The CRT-Sport drivers, Lucas Cartelle and Hudson Schwartz, achieved an impressive victory in the latest GT4 Europe race at Circuit Paul Ricard, highlighting the debut of their new GR Supra.
This triumph joins the previous victory of the SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm team, meaning that both new entries to the competition have started the championship successfully. As the final moments of the race approached, few bets would have been placed on the GR Supra duo, but the appearance of a safety car in the closing minutes brought the driving together and allowed Cartelle to overtake the BMW of Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport, which had led the race for much of the time.
The day was not only a success for Cartelle and Schwartz, but Chris Salkeld also contributed to a great victory in the Pro-Am category with Razoon – more than racing, although his teammate, Daniel Drexel, had to overcome a complicated accident during the race. Additionally, Julien Briché and Nicco Ferrarin repeated their victory in the Am category, thus giving a second victory to the JSB Compétition team with their Porsche.
A golden opportunity for Cartelle
With just a few minutes left, Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport seemed to be on its way to victory, with Thomas Rackl maintaining a six-second lead. However, a brief period of safety car altered the situation and gave Cartelle the opportunity to attack.
Piana started the race on pole with the BMW, and the initial moments were marked by an intense battle between him, Clément Seyler (Racing Spirit of Léman), Schwartz, and Erik Evans (Academy Motorsport). All four vehicles repeatedly changed positions, with Piana making a spectacular overtake to maintain the lead. Seyler managed to temporarily lead with his Aston Martin, but Piana regained control just before his pit stop.
With the race reintroduced after the safety car, Cartelle capitalized on the situation to take command, followed by Pedro Garcia. Rackl, who lost positions, was overtaken by several competitors. Ultimately, Cartelle took the victory, while Garcia withstood the constant pressure from his pursuers to secure second place. The champion team, Team Speedcar, suffered a setback with the withdrawal of their Audi.
Pro-Am and JSB’s double victory
The battle in the Pro-Am category was intense, with an incident midway through the race resulting in a collision among several vehicles. Driver Sacha Bottemanne had been leading, but contact between the Porsche and the Audi caused a series of complications.
Alon Gabbay, who crossed the finish line in first position, was relegated to tenth place due to a penalty, which allowed Drexel and Salkeld to secure victory with a marked BMW. Víctor Bouveng and Joakim Walde took second place, followed by Edvin Hellsten and Daniel Nilsson with their Porsche.
JSB Compétition achieved another triumph to complete a perfect weekend in the Am category. Julien Briché delivered a standout performance before Ferrarin finished the job. Daniel Blickle and Moritz Berrenberg took the second place for W&S, while Mikael and Christoffer Brunnhagen from GR Racing Sweden completed the podium.
