The Jarama Classic is approaching, bringing with it the second round of the Iberian Supercars Endurance on June 10th and 11th. It’s time to reflect on previous editions of the event.
The circuit on the outskirts of Madrid exudes history, with the world’s most important championships having graced the Circuito Permanente del Jarama, which features a layout designed by John Hugenholtz, also known for designing Suzuka and Zandvoort.
The Madrid track has been a regular fixture on the Supercars Endurance calendar, while the Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade, in its current format, started visiting it last year.
The 2022 round witnessed an impressive performance from SMC Motorsport, who claimed victory in both races with the McLaren 570S GT4 driven by Fernando Navarrete and Gonzalo de Andrés, although they were constantly under pressure from the Tockwith Motorsports Ginetta G55 GT4 shared by Marmaduke Hall and Alvaro Fontes.
In race one, the Spanish team’s drivers faced relentless pursuit from their competitors throughout the final lap, after a remarkable recovery that nearly secured an unlikely victory. In the end, the two cars were separated by just 0.254s.
Ginetta and McLaren are the most successful car manufacturers at the Spanish track, each with two wins. However, McLaren stands out in terms of pole positions and fastest laps, with three each. The GT4 track record is held by a Ginetta, courtesy of Nicolas Pino, who secured pole position for the first race of 2021 with a lap time of 1’38.295.
Mercedes-AMG, a prominent contender in the GT4 regulation races organized by Race Ready, has only one win and two fastest laps. This year, Lema Racing, NM Racing, and Racar aim to change that situation.
Speedy Motorsport and the BMW M4 GT4 will make their debut at Jarama. However, Francisco Abreu, partnering with José Carlos Pires, has already savored the sweet taste of success at the Spanish circuit, achieving victory in the second race of 2019 when it counted towards the GT4 South European Series.
In the first race of the same year, the Madeira-native, who was a teammate with Miguel Cristóvão, started from last and recovered to second place while driving the Ginetta G55 GT4 of ABM Grand Prix, which was shared by Mariano Pires and César Machado.
The French outfit was the first to win at Jarama, but it is SMC Motorsport that stands out, dominating among the teams as they have the most pole positions, wins, and fastest laps, although they are tied with Veloso Motorsport in the latter category.
Andrius Zemaitis, Alejandro Geppert, and Alfonso Colomina hope that the Madrid-based team can demonstrate the good performances of 2022 and be in the fight for victory in their respective divisions.
The GT4 category cars have been dominating the classifications in Jarama, but in 2021 Gustavo Moura managed to impose his Hyundai Elantra TCR, securing victory in the first race of the event, while Daniel Teixeira placed his Cupra TCR in third position.
The JT59 Racing Team driver has been performing well in the Madrid air, having won both races in 2022, a scenario that Daniel Teixeira would like to repeat this year.
The Jarama Classic will take place on June 10th and 11th at the Circuit de Madrid Jarama – RACE, and as usual, both races will be broadcasted on the competition’s social networks and the A Bola TV channel.
