The Formula Winter Series’ third round of the season was condensed into a single day at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, after severe winds forced the local government to postpone outdoor events on Saturday.

This necessitated a condensed schedule for Sunday, with three 20-minute +1 lap races replacing the planned 30-minute encounters. This presented a test of adaptability for all 31 drivers on the grid, newcomers and regulars alike. Remarkably, on the Sunday alone, 13,000 fans were in attendance, as the Winter Series collaborated with ROOW to bring more entertainment and thrilling vehicles to the paddock.

Championship leader Dries Van Langendonck (Rodin) lined up for the first race of the weekend on pole position, and was joined by Van Amersfoort’s Aleksander Ruta on the front row. Third on the grid was Canadian newcomer Jensen Burnett, who stepped into Mathilda Racing for his first F4 race. Ludovico Busso (US Racing) qualified fourth, following his breakthrough podium at Portimão.

As the race sprang into life, Burnett failed to launch. Thankfully, the field avoided the stricken Mathilda Racing car, which eventually continued in the race from the back of the pack. At the front, Van Langendonck held an uncontested lead, and Rocco Coronel took advantage of a flying start to move into second.

The green flag running didn’t last long, as Zoe Florescu ended up stranded at the turn four gravel trap with a broken front wing. After a brief safety car, the race continued, and while Van Langendonck and Coronel held formation, Aleksander Ruta didn’t anticipate the start as well as VAR teammate Thomas Bearman. The British driver applied pressure to his Polish colleague, but Ruta held on around the outside at turns two and three to retain his podium place.

The side-by-side exchange sent Bearman back into the clutches of Ludovico Busso, who tried to dive to the inside at turn 11. Unfortunately, the pair collided, and both would lose places. However, as Bearman ended up tracking through the gravel, he would fall well into the teen positions. Bearman joined other prospective front-runners including the recovering Jensen Burnett and Oleksandr Savinkov in the second-half of the pack. After a troubled qualifying, Savinkov, who came into the weekend third in the standings, started his US Racing car from the penultimate row of the grid.

There were no such troubles at the front of the field for Dries Van Langendonck, who had built himself a buffer of almost three seconds over Rocco Coronel. In the final laps, the gap would shrink down to half-a-second, but Van Langendonck was still able to take his fourth victory of the season in the Formula Winter Series. Coronel and Ruta completed the podium, with the former two also making up the top two Rookie class runners.
Pedro Lima had a strong run to fourth in his VAR entry, ahead of US Racing’s Ary Bansal and Alfie Slater, who took sixth overall and the last step on the Rookie class podium. After spending much of the race fighting in a particularly hectic midfield, Chiara Bättig (Campos) won the Female Trophy from 16th overall.

Race Two:
For the second race of the weekend, Dries Van Langendonck once again started from pole position. However, the Rodin driver did not achieve a perfect launch, while both Aleksander Ruta and Pedro Lima of VAR were fast out of the blocks. The pair of black-and-orange cars went either side of Van Langendonck, with Ruta assuming the race lead. Rocco Coronel briefly held fourth, before Thomas Bearman locked up into turn two, spinning his VAR teammate and ending the Dutchman’s race.

Further back, the action was frenetic in the midfield once again, and it was something of an inevitability that a collision would happen. Sure enough, Vittorio Orsini found himself stuck in the Turn 11 gravel with a damaged front wing, which triggered a Safety Car.

Alfie Slater (Rodin) elected to pit from 16th during the Safety Car, for a fresh set of Pirellis. This was one of several attempts to generate a strong lap time in race two; both Oleksandr Savinkov and Arjen Kräling started from the pits. The pair of US Racing drivers were due to line-up at the back of the field, and instead decided to join the race late, in clean air. This decision would prove beneficial later on.

At the front of the field, Aleksander Ruta managed the race restart well. Meanwhile, Dries Van Langendonck made a dive to the inside of Pedro Lima for second place, but locked up. The pair made light contact, and strayed wide, allowing Thomas Bearman to move up to second place. Van Langendonck was still third, now behind Bearman, and Pedro Lima would soon pass him on-track too. The Belgian racer looked to be struggling with car balance, repeatedly locking both tyres on the front axle.

There were no such dramas at the front for Aleksander Ruta, who eased his way to an inaugural Formula 4-level victory. It was a Van Amersfoort 1-2; despite a five-second penalty for Bearman after his first lap collision with Rocco Coronel, the Brit was over five seconds clear of Van Langendonck, and thus held second. On the road, it was a podium sweep for the Dutch team, but Pedro Lima would be demoted to eighth owing to a five-second track limits penalty.

Van Langendonck won the Rookie class from third overall, while Zoe Florescu once again claimed Female Trophy honours.

Race Three:
US Racing’s decision to treat race two as qualifying for Arjen Kräling and Oleksandr Savinkov was an inspired choice. Kräling – who to this point in the season had only one points finish to his name – now found himself on pole position. He was joined on the front row by Thomas Bearman, while Aleksander Ruta and Oleksandr Savinkov made up the second row of the grid.

Dries Van Langendonck would only start 12th, after struggling for speed in race two.

Arjen Kräling got a better start than Bearman as the race began, while Ruta had an ideal launch from third. The Polish driver was to Kräling’s outside at the first corner, but the German held on to the lead, standing his ground against Ruta. Further back, on the first lap, Georgiy Zasov and Andre Rodriguez collided. Zasov limped a damaged car home, while Rodriguez was stranded in the gravel, triggering a Safety Car.

Kräling gained himself a car length upon launching back to racing speeds, holding the lead as the race resumed. This, however, would not be the only restart of the race, as Jenzer’s Levi Arn rotated himself into the gravel at turn 12, after initially clipping another gravel trap on corner entry. Chiara Bättig missed her apex at the cornet while avoiding the spinning Arn, and would then find herself in a collision at turn 14, as AKM’s Vittorio Orsini made a miscalculated lunge at the last corner.

As the race restarted for the final time, Kräling once again held the lead, and would do so until the chequered flag one lap later. The German’s victory meant a second consecutive new winner of the day; he was followed home by Aleksander Ruta, who achieved the same feat earlier in the day. Thomas Bearman finished third, just ahead of Oleksandr Savinkov.

In the Rookie standings, CRAM Motorsport’s Samuel Ifrid finished eight overall to win the category. The Swiss pipped Dries Van Langendonck to the line to secure the result. Zoe Florescu profited from Chiara Bättig’s dramas to once again win the Female Trophy standings, finishing 21st overall.

Heading to the next round at Motorland Aragon, Dries Van Langendonck once again arrives with an extended points advantage, now holding 155. Ary Bansal still sits second in the standings on 94 points, meaning a 61-point advantage for Van Langendonck, and a real chance of sewing up the title a round early.

Third in the points now belongs to Aleksander Ruta, on 92 points, while Thomas Beaman and Oleksandr Savinkov round out the top-five. Van Langendonck also leads the rookie standings over Rocco Coronel, and looks likely to sew up the trophy in Aragon. US Racing holds an 11-point advantage in the Teams’ Championship on 226, ahead of Rodin and VAR, both tied on 215 points.

The battles will continue next time out, as the Formula Winter Series returns to a venue that historically produces thrilling moments in the category. The Motorland Aragon event takes place from 5-8 March.

2026 CALENDAR

22 – 25 JAN ESTORIL /P
5 – 8 FEB PORTIMAO /P
12 – 15 FEB VALENCIA /E
5 – 8 MAR ARAGÓN /E
12 – 15 MAR BARCELONA /E

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The GT4 Winter Series crossed the border into Spain for its third round of the season, as the GEDLICH Racing paddock made its way to Valencia.

After an unusually wet January in Portugal, sun and dry conditions greeted the drivers at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. However, the weather predictions for the area suggested extreme winds on Saturday, leaving the local government no choice but to curtail outdoor events.

As a result of the Saturday cancellation, a condensed schedule was organised for Sunday. The planned 30-minute sprint races were cut to 20 minutes, while the pitstop race became a 50-minute encounter. Additionally, the cars of the Sports Prototype Winter Series would share the track, starting behind the GT4 field in a separate classification. The combined grid raced in front of some 13,000 fans, a new one-day record for Winter Series event attendance.

The first 20-minute race saw SR Motorsport’s Enrico Förderer start from pole position alongside Frederik Zebis in the W&S Motorsport Porsche Cayman. Fellow W&S driver Joachim Bölting started well from sixth place, and found himself in third by the first corner, while the top two remained in grid order.

AM driver Bölting seemed to decide his battle was not with the PRO and PRO-AM runners directly behind him, allowing four cars by at the end of the first lap. This decision moved Mario Pinazo into third, at the wheel of the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4. However, the local driver – a recent karting graduate – later ran wide at the first corner, handing the position to PRO-AM leader Bruno Pereira, aboard the Araújo Competição Aston Martin.

Pinazo was not willing to take this lying down, and was looking for ways to pass Pereira. He cost himself time at the second corner looking to the outside of the #007 entry, which brought him closer to fifth-placed Tom Papenburg (CV Performance Mercedes). The 15-year-old Dutchman tried to make a move on Pinazo from quite a distance behind at turn four, tagging the fellow Mercedes driver into a spin. This would lead to a non-finish for Pinazo, and a Safety Car to recover the damaged vehicle from the gravel trap.

After the Safety Car, the battle for third would also encompass the PRO-AM lead, as Ravi Ramyead (L’Espace Bienvenue BMW) was challenging Pereira. After some close racing, the fight unfortunately ended with a bang, as Ramyead experienced rear-wheel hop on the approach to turn 11. He missed his braking zone, hit the #007 Aston Martin, and spun Pereira out of the podium places.

At the front of the field, a controlled drive from Enrico Förderer led to a comfortable victory, finishing ahead of Zebis, who was runner-up in the PRO class. While typically a PRO-AM entry, Tim Horrell’s absence placed the car into the top category for this weekend. Ravi Ramyead secured the PRO-AM win from third place overall, ahead of Papenburg and AM winner Joachim Bölting. Bölting finished behind GT Corse’s Manuel Bertolin initially, but the Spanish driver was demoted owing to 5 seconds worth of track limit penalties.

Speedworxx’s Franz Linden won the Cayman Trophy class, finishing eighth overall ahead of Club class winner Thilo Goos (BWT Mücke Motorsport Aston Martin).

Race Two:
The second sprint race once again saw the #11 SR Motorsport entry take an early lead, this time at the hands of Joel Mesch. Meanwhile, the W&S Porsche was in an early second place, this time driven by Nicolas Guillaume. The young Belgian, in his first GT4 Winter Series outing, found himself having to defend hard against the chasing pack throughout the early laps. This left Mesch running alone at the front, while a scrum of cars followed Guillaume in second.

The PRO-AM battle between L’Espace Bienvenue (BMW) and Araújo Competição (Aston Martin) once again got physical, this time with Charlie Robertson and Frederico Peters at the respective controls. Coming out of the first corner on the second lap, the cars made side-on-side contact, cutting down the front-right tyre on the Peters’ Aston Martin, eventually leaving the Araújo entry a lap down.

Shortly thereafter, punchy driving from Raúl Zunzarren (NM Racing Team Mercedes) moved him past Robertson for third overall, though the pair would trade positions multiple times while both looking to pass Nicolas Guillaume for second. Eventually, Zunzarren saw an opportunity to take the inside line at turn two, and moved past the W&S Porsche. Tom Papenburg again exhibited bravery and a dash of optimism: The youngster from CVxJP elected to try passing both Robertson and Guillaume at the same corner, clipping the Porsche and spinning himself out.

With Guillaume now behind Zunzarren, Robertson was the next to challenge the GT racing debutant, and found his way by at turn two. A couple of laps later, Joachim Bölting and Cedric Fuchs were both looking to find a way past Guillaume in the W&S Cayman. Bölting took the outside line at turn 8, and slid on corner exit, collecting the #700 BWT Mücke Aston Martin of Mattis Pluschkell, who was sent into the barrier.

Both drivers were unharmed, but a Safety Car was required to recover the stricken machines, and the race would end before the green flags could fly again. However, just before the Safety car, Fuchs found his way past Guillaume, completing a spectacular run in the #111 SR Motorsport Mercedes, from 15th on the grid to third overall, and the PRO-AM victory. Charlie Robertson finished ahead of Fuchs on the road, but ultimately received a five-second penalty for track limit infringements.

The #11 SR Mercedes of Joel Mesch claimed the overall win, ahead of Raúl Zunzarren of NM Racing Team. Manuel Bertolin won the AM class with an eighth-overall finish, ahead of repeat Cayman Trophy winner Franz Linden. The Club class victory was secured by Zome Racing’s Tiago Loureiro (McLaren 570S GT4).

Race Three:
It was an all-SR Motorsport front row for the third and final race, with Joel Mesch on pole in the #11 PRO class entry, and the #111 of Willi Kühne alongside. Kühne, the AM of the PRO-AM line-up, would quickly drop back as the race began, leaving second position to Raúl Zunzarren’s NM Racing Mercedes in the early stages. Zunzarren would spend much of the first stint underneath the rear-wing of Mesch, but did not find a way past.

Just before the pit window at minute 20 of the 50-minute race, the #95 Zome Racing McLaren briefly came to a halt at turn 10. After a reset, the car continued. However, much of the field anticipated a Safety Car, and peeled into the pits; at the front, the only exception to this pattern was Joel Mesch, who continued on, and built a net advantage over the chasing pack as a result.

Enrico Förderer eventually inherited the leading car at the halfway mark, and would perform a perfect final stint to commandingly win the race. PRO-AM winners Charlie Robertson and Ravi Ramyead eventually took second place overall for L’Espace Bienvenue, as Robertson dispatched NM Racing Team’s Mario Pinazo after the pit cycle. Pinazo drove the Mercedes home to third overall for he and Zunzarren.

The AM victory fell to Team VRT’s Aleksandrs Bobrovs, while Speedworxx’s Linden and Arne Hoffmeister wrapped up a sweep of Cayman Trophy. Zome Racing once again prevailed in the Club class, with the #96 McLaren of Breno Arruda and Tiago Loureiro.

For a second consecutive event, the #111 SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes of Joel Mesch and Enrico Förderer took all three race victories. With a significant advantage in both the overall and PRO standings, the possibility of winning at least one championship at Aragon looms large.

The young Germans will be determined to continue this form at the spectacular Motorland Aragon facility, which plays host to the fourth round of the season from 5-8 March.

Calendar

15 JAN – 18 JAN PORTIMAO /P
22 JAN – 25 JAN ESTORIL /P
12 FEB – 15 FEB VALENCIA /E
5 MAR – 8 MAR ARAGÓN /E
12 MAR – 15 MAR BARCELONA /E

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The third round of the GT Winter Series season took place at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo, in front of busy grandstands and 13,000 spectators.

Over 30 cars arrived to compete, with superb turnouts in a number of the classes. The skies were noticeably clearer and brighter than they had been during an anomalous trip to Portugal, but unfortunately, extreme winds and a local government order forced the cancellation of Saturday’s racing. This meant one qualifying session and three races on Sunday, with the two sprint encounters cut to 20 minutes, and a 50-minute pitstop race.

The first race saw an all-V10 front row of the grid, as Ariel Levi lined-up on pole position in the #86 Attempto Racing Audi, joined by Sendom Racing Team’s Seweryn Mazur (Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1). As the race began, Mazur wasn’t as fast to pick-up the throttle, and dropped behind P3 starter Kiano Blum in his #64 Haupt Ford Mustang GT3.

The top two soon drove away, while Mazur put up a fantastic fight against Alain Valente in the second Haupt Ford, as well as Ethan Brown in the #19 Engstler Lamborghini. Valente did eventually find his way through, but Mazur’s dogged fighting continued against Brown. Even when it looked like the Singaporean had finally taken fourth, Mazur launched back to the inside at turn two and continued the battle.

A Safety Car was triggered a little over halfway into the race, as the #128 MS Racing McLaren of Fabian Seipt ended up in the gravel after losing traction out of turn 6. The spin took place just ahead of Cup X entrant Jann Jöge in the #147 Equipe Vitesse Porsche. The German, a member of the GEDLICH Racing team in sales and organisation roles, was able to avoid being collected in the spin; a vital act in a raceday where he needed results to secure signatures for an upgraded racing licence.

Upon the race resumption, Kiano Blum once again looked threatening behind Levi, but the Attempto Audi driver held on to secure his first win in GT3 machinery. Blum and Valente rounded out the podium for Haupt Racing Team, while Seweryn Mazur completed his supreme defensive drive, beating Ethan Brown to fourth.

Joseph Dean won the Cup 1 class for Ferrari 296 Challenge machines, just ahead of Cup 4 winner Alessio Ruffini in the #333 Auto Sport Racing Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo. Cup 2 honours went the way of PTSportsbyUp2race driver Oleksii Kikireshko, who battled Igor Klaja in the similar PTT Racing Porsche 992 Cup.

Race Two:
The second race of the day looked likely to feature yet another Audi versus Ford battle, as Massimiliano Cuccarese started from pole aboard the #74 Haupt Mustang driven by Alain Valente earlier in the day. Cuccarese would line-up alongside Attempto Racing’s Carrie Schreiner as the race began, and used the Ford’s power to take an early lead. This would not last long though, as Schreiner made a mistake under braking at turn two, collecting Cuccarese in the process.

Marcus Clutton (#67 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren) assumed the lead, and a Safety Car neutralised the field shortly thereafter; Cuccarese’s Mustang was still stranded at turn two, while several Cup class cars also collided and left debris across the track.

Once the race resumed, Clutton found himself under significant pressure from Niklas Kalus in the #64 HRT Ford. The imposing Mustang nested in the mirrors of the McLaren, and was joined by the SR Motorsport Mercedes entries of Mortiz Wiskirchen (#111) and Jay Mo Härtling (#11). While the quartet remained close throughout the race, Clutton was able to keep all at bay to claim the first win of the season for the McLaren team. Kalus and Wiskirchen completed the podium, with the top three split by just 1.1 seconds.

With Härtling finishing fourth, the victory for Orange Racing by JMH surged Clutton and Simon Orange into the GT3 championship lead for the first time. Gilbert Yates drove to an exemplary sixth overall in the Cup 1-winning #101 AF Corse Ferrari, while Alessio Ruffini secured yet another Cup 4 win for Auto Sport Racing from 11th overall.

The sole Cup 3 entry – the #128 MS Racing McLaren Artura Trophy Evo – had its best showing of the day, finishing 12th overall in the hands of Kajus Siksnelis. Igor Klaja won Cup 2, this time bettering Oleksii Kikireshko in the class reserved for Porsche 992 Cup cars. The older Porsche 991.1 Cup of Jann Jöge once again reached the flag, securing the signatures required for his prospective progression into the Nürburgring-based NLS events.

Race Three:
The #111 Mercedes of Michael Sander lined-up on pole for the 50-minute pitstop race. However, the relative newcomer to GT3 racing elected not to put up a fight into the first corner, allowing Niklas Kalus to sweep the #64 Haupt Ford into an early lead. Marcus Clutton moved the Orange Racing McLaren into second place shortly thereafter, and began his pursuit of the Mustang.

The Brit was not able to find an opportunity to overtake in the first phase of the race, which was promptly halted by an off-track excursion at turn 12 for GABS Competizioni’s Leon Rijnbeek. The #89 Ferrari 296 Challenge ended up in the wall, and required a Safety Car for safe removal. The race resumed, but only briefly, as a collision at turn eight left the #81 Norik Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Norikazu Shibata stranded in the gravel. The #204 Cup 1 Ferrari of Joseph Dean was the culprit, and his car continued on with major damage that required impromptu repairs in the pits.

Once the green flag waved again, the slightly-delayed pit window began, and shuffled the race order. Simon Orange fell behind Jay Mo Härtling over the course of the window, and would soon lose out to Mateusz Lisowski in the #27 Mercedes GT3 too.

A late safety car was triggered with less than seven minutes remaining, as the previously-damaged #204 Ferrari – now driven by Aston Millar – suffered a suspension failure at turn 10. The race resumed with just one lap to go, and Mortiz Wiskirchen (#111 SR Mercedes) made a critical move for fourth position on Simon Orange at turn two; this would definitively hand the points lead back to the sister #11 SR entry of Heyer and Härtling.

At the front of the field, Kiano Blum (#64 HRT Ford) just held off SR Motorsport’s Jay Mo Härtling to win the race, while Mateusz Lisowski confirmed the first podium of the year for the #27 PTT Racing Mercedes. Fourth-placed Wiskirchen was followed home by Massimiliano Cuccarese, who overtook Simon Orange for fifth in the last moments of the race.

Nina Østergaard and Frederik Schandorff secured ninth overall and the Cup 4 win in the DC Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo. Just behind them, father-and-son duo Gilbert and Bradley Yates won the Cup 1 class, while Igor Klaja won the Cup 2 category from 16th overall in the #7 PTT Porsche, along with co-driver Fabian Dybionka.

A strong weekend for both the #7 PTT and #88 PTSportsbyUp2race Cup 2 Porsches has dramatically shifted the overall championship battle. The #88 car’s sole constant driver, Oleksii Kikireshko, is now the overall points leader on 138. Six points further back, Heyer and Härtling now sit second, while Klaja is tied on 126 points in third, alongside Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton for Orange Racing by JMH.

The final two weekends of the season promise a thrilling fight in the overall GT Winter Series standings; the action resumes at Motorland Aragon from 5-8 March.

Calendar

15 JAN – 18 JAN PORTIMAO /P
22 JAN – 25 JAN ESTORIL /P
12 FEB – 15 FEB VALENCIA /E
5 MAR – 8 MAR ARAGÓN /E
12 MAR – 15 MAR BARCELONA /E

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