TEAM SPEEDCAR AND W&S MOTORSPORT TRIUMPH IN TWO STUNNING FINISHES AT CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD
Lariche and Consani claim fifth win in six races after photo finish
Still and Bölting snatch Pro-Am victory by even smaller margin
Leandri and De Barn double up in Am
The final GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club contest of the weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard produced two of the closest finishes in series history, with both Team Speedcar and W&S Motorsport securing wins by tiny margins.
Benjamin Lariche and Robert Consani claimed their first Silver win of the year after Lariche held off Hadrien David’s Matmut Évolution Toyota by just 0.076s in a drag race to the line. Hendrik Still and Joachim Bölting then went even closer, winning Pro-Am by just 0.002s against the Schubert Motorsport BMW at the flag.
The Am class result was never in doubt, with Jean-Mathieu Leandri and Antoni De Barn completing a perfect weekend with a second win.
SILVER: 0.076s SETS THE TONE
Consani and Lariche made it five wins from the last six GT4 Europe races, but only just. Having won the last four rounds of 2024, the #3 Team Speedcar Audi was a strong bet for another starting from second. Consani survived some early chaos as cars tip-toed on slick tyres on a damp track, but then emerged out front before handing to Lariche with a 3.5sec lead.
Lariche rejoined ahead by the same margin, but his lead was gradually cut by the charging #87 Toyota. Jan Duran had kept the car in the top four before handing to David, who cut through the pack to chase the Audi in the closing laps. David got alongside in the final sector and he and Lariche went door-to-door over the closing corners, with Lariche just holding off the attack on the run to the line.
The twin Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMWs took third and fourth, with Yagiz Gedik and Pedro Ebrahim leading Gabriele Piana and Berkay Besler. Lluc Ibañez and Alex Papadopulos completed the top five in their NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG.
PRO-AM: 0.002s RAMS IT HOME
Pro-Am was even more tense, with the W&S Porsche and Schubert BMW playing out a photo finish at the line.
Such a result looked unlikely when Bölting was delayed by a hit and slipped out of the top five before the pit window, but the race turned once Still got into the car. He rejoined behind a four-car fight for the class victory and gradually picked his way through to lead entering the closing minutes. The top two were bunched when Still had to avoid a sliding car in the final turn, giving Victor Bouveng a run onto the pit straight. Bouveng edged ahead at first, but the traction of the Porsche put Still ahead by 0.002s at the line.
Gabriela Jilkova and Cindy Gudet took third for Matmut Évolution, mirroring their best result at the same track last season.
AM: CHAZEL DOES THE DOUBLE
After their race one win, few would bet against Leandri and De Barn making it two in the Am class when starting from pole, and the pair duly delivered to cap a dream weekend.
Leandri ran clear of his rivals in the first stint, with De Barn finishing over 30 seconds ahead of the chasing NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG shared by Keith Gatehouse and Igor Sorokin. Schubert Motorsport celebrated a second podium thanks to Mats Olsson and Stefan Nilsson fighting to third in its #97 BMW.
The GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club next moves on to Zandvoort in the Netherlands across the weekend of May 16-18.
