonelli started to move forward rapidly. The AKM team boss dispatched both Viebahn and Andersen, only to pit two laps later. The Mercedes idled past its garage and into the refuelling area at the end of the pits, marking the first of what would prove to be several shorter, more frequent pitstops.
For the first two hours, AKM’s Mercedes would pit approximately every 30 minutes, while most other teams would pit closer to the end of the hour. Oliver Webb was one of the last to make his first pitstop, handing over to Andrey Borodin with just over an hour and ten minutes in the books.
With Borodin at the wheel, the Greystone GT team’s lead was quickly eroded and nullified by Simon Birch, who had taken over the Razoon Porsche. Soon, the McLaren would be demoted to third, after a spin for Borodin. Tom Kalendar had taken over the Landgraf Mercedes, and charged by Borodin shortly after recovering from the moment.
With that, the story of the race lead was established. Over the next several hours, Landgraf’s pairing would match Birch and Andersen, but the gap remained at roughly a minute throughout the race. This distance was established in the second hour, after Viebahn remained in the car for longer than Andersen, and Birch took full advantage in the Razoon Porsche.
Andersen and Birch would ultimately win by one minute and 23 seconds, after the Landgraf Mercedes received 20 seconds worth of track limits penalties. Viebahn and Kalendar finished second, while the AKM Motorsport entry rounded out the overall podium. Antonelli, along with Raffaele Giammaria and Aaron Farhadi, drove a trouble-free race, and were able to beat the Greystone GT McLaren to the podium thanks to greater consistency.
In the Cup 2 class for Porsche 992 Cup cars, the A-Workx team controlled much of the race, courtesy of particularly rapid stints from Nico Menzel, and faultless running from Rodriguez Menzl. The Mtech Competition team from Sweden put in a good effort, with particular heroics from Gustav Soderberg Krogh during his stints.
A-Workx ultimately won the class, taking fifth overall and finishing a lap clear of the Mtech car. Steiner Racing rounded out the Cup 2 podium.
Lionspeed GP were victorious in the GT4 category, despite a race that started with a brief visit to the pits. The line-up of Damian Freda, Steven Berndtson and Patrick Kolb were only 35 seconds clear of the NM Racing Team Mercedes at the end of the race, but this was extended by 20 seconds after late track limits penalties accrued by NM’s Ian loggie. The Spanish team had the strongest pace in the GT4 class, but a slew of bad luck befell the AMG GT4. This included a shock absorber failure in the first hour and a puncture in hour four.
Monteiros Competições finished tenth overall, and won the TCX class. Henrique Oliveira started the F82-spec BMW M4 GT4, and led all of the newer GT4 machines in the overall standings during the first hour.
The Team MJC Bentley failed to finish, after a late driveshaft failure put paid to Matthew Graham and Witt Gamski’s progress in the final hour. The East Racing Motorsport Porsche Cayman GT4 RS CS also fell by the wayside late in the race, due to a toe-link failure. The car had been crabbing for several hours, after contact with the Lionspeed Porsche, and sadly the team’s effort to persevere did not allow them to reach the flag.
14-16 March: The 6H Barcelona will conclude the GEDLICH Racing Winter Series
The first-ever GEDLICH Racing Portimão 6H was well-received by its competitors, with many expected to return for the 6H Barcelona at the famed Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
From the 14-16 March, endurance racing teams from across Europe will look to become the first to etch their names into the 6H Barcelona record books, and greater competition is expected across the classes.
As with the 6H Portimão, GT2, GT3 and GT4 cars are eligible, alongside single-make machines from Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren in the Cup classes. The Cup X and TCX classes will be deployed for cars that do not fit within the boundaries of those categories, but match the performance window of the event.
The 6H Barcelona will be streamed live on the Winter Series YouTube channel, and act as a fitting conclusion to GEDLICH Racing’s biggest ever winter racing calendar.
30 JAN – 02 FEB 6h of PORTIMÃO /P
13 MAR – 16 MAR 6h of BARCELONA /E
