Ricardo van der Ende (NED) and Bernhard van Oranje (NED) are crowned as GT4 European Series champions in the GT4 Pro Class at Monza. The Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport drivers celebrated their title with a podium finish. “Everyone wants this championship and we are the one to take the trophy home. We can be very proud on that! Bernhard in particular”, Van der Ende said. Meanwhile Daniel Roos (SWE) and Erik Behrens (SWE) took their first victory for Alfab Racing. Liesette Braams (NED) and Rob Severs (NED) won in the GT4 Am Class. Best Ginetta G50 drivers were Stefano Stefanelli (ITA) and Lorenzo Marcucci (ITA).
Van der Ende experienced a great start from sixth on the grid and quickly moved up to fourth with the top three drivers clearly in sight. Roos started from pole, but saw Duncan Huisman (NED) passing by before entering the first chicane. The Swedish driver didn’t let his rival go and a thrilling 25-minute battle followed. The two raced side by side on several occasions and Huisman snatched first position just before he came into the pit lane for a driver change.
While Huisman battled with Roos, the other Camaro driver was close behind. Jan Joris Verheul (NED) tried to overtake Roos briefly, but he needed to take care of championship leader Van der Ende who was eager to race for a podium finish.
Luc Braams (NED) continued for Huisman and kept the Aston Martin, with now Behrens (SWE) at the wheel, behind. The Swedish driver was following his rival within a few seconds. Ultimately Braams was penalised for violating the pit lane speed and dropped to second place in the classification. “It was a tough battle as we were very close all the times. That must have been good to watch on television,” Roos commented. “It is a great way to take our first victory of this season after being close a few times.”
Meanwhile behind the two, Bernhard van Oranje drove consistently to bring the championship winning car home in third place. “It was a tough year for me personally. It feels great to win a championship for the first time. Perhaps we didn’t have the fastest vehicle of all, but thanks to our consistency and a reliable car we made it. Taking this trophy home feels incredible.”
In the GT4 Am Class Severs did a terrific job by outperforming his rivals, settling on a tenth place overall before handing over the BMW M3 GT4 to Braams. She kept the lead while André Grammatico (FRA) finished in second position. Guest drivers Jan Kasperlik (GER) and Dietmar Lackinger (AUT) secured a deserved third place with the Allied Racing BMW M3 GT4. “It was a really cool race,” Severs commented. “The GT4 Pro drivers weren’t much ahead and was able to follow the Ginetta G50s. Liesette did a superb job after she took over and taking the win is great for the championship rankings.”
Stefano Stefanelli (ITA) and Lorenzo Marcucci (ITA) moved up the rankings in the Ginetta G50 Cup and took the victory after a race full of great battles. “Finally! This is our first victory in our class. We suffered so many difficulties throughout the season and now we finally made it,” said Stefanelli. Luca Magnoni (ITA) was ranked second and team mates Fran Viel Bugliotti (ITA) and Mark Speakerwas (ITA) were classified in third position.