The final round of the GT4 European Series approaches a thrilling finale. At the historic Autodromo Nazionale Monza, not less than four driver pairs are battling for the championship’s title in the GT4 Pro Class. Three car makes are involved: BMW, Chevrolet and Porsche are able to make it into the headlines. Also the GT4 AM Class is still undecided and several guest drivers are aiming to conclude the weekend of October 25th and 26th on a high note.
Bernhard van Oranje and Ricardo van der Ende are going into the final round with a 38 points lead over their main rivals. The drivers competing with a BMW M3 GT4 for Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport have won five out of ten races. But Porsche 911 GT4 drivers Jörg Viebahn and Bertus Sanders are on a charge. They are regular podium finishers and have proved to be able to battle for the overall win. V8 Racing drivers Marcel Nooren / Jan Joris Verheul and Duncan Huisman / Luc Braams are 45 points short but still have a chance to put their Chevrolet Camaro GT4 on top.
Fierce battles at the 5,793-kilometre Grand Prix track are expected between the top four title challengers. But there is much more to expect from the competitors racing in a field consisting of 19 cars, at time of writing. Alfab Racing drivers Daniel Roos and Erik Behrens are aiming for a win after being close to overall victory on several occasions. The Aston Martin Vantage GT4 competitors were among the quickest during the previous meeting at the Nürburgring. But Behrens couldn’t avoid Pieter-Christiaan van Oranje (BMW M3 GT4) who spun in the early stage of the first race. A big impact followed and both drivers couldn’t resume the race weekend.
“The mechanics have worked very hard to prepare the Aston Martin for the final round of the championship,” Behrens knows and approaches the Monza circuit with great confidence. “I have been playing on the Playstation 3 to get familiar with the track. I think it’s one of the best circuits in Europe and it will be an exciting event. We have proved to be competitive, so a podium finish is our target. But a win would be great!”
The GT4 AM Class hasn’t also been decided yet. The difference between André Grammatico (BMW M3 GT4) and Rob Severs / Liesette Braams (BMW M3 GT4) is just eleven points. Grammatico won six races, while Severs and Braams were on the top step of the podium three times.
“For both Liesette and me it’s a new track, but that shouldn’t be a problem as Misano, Paul Ricard and Nürburgring were new to us too,” Severs said. “We prepared ourselves in the simulator to get to know the track. I think it will be fun as it combines high speed with chicanes. I’m very confident that we will be competitive and are aiming to become champions.”
An interesting challenge for the GT AM Class competitors is the arrival of several guest drivers. Allied Racing GmbH enters a BMW M3 GT4 with Jan Kasperlik and Dietmar Lackinger behind the wheel. Ricknas Motorsport from Sweden joins with a Porsche 911 GT4, driven by Peter Larsen and Hakan Ricknas. A Portugese entry comes from Veloso Motorsport with Eugénio and Sérgio Montéz.
Action starts at Monza on Friday, October 24th with a first 50-minute practice session at 9:00h. Second practice follows at 13:25h. Qualifying is scheduled for 9:00h on Saturday morning, while the first race starts at 16:35h the same day. The lights for race 2 will go out on Sunday morning 9:50h.
Source. GT4 European Series
