ABM Grand Prix’s Mariano Pires will start this weekend’s first GT4 South European Series race from Overall and Pro-Am Cup pole position after dominating a Q1 at Jarama this afternoon. Team Virage’s Nicholas Silva posted the best lap time in Q2, while Tockwith Motorsport’s Marmaduke Hall and Edward Moore took the GTC honours as Team Virage’s CO Jones and Peter Peters were the fastest in the AM Cup.
Q1: Pires shines on GT4 debut
Series debutant Mariano Pires (Ginetta G55 GT4 / ABM Grand Prix) secured a superb pole-position on his first appearance in the GT4 South European Series, posting a lap time 0,137s quicker than anyone else.
New to the Spanish track, Marmaduke Hall (Ginetta G50 GT4 / Tockwith Motorsport) was also a strong force in Q1, clinching the second best time in the session and taking the pole-position in the GTC class.
The British youngster faced a strong opposition from Kosta Kanaroglou (Ginetta G50 GT4 / E2P), who fought hard for the previous GT4 cars generation class pole-position, with the Greece-native finishing the 15-minute session just three-tenths shy from Hall.
Both E2P’s Ginetta G50 drivers showed a strong performance with Javier Escobar placing his car in fifth place overall and third in the GTC, three tenths off from his Spanish teammate.
CO Jones claimed a place on row two, conquering his first AM Cup pole-position. The British driver showed off that the Team Virage’s Aston Martin Vantage GT4 is a dominant machine, having posted the fourth fastest time within a second from the pole-position car.
Team Virage’s Jon Aizpurua was the sixth quickest Overall. The Honey Rider Aston Martin GT4 driver had a trip to the gravel, but the Austrian still managed to qualify third fastest in the Pro-Am Cup.
After some technical glitches in Free Practice, A. Martín (Ginetta G55 GT4 / NM Racing Team) qualified seventh overall and second in the AM Cup, beating Spain’s Juan Reina Martin (Ginetta G50 GT4 / Plemar Sport) in the GTC class.
Q2: Silva claims Aston Martin first
César Machado, Edward Moore and Nicholas Silva were the protagonists of the Q2 with the trio swapping position on the top of the timesheets, but ultimately it was Silva who took pole with plenty of time to spare. The American racer was 0.3s faster than César Machado (Ginetta G55 GT4 / ABM Grand Prix), claiming the Pro-Am Cup pole-position.
A particularly impressive lap gave Edward Moore (Ginetta G50 GT4 / Tockwith Motorsport) a place in the second row and the best GTC class position for tomorrow’s race two. Peter Peters will be in the mix after matching his co-driver’s position in P4.
Both E2P drivers finished next, with Kosta Kanaroglou placing his Ginetta G50 GT4 in front of his teammate Javier Escobar car.
NM Racing Team’s Ginetta G55 GT4 stronger pace in Q2 was not reflect in the results with Jorge Cabezas posting the seventh best lap time, followed by race returnee Lorenzo López (Ginetta G50 / Plemar Sport).
After a dominant performance in the Free Practice one in the morning, Miguel Cristóvão and Francisco Abreu were forced to sit out of the qualifying due to a flywheel problem. The Portuguese duo of the Veloso Motorsport’s Mercedes-AMG is counting on participating in tomorrow’s double-header.
2TYM Racing’s KTM X-Bow took part in the morning Free Practice session, but didn’t participate in this afternoon’s qualifying shootout.
GT4 South European Series’ first race of the weekend starts at 12:30 local time. Watch it live on the championship’s website and Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GT4SouthEuropean or Porto Canal (for Portugal residents only). The second race of the weekend is scheduled for 17:15 (GMT+2).
Drivers Quotes:
Mariano Pires (1st Pro Am – Qualifying 1): “It was a good qualifying for. It is my first GT4 race. Conquering a pole-position is something really important to me, as I don’t have much experience in racing cars. We start from first for tomorrow’s morning race and we will try to win it.”
Nicholas Silva (1st Pro Am – Qualifying 2): “It was great. The car actually felt great. It felt doing what actually have to be doing. The team did a great job. Without the team changing the car after the little accident in Q1, without their help without their effort, we would be unable to go out there. Everything just came together perfectly.”
Marmaduke Hall (1st GTC – Qualifying 1): “We are very happy with it. I was second in my session and Ed was third overall. I just had half an hour in the car in morning session, and I felt good. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s races.”
Edward Moore (1st GTC – Qualifying 2): “It was a good qualifying but this a hard circuit. You need time to learn it. Marma and I just had few time on the car so I’m really happy with the result.”
