The first race of the Competition102 GT4 European Series at the street track of Pau was won by Peter Terting and Jörg Viebahn. Racing the Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4, the pair held off fellow PROsport Performance drivers Andreas Patzelt and Nicolaj Møller Madsen. Allied Racing competitors Dietmar Lackinger and Jan Kasperlik were ranked best in the AM class, finishing fifth overall in a race that started in daylight and ended in the dark.
Patzelt and Viebahn got away smoothly from front row. While Viebahn passed his team-mate, both temporarily pulled away from the rest of the field. Chris Vlok in the KTM X-BOW GT4 closed the gap to the front runners in ten minutes. The three competitors performed close racing but no overtaking manoeuvre could be reported.
It started to rain when the pit lane opened for the obligatory pit stop and eventual driver change. Most teams opted for rain tyres, but PROsport Performance drivers stayed out on slicks. When Terting took over from Viebahn, he expanded his lead up to eight seconds. Møller Madsen, sharing the Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4 with Patzelt, followed in second.
Both had created a significant advantage over Maciej Drezer who formed a team with Mads Siljehaug. The drivers who are part of the Reiter Young Stars programme, were able to hold third and took their first trophies of the season. Behind them it was Donald Molenaar, after he took over the V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4 from Marcel Nooren, hunting down a podium spot, but finished in fourth.
In front, Terting saw his gap decreasing after he had to lap fellow competitors. However, the German finished with a 4.5 seconds lead in first position. “It was a great race. But in the end the conditions were quite difficult,” said Terting. “I could create a big gap after the pit stop and then I thought I could take it easy because it started to rain, to slow down a bit in order to be safe on track. Then I needed to start lapping others and this was the difficult part. The guys received the blue flag but that was difficult to see because of the dark and therefore I couldn’t always pass directly. Anyway, the race was fun, but busy.”
In the AM category Allied Racing’s Lackinger and Kasperlik were always fighting for a top five position against the PRO teams and managed to take fifth despite smoke coming out of the BMW M3 GT4. “It was a crazy ride”, commented Kasperlik. “I had an accident in my second lap; touched the curbstones on the left which pushed me right and had an impact in the wall. The car behaved strange, but I could continue. The race engineer said; ‘you have four wheels and a steering wheel, so go ahead’. From there it was eleven or twelve laps to the finish.”
In the AM division local drivers Eric Cayrolle and Didier Moreu finished in second. Brookspeed drivers Graeme Mundy and Steven Liquorish were ranked in third place.
The second race of the Competition102 GT4 European Series starts Sunday 11:29 hr local time. It can be followed via live timing and live stream at www.gt4series.com/live.
Competition102 GT4 European Series – 75th Grand Prix de Pau – 13-15 May 2016
Race 1:
1. Jörg Viebahn / Peter Terting, Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4, 34 laps in 52:08,660 minutes,
2. Andreas Patzelt / Nicolaj Madsen, Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4, + 4,546 seconds,
3. Mads Siljehaug / Maciej Dreszer, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 1:28,748 minutes,
4. Marcel Nooren / Donald Molenaar, Chevrolet Camaro, + 1 lap,
5. Dietmar Lackinger / Jan Kasperlik, BMW M3 GT4, + 1 lap,
6. André Grammatico / Ricardo van der Ende, BMW M3 GT4, + 1 lap,
7. Eric Cayrolle / Didier Moureu, Ginetta G55 GT4, + 1 lap,
8. Tim Stupple / Lennart Marioneck, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 1 lap,
9. Luca Anselmi, Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, + 1 lap,
10. Laura Kraihamer / Jamie Vandenbalck, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 1 lap,
11. Chris Vlok / Immanuel Vinke, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 1 lap,
12. Giuseppe Fascicolo / Mauro Calamia, Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, + 2 laps,
13. Rebecca Jackson / Thomas Krebs, KTM B-XOW GT4, + 2 laps,
14. Andreas Guelden / Hendrik Still, Sin R1 GT4, + 2 laps,
15. Anna Rathe / Cédric Freiburghaus, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 2 laps,
16. Caitlin Wood / Marko Helistekangas, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 2 laps,
17. Steven Liquorish / Graeme Mundy, KTM X-BOW GT4, + 3 laps,
18. Alessandro Fogliani / Patrick Zamparini, Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, + 3 laps,
19. Albert Bloem / Jérôme Demay, Aston Martin Vantage GT4, + 5 laps
Not classified
Luc Braams / Duncan Huisman, Chevrolet Camaro, + 9 laps,
Rob Severs / Simon Knap, Ekris M4 GT4, + 25 laps