A fantastic first stage of the weekend at the Slovakiaring saw the GTC Endurance Challenge drivers fight until the very last lap, after 55 minutes of exciting battles and daring strategies. The championship promoted by Riza International, who is sharing the track with TCR European Endurance, has upheld its already high standards from the opening race of the season, providing great on-track action throughout Stage-1.
The fight for the Pro-Am class lead was exciting from the get go. Pole sitter Adriano Visodmini (Porsche Cayman 718 GT4) held the lead from championship leader Davide Nardilli (BMW M4 GT4 Evo) at the start; the two then showed fantastic race pace, getting to the pit stop window separated by less than a second. Casals Motorsport ultimately emerged in front after the pit stop, as Sebastian Gavazza took over from Nardilli and rejoined in front of Koray Kamiloglu, who dropped to second. The leaders were then hit with a 0.540s time penalty for a shorter pit stop, though that didn’t change the final stage results. Nardilli/Gavazza (BMW M4 GT4 Evo) were therefore able to cross the finish line in first, taking the stage win as well as the race lead. However, the gap to second-place finishers Visdomini/Kamiloglu (Porsche Cayman 718 GT4) is only 2.770s, thus meaning that everything is still to play for. Bastos/Ebrahim (Aston Martin Vantage GT4) took third, after a puncture to their rear left tyre hampered their progress in the first half of the stage.
In the Am category, pole sitter Emilio Damante (Alpine A110 GT4) had to fend off the attacks of newcomer Serhii Volobuiev (Audi R8 GT4) in the opening 15 minutes, though the Ukrainian was ultimately able to get past and take the class lead. Volobuiev held the lead until the pit stop window, where Tuder Motorsport was able to get back in front, as Edoardo Maccari emerged from the pits in front of Ivan Yeremenko. As the Italian increased his lead in the final stages, Yeremenko was caught by Wimmer Werk Motorsport’s Jacob Trost (Porsche Cayman 718 GT4), who was able to get the move done with eight minutes to go. Out in front, however, no one could match Damante/Maccari (Alpine A110 GT4), as they took the race lead in the Am class. Trost/Eder (Porsche Cayman 718 GT4) held on brilliantly to take second in front of Yeremenko/Volobuiev (Audi R8 GT4), who finished in the top-3 on their debut. Fourth place belonged to Antonucci/Mancinelli (Mercedes AMG GT4), with the other Lema Racing’s Mercedes driven by Kornelia Olkucka right behind them.
The attention now lies on Sunday 7 June, with Stage-2 ready to bring even more on-track action to the table at 11:40 local time. Once again, the final stage will be broadcast live on GO-TV’s official YouTube channel, with Daniele Spadi on commentary duties, and also on PitwallTV and Acelera GP’s YouTube channels.
