The Veneto-based team will run Giorgio and Giulio Bacco in the Ferrari 296 Challenge. The brothers have previously been part of Reparto Corse’s roster in the non-competitive Passione Ferrari Club Challenge format, and will now continue the partnership into their shared racing debut.
Reparto Corse RAM’s attendance marks a second consecutive appearance for the team at the GT Winter Series Valencia event. During a thrilling 2025 season, the Vicenza squad won the Trofeo Pirelli, Coppa Shell and Coppa Team categories in Ferrari Challenge Europe. At Valencia, Reparto Corse – along with the Bacco brothers – will be looking to start 2026 off with positive results.
The Valencia round of the GT Winter Series takes place from 12-15 February, in a thrilling event also featuring the ROOW car culture festival. This spectacular automotive celebration will be a can’t miss occasion for trackside fans, and the livestream audience will be treated to two full days of racing action on the Winter Series YouTube channel.
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
Carrie Schreiner is a familiar name to the GEDLICH Racing paddock, having competed in both the GT Winter Series and Formula Winter Series. After two seasons in F1 Academy (2023 and 2024), Schreiner returned to GT racing, winning two 2025 GT Winter Series races and competing in ADAC GT Masters during summer.
Schreiner now enters a new partnership with Attempto, and will race in both the 6H of Portimão and the Motorland Aragón round of the GT Winter Series. She will then compete across the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint & Endurance categories with the German team.
Ariel Levi has spent several years racing across multiple Porsche Carrera Cup categories, including the flagship Porsche Supercup and Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. During the 2025 season, he finished fifth overall in both series, taking six podiums across the pair of championships. Now, he takes on a new challenge, competing in a six-hour race with the GT3-spec Audi.
Florian Scholze has been a recurring presence in Attempto Racing line-ups, dating back as far as 2010. With over two decades in motorsport, Scholze raced in the first ever GT3 season back in 2006, has driven at the N24 in a plethora of different cars, and raced extensively in Porsche Cup and GT3 competitions globally. In 2020, Scholze won the AM class of International GT Open, and has continued to be a strong and well-regarded Bronze driver.
Attempto Racing celebrated 20 years of competition in 2025, and has long been regarded as one of Audi’s leading GT3 teams. In 2023, the team won the overall teams’ title in the GTWC Sprint Cup. It is once again set to be a busy year for the Attempto squad across multiple championships, and it will make its first start of the 2026 calendar at the GEDLICH Racing 6H of Portimão.
The 6H of Portimão will take place from 5-8 February, with a highly-competitive field of leading Endurance racing teams looking to win the second edition of the event. Fans can attend the full weekend of racing for just €10. The on-track action includes the 6H of Portimão, as well as the Formula Winter Series and Sports Prototype Winter Series.
Additionally, the weekend will be broadcast live on the Winter Series YouTube channel, allowing fans around the world to see every thrilling moment.
At the traditional home of Portuguese motorsport, regular GT3 entries such as Orange Racing by JMH, SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm and Grupo Prom Racing Team would have compelling competition from Vincenzo Sospiri Racing. The team’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 would be driven by Mattia Michelotto and Ignazio Zanon, the line-up that won the 2025 Italian GT Sprint PRO-AM championship.
Another surprise on the entry list came courtesy of LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler. Alongside a Lamborghini GT3 entry for Jonas Karklys, Felix Hirsinger arrived in the paddock on Friday to join Cup 1 in a Ferrari 296 Challenge car. As the 2025 Ferrari Challenge Europe Trofeo Pirelli champion, the Swiss racer would be the benchmark for the class.
A damp but rapidly drying circuit greeted the drivers for the first race; some left the pits on slick tyres, while those on wets unanimously decided to switch ahead of the formation lap. Ignazio Zanon had claimed pole position in the VSR Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, and shared the front row with LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler’s Felix Hirsiger (Ferrari 296 Challenge).
By the time racing began, it was dry enough for a two-by-two rolling start, which played heavily into the hands of Felix Hirsiger. The power advantage of the Engstler Ferrari shot him into a clear lead, forcing Zanon to settle for second, ahead of Kenneth Heyer in the SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Further back, Dexter Müller (CBRX by SPS Mercedes) lost control on a slippery patch, and spun out. The rest of the field successfully avoided the Swiss, who continued from the rear of the pack. A lap later, approaching turn two, Lukas Azzato (Kessel Ferrari 296 Challenge) and Alessio Ruffini (Auto Sport Racing Lamborghini) collided. Both cars were left stranded, as the remaining drivers came under Safety Car control for the first time.
Upon the race resumption, Jonas Karklys was looking menacing from P4, at the wheel of the Engstler Lamborghini GT3. He committed to the damp inside line at the first turn, but unfortunately lost the rear end on turn-in, falling to the back of the field like Dexter Müller before him.
The return to racing action was fairly short-lived, as Igor Klaja lost control between T1 and T2, necessitating another Safety Car. Moments after the SC was deployed, Seweryn Mazur’s right-rear tyre began to escape the wheel well owing to a wheel nut failure; this stranded him at pit entry.
An extended pause to the racing finally concluded on the penultimate lap, and while Felix Hirsiger would remain unchallenged at the front, Simon Orange’s fourth position was less secure. The Orange Racing by JMH McLaren was under immense scrutiny from a recovering Jonas Karklys, and the pair were almost side-by-side as they negotiated the final corner. Unfortunately for Karklys, he pushed the limit too far on the outside, and found himself bouncing across the gravel, and down the order.
Hirsiger would claim the race victory by 3.5 seconds, with Ignazio Zanon finishing as the GT3 winner and overall runner-up in the VSR Lamborghini. Kenneth Heyer came home in third position for SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm, ahead of Simon Orange.
After Alessio Ruffini and Igor Klaja’s incidents, Petar Matic (Auto Sport Racing) and Oleksii Kikireshko (PTSportsbyUp2Race) won the Cup 4 and Cup 2 classes respectively.
Race two:
In drying conditions, VSR’s Mattia Michelotto would start the Sunday morning sprint race from pole position, and was followed into the first turn by Jay Mo Härtling. Alessio Ruffini caught a major slide under braking at T1, but was unfortunately in a collision moments later at the apex with Seweryn Mazur. Both Lamborghinis were damaged, and would ultimately withdraw from the race.
Jonas Karklys briefly moved up to third in the Engstler Lamborghini, but Orange Racing’s Marcus Clutton performed a committed overtake around the Parabolica Ayrton Senna at the end of the first lap. Moments later, Karklys looped the car exiting the first corner, hit the Armco and triggered a Safety Car. His rear suspension was damaged on-impact.
After the Safety Car, the top three broke away, but Clutton did not quite have the same level of pace as Michelotto and Härtling. The pair were closely matched through the race, and while the SR Mercedes driver was able to match Michelotto’s pace, he could not find a way past. Michelotto won the race over Härtling by just six tenths of a second.
Marcus Clutton rounded out the overall podium, ahead of Felix Hirsiger, who once again won the Cup 2 class. Auto Sport Racing’s Petar Matic won the Cup 4 class in his Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2, while Oleksii Kikireshko once again secured Cup 2 honours in the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup.
Race three:
Sopping wet conditions meant that the drivers were presented with a significant challenge for race three. The final race of the weekend – the 55-minute pitstop encounter – once again saw the #66 VSR Lamborghini of Ignazio Zanon on pole position, alongside Felix Hirsiger in the #155 Engstler Ferrari. Zanon seemingly caught out Hirsiger as the race began. This not only allowed Zanon a great launch; it also allowed third-place starter Jay Mo Härtling to move up to second. Härtling looked confident in the opening corners, and promptly dispatched the VSR Lamborghini around the outside of the turn five kink.
14th place starter Tim Heinemann (PTSportsbyUp2Race Porsche 992 GT3 Cup) quickly moved through the field, and was at times the fastest car on-track in the early stages of the race. Heinemann reached fourth position within ten minutes, but was then demanded to drop back two positions for making up places off the defined racing surface.
The pit window opened with 25 minutes of racing complete. Just over halfway through the window, Alfredo Hernandez lost control of his Grupo Prom Mercedes exiting the final corner, triggering a safety car. Under safety car conditions, the pit window is paused, and the mandatory stop cannot be made. However, both Tim Heinemann’s #88 Porsche and Petar Matic’s #32 Auto Sport Racing Lamborghini visited the pits under safety car, netting 70-second penalties for not correctly serving a mandatory pitstop.
Teams that had already made their pitstops – including the VSR Lamborghini, now in the hands of Mattia Michelotto – had a distinct advantage. Meanwhile, Jay Mo Härtling, who had yet to hand the SR Motorsport Mercedes to Kenneth Heyer, would see the lead he’d built nullified and lost.
Indeed, once the green flags waved once more and the pit window restarted, it was VSR’s Michelotto who inherited a comfortable race lead. Alas, it was not to last, as Michelotto made an unforced error with just over six minutes remaining.
This handed the race lead to Oleksii Kikireshko in the Up2Race Porsche he took over from Tim Heinemann. However, since a legal pitstop had not been served, victory would therefore be handed to Kenneth Heyer and Jay Mo Härtling. This would mark a 25th overall victory for Mercedes-AMG in the GT Winter Series, an apropos achievement for SR Motorsport and long-term Mercedes driver Heyer.
Jonas Karklys took second position for LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler, while Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton rounded out the podium. Cup 4 honours fell to Alessio Ruffini and Milos Pavlovic in the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2, while the Kikireshko/Heinemann combination still won the Cup 2 class despite its penalty.
Felix Hirsiger completed a sweep of Cup 1 in the Engstler Ferrari 296 Challenge car.
At the conclusion of the GT Winter Series’ Portuguese leg, SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm’s Härtling and Heyer lead the overall and GT3 points standings with a score of 92. Orange Racing by JMH’s Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton run second on 86.
The GT Winter Series will return from 12-15 February at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. In collaboration with automotive culture festival ROOW, the event is expected to be the biggest Winter Series event to-date. A week prior, many teams from the GT Winter Series will arrive to the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the second-running of GEDLICH’s 6H of Portimão, from 6-8 February.
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
Following on from the season-opener at Portimão, the GT4 Winter Series grid once again showcased a remarkable bevy of talented drivers, and a mix of compelling entries spread across five classes.
The first race of the weekend on Saturday was held in damp conditions, which necessitated a single-file restart, much to the advantage of pole-sitter Enrico Förderer in the #11 SR Motorsport Mercedes. Ravi Ramyead held second early on, ahead of W&S Motorsport’s Porsche Caymans driven by Joachim Bölting and Tim Horrell.
While Förderer drove away at the front, Ramyead was under immense scrutiny in the L’Espace Bienvenue BMW. After several laps of close battling, Bölting appeared to miss his braking point at turn three, tagging the rear of Ramyead. As the BMW driver lost control, he received a secondary impact from Horrell; the resulting damage eliminated both Porsches, while Ramyead rejoined the race a lap down.
The Safety Car came out in the aftermath of the three car impact. Upon the resumption of the race, Tom Papenburg was now running second behind Förderer, in the PRO class CV Performance x JP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4. The youngster was celebrating his 15th birthday that day, and in his first ever car race, he wasn’t quite able to match the pace of the reigning ADAC GT4 Germany champion.
For the SR Motorsport team and Förderer, it was a first win of the season, and Papenburg was able to complete a Mercedes 1-2. Meanwhile, Franz Linden scored an overall podium in his Clubsport-spec Porsche Cayman, winning the Cayman Trophy class in the process.
After the Safety Car, Zome Racing’s Gonçalo Veiga put on a show in the McLaren 570S GT4. After several laps of trying, and pushing his Club class entry to the limit, Veiga finally passed Bruno Pereira (Araújo Competição Aston Martin) for fourth overall. Veiga and Pereira finished in tandem, winning the Club and PRO-AM classes respectively.
Race two:
Race two featured the same front row as the first race, albeit with Joel Mesch in the #11 SR Motorsport Mercedes) and Charlie Robertson in the L’Espace Bienvenue BMW.
Mesch held the lead early, but not without challenges emanating from Robinson on the first lap. However, it appeared the BMW M4 GT4 Evo’s balance was not in the British driver’s favour, as he spent much of the first two-thirds of the race holding off Cedric Fuchs in the #111 SR Mercedes. Fuchs eventually found a way by, after several laps of trying to pass around the outside at turns seven and eight. Fuchs claimed the PRO-AM lead with the move, and Frederik Zebis (W&S Porsche) eventually found his way past also, knocking Robertson down to P3 in PRO-AM after a slight nudge at Parabolica interior. However, Robertson would ultimately be promoted back to third overall after the stewards awarded Zebis a five-second penalty for the contact during the overtake.
At the front of the field, it was formation flying, with Mesch and Fuchs sealing an overall 1-2 as well as PRO and PRO-AM wins for SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm.
In the wet conditions, Mattis Pluschkell again performed well in the BWT Mücke Motorsport Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4, finishing sixth overall and winning the Club class.
Race three:
The 60-minute pitstop race marked the first time the GT4 Winter Series runners had raced on slicks all weekend; at the front, Enrico Förderer and Ravi Ramyead led the field away, but as the fielded rounded turn one, the Safety Car had already been scrambled. Troy Sovicka’s Blue Garage Racing Lotus Emira GT4 collided with Franz Linden’s Speedworxx Porsche on the main straight, sending the Lotus into the pit wall. Linden would continue, but Sovicka’s car required recovery.
Once the race resumed, Förderer held the lead, while his SR Motorsport teammate Cedric Fuchs began a climb from fifth to second place, dispatching his PRO-AM rivals in relatively short order. Despite shedding a passenger-side window, the #111 SR Mercedes looked searingly quick on-track.
During the pit window, there was a drama for the Club class #700 Mücke Aston Martin; Mattis Pluschkell had to control-alt-delete the car on his out lap, after jumping onboard the car shared with Thilo Goos. Despite the setback, the German pair would still win the Club class once the car was back up to speed.
In the second phase of the race, it appeared that Willi Kühne was struggling in the #111 Mercedes inherited from Cedric Fuchs, as he quickly dropped the PRO-AM lead and fell through the pack. However, there were no such dramas for Förderer and Joel Mesch, who completed a weekend sweep in the #11 entry, even with an eleven-second penalty applied for a short mandatory pitstop.
Tim Horrell and Frederik Zebis took a strong second overall as well as a PRO-AM win in the #32 W&S Porsche, while Tom Papenburg finished third to conclude his first weekend in GT racing.
Following Estoril, both the overall and PRO class championships are firmly in the control of SR Motorsport’s Mesch and Förderer. In the PRO-AM standings, Charlie Robertson and Ravi Ramyead hold a six-point advantage over Fuchs and Kühne, while also sitting second in the overall classification.
As the sole AM class entrant at Estoril, Joachim Bölting moved into a comfortable class lead, while Mattis Pluschkell and Thilo Goos continue to lead the standings within the Club class for out-of-homologation GT4 cars.
Next up, the GT4 Winter Series takes on Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo from 12-15 February, at an event that will also feature a celebration of car culture in collaboration with ROOW.
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
Young talents with Formula One backing were among the headliners on the entry. Dries Van Langendonck joined the returning Rodin Motorsport team, wearing the famed Papaya as part of McLaren’s Driver Development Programme. Van Amersfoort Racing’s line-up featured the Red Bull Junior Team’s latest Dutch prodigy Rocco Coronel, while Campos Racing entered Red Bull F1 Academy representatives Alisha Palmowski and Rafaela Ferreira, alongside Red Bull Junior Team member Chiara Bättig.
Returning drivers such as Aleksander Ruta, Thomas Bearman (Van Amersfoort Racing), Teo Borenstein (Jenzer Motorsport) and Oleksandr Savinkov (US Racing) would be looking to fight for the title. Meanwhile, highly-touted rookies including Levi Arn, Alfie Slater, Ethan Lennon and Vittorio Orsini would all be looking to make a flying start in the Formula Winter Series.
The pair of Saturday qualifying sessions were heavily disrupted by rain, and this would leave all three races with starting orders that didn’t match the anticipated form book.
Ahead of the first race of the 2026 season, a deluge beset the Circuito Estoril. As a consequence, the race began under Safety Car. Teo Borenstein – who was fourth on the grid for Jenzer Motorsport – had a spin on the opening lap, drilling home the point that the conditions were not yet raceable.
After several laps behind the Safety Car, the cars were brought to the pits under a red flag. Marginal improvements to the conditions saw the cars roll again, however, further rain fell in the moments before the race finally saw green flags for the first time. In just a sector of racing, the likes of Aleksander Ruta, Viktor Poulsen, Ethan Lennon and Ary Bansal all had issues, forcing another Safety Car; one which would ultimately conclude the race.
The driver that started from pole, Dries Van Langendonck, ultimately only had to keep the car pointed straight to claim his first win of the season in the overall and rookie standings. He was followed home by fellow Rodin driver Alfie Slater and Jenzer’s Levi Arn, while Alisha Palmowski finished fourth overall for Campos Racing, winning the Female Trophy.
Race two:
The race two grid is typically formed by the second best times from Qualifying 1. However, owing to heavy red flag disruption in the session, only three drivers set a second flying lap; Alisha Palmowski, and AKM Motorsport’s Felipe Reijs and Vittorio Orsini. Therefore, those drivers made up the first three grid positions.
The remainder of the field was set by the fastest times from Thursday and Friday’s collective tests, placing Aleksander Ruta fourth, Dries Van Langendonck fifth and Rocco Coronel sixth. The race would be held in greasy conditions, with the field on wet tyres.
As the race began, both parties from row three got a fantastic start, and Rocco Coronel was already challenging Palmowski for the race lead by turn two. As the field rounded turn four, Coronel was firmly into the lead, and Dries Van Langendonck followed him through into second place. The top two broke away from the pack, while the likes of Palmowski, Aleksander Ruta, Thomas Bearman, Ethan Lennon and Alfie Slater were all fighting for third place.
Unfortunately, Slater and Bearman would collide at the exit of the Gancho chicane, spinning Slater out of the points as Bearman continued unabated. Another incident at Gancho damaged Viktor Poulsen’s AS Motorsport entry, triggering a Safety Car.
With approximately ten minutes remaining, the race resumed, but would shortly back out after a gravel excursion for Abdullah Kamel. With one lap to go, the field was released once more, and through all of the stops and starts, Rocco Coronel had retained his lead. The Dutch talent crossed the line to his first-ever Formula 4 race, ahead of Van Langendonck and Thomas Bearman. His first embrace after exiting the car was with his proud father, Tom.
After a race spent fighting for every position, Alisha Palmowski narrowly missed out on the top ten, but still won the Female Trophy from 11th.
Race three:
The third race would prove to be the most dramatic of the weekend, thanks in large part to rain, which began to fall on the grid as the drivers awaited the formation lap. With the entire field on slicks, and increasingly damp conditions, it was a tentative race start for all.
Pole-sitter Dries Van Langendonck held the lead in the early stages, holding off his Rodin teammates Ethan Lennon and Alfie Slater as well as Rocco Coronel. Further back, the likes of Teo Borenstein, Viktor Poulsen, Ginevra Panzeri and Markas Silkunas were involved in a tangle at the second corner, and the Safety Car was scrambled.
As conditions continued to deteriorate, many drivers elected to pit to switch to wet tyres. By the time the Safety Car left the circuit, a majority of the field had switched to wets; however, Rodin’s trio of drivers were among those still on slicks, while Rocco Coronel only switched as the green flag flew.
Oleksandr Savinkov was the first of the drivers who had switched to wets during the Safety Car, however, the US Racing driver was directly behind Campos’ Chiara Bättig, who started the race from the pits on what were clearly now the correct tyres.
Van Langendonck, Lennon, Slater and the other slick holdouts quickly fell through the field as the race resumed. Soon, Savinkov, Bättig and Ary Bansal were the top three, with the latter driver sliding into the race lead ahead of Savinkov. The two US Racing drivers broke away from Bättig, but were embroiled in their own fight. At turn seven, Savinkov committed to the outside line, finding the grip to draw alongside, and then sweep by at the following right-hand flick.
Bättig passed Bansal shortly thereafter, as the Indian racer appeared to struggle with his car’s balance.
The fastest driver in the top ten for chunks of the race was Mathilda Racing’s eponymous driver Mathilda Paatz, who worked her way up to third position. She would ultimately finish the race behind Bättig, marking a historic double female podium, and the first overall FWS podium appearances for a female driver since 2023.
However, it was ultimately a dominant win for Oleksandr Savinkov. The US Racing driver had finally won his first F4 race, in year three of his tenure in the category. With this result, Savinkov propelled himself to second in the championship, behind Dries Van Langendonck, who finished a frustrating third race in 22nd.
Ary Bansal remained in fourth place in race three, ahead of rookie class winner Vittorio Orsini (AKM Motorsport).
Over the course of a dramatic, intense weekend, some 24 drivers scored points. 22 competitors scored points across the entirety of the 2025 Formula Winter Series, highlighting the unpredictable and topsy-turvy nature of the Estoril event.
The Formula Winter Series will remain in Portugal for its next stop on the calendar, as the grid takes to Portimão’s Autodromo Internacional do Algarve on the 7th and 8th of February.
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
It will be the fourth season for the Formula Winter Series, and the combination of teams and drivers points to a highly-competitive fight for the overall championship, rookie standings and teams’ title.
Reigning teams’ champions US Racing, who also clinched the 2025 drivers’ title with Gabriel Gomez, are once again the most numerous team on the grid. No fewer than six entries will represent the German outfit.
Of the six entries, two drivers arrive with F4-level championships already under their belt. Australia’s Noah Killion will be looking to build upon a successful year in his homeland, in which he won the 2025 AU4 title. Equally, Ary Bansal will be a favourite to land on his feet, after winning both the 2025 GB4 and British F4 Challenge Cup championships. The Indian racer was recently endorsed by the first Formula One driver from his homeland, Narain Karthikeyan.
The remaining US Racing entries will be piloted by FWS returnees Oleksandr Savinkov and Ludovico Busso, as well as Roman Kamyab and Arjen Kräling.
Rodin Motorsport returns to the Formula Winter Series for the first time since 2024, and will feature one of the most coveted talents in the Rookie class. Dries Van Langendonck, who is backed by McLaren’s Driver Development Programme, made his debut in Formula 4 at the tail-end of 2025, winning a race and scoring a pole position in his first weekend.
Alfie Slater joins Rodin Motorsport for 2026, after spending two years honing his wheel-to-wheel racecraft in the Ginetta Junior Championship, where he took three victories in 2025. Meanwhile, South Africa’s Ethan Lennon will be the youngest driver on the grid, as he celebrates his 15th birthday today (Thursday), in the midst of the first 2026 Formula Winter Series tests and his Rodin debut.
Van Amersfoort Racing welcomes 2025 Rookie class runner-up Thomas Bearman into the fold for the new FWS season. After taking a podium during the final weekend of the 2025 Formula Winter Series, and his first F4 win over summer, Bearman will be looking to challenge for victories and the title during this campaign.
Aleksander Ruta will look to take strides in his sophomore FWS season and his second year with VAR, while Brazil’s Pedro Lima makes his European racing debut with the Dutch squad. Red Bull Junior Team member and 2025 Ginetta Junior Champion Rocco Coronel will be keen to impress as he joins VAR to embark upon his first championship-long campaign in single-seaters.
Fellow Red Bull Junior Team member Chiara Bättig joins Campos Racing, alongside FWS returnees and Campos F1 Academy drivers Alisha Palmowski and Rafaela Ferreira. Jenzer Motorsport brings a quartet of drivers to the grid; returnee Teo Borenstein, Swiss karting champions Levi Arn and Georgiy Zasov, plus Lithuanian talent Markas Silkunas.
AS Motorsport brings Ginevra Panzeri and Viktor Poulsen under its own banner, and will also lend support to Mathilda Paatz’s eponymous Mathilda Racing entry. CRAM Motorsport offers a compelling trio of rookies, in the form of Oscar Repetto, Samuel Ifrid and Max Kammerlander, who join Andre Rodriguez in the line-up.
AKM Motorsport brings three cars for Vittorio Orsini, Abdullah Kamel and Felipe Reijs. Renauer Motorsport will once again field a single car, this time for single-seater debutant Tomas Rudokas, who shifts to F4 after a year of GT racing.
With an expanded five-round calendar, and a hugely-competitive field featuring drivers from 16 nations, the imminent start of the 2026 Formula Winter Series promises intrigue and a closely-fought championship fight. The season opener and all subsequent rounds of FWS will stream live on the Winter Series YouTube channel, while local fans are able to purchase affordable tickets for all events.
In 2025, all three races were won by Cup class machinery, as the GT3 entries struggled on a predominantly wet weekend. If this feat is to be repeated in 2026, the Cup crews will have to better a much stronger GT3 entry than was seen the previous year at Estoril.
For SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm’s #11 Mercedes, the opening round at Portimão was one of mixed fortunes. While Jay Mo Härtling secured a victory in the second race of the weekend, races one and three both deviated from the intended script for he and defending GT3 champion Kenneth Heyer.
The pairing will be looking for a consistent presence on the podium at Estoril.
Fellow full-season entrants Orange Racing by JMH had a strong start to its season in Portimão, in spite of challenging qualifying sessions compromising Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton’s starting positions. This time around, the British pair will look to convert their pace into victories.
Andre Fernandes will once again bring his Porsche 991.2 GT3 R to the grid with AF Motorsport. Meanwhile, LIQUI Moly Team Engstler continue with Tim Hütter and Jonas Karklys in the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2.
Another Huracan will be entered by Vincenzo Sospiri Racing. Piloted by 2025 Italian GT Sprint PRO-AM champions Mattia Michelotto and Ignazio Zanon, the #66 entry will be a formidable addition to the field.
PTT Racing’s Prezemyslaw Bienkowski and Mateus Lisowski had a quiet outing at the first event, and will look to grab the spotlight here at Estoril. A pair of solo-driven Mercedes-AMGs complete the GT3 entry; Alfredo Hernandez (Grupo Prom Racing Team) and Dexter Müller (CBRX By SPS).
After a class win last time out, Lukas Azzato and Alberto Cola will be looking for more success in the #13 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 Challenge, which headlines the Cup 1 entry.
However, AF Corse arrives to the circuit with two strong entries from the UK. After coming close to a class win during the third race at Portimão, Sean Ran and Josh Steed will be determined to find themselves on the top step of the podium. A new pairing for this weekend – Joseph Dean and Aston Millar – are likely to be highly-competitive.
Alvaro Ramos (Araújo Competição) and Friedrich Müller (LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler) complete Cup 1, at a venue where the 296 Challenge was responsible for two overall victories in 2025.
Cup 2 will see PTT Racing’s Igor Klaya go up against the PTSports by Up2Race entry of Oleksii Kikireshko and Fabio Grosse. The competitive order is completed by the Cup 4 class for Lamborghini Super Trofeo machinery, where Auto Sport Racing’s pair of entries will be complemented by Shota Abkhazava of ART-Line.
This weekend’s grid marks the largest assembled for the GT Winter Series at Estoril, since GT4s gained their own field in 2024. With a strong GT3 field, plenty of competitive entries within the Cup classes, and tricky conditions looking likely on the radar, this weekend’s racing is set to deliver intrigue in spades.
Both days of racing will be streamed live on the Winter Series YouTube channel. Tune in from 12:45PM local time on Saturday, and 09:15AM on Sunday, to see all of the action from Estoril!
Historically, some of the most fierce and fascinating battles in the GT4 Winter Series have come at the historic home of Portuguese motorsport. This will doubtless be echoed once again this season, following a thrilling and unpredictable opener at Portimão.
For 2025 vice-champions SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm, the agenda for the second round of the season will be race victories. After an engine failure in testing at Portimão, Joel Mesch and Enrico Förderer were forced to switch to a back-up car. At times, the pair did not look to have the Mercedes-AMG GT4’s balance where they wanted it, and the weekend only yielded a single podium. Förderer and Mesch will look to correct course this time around.
Joining the PRO class for this weekend, and for the remainder of the season, is CV Performance X JP Motorsport. The collaboration between the two teams is one that looks to funnel young talent through the GT racing ladder from karting. As such, it is no surprise to see a new face at the wheel, champion kart racer Tom Papenburg. After a 2025 with extensive GT4 and Porsche Cup testing, the Dutchman will now look to hit the ground running in the team’s Mercedes-AMG GT4.
Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson scored three overall podiums at the season opener, and are not only the PRO-AM championship leaders, but also the first of the full-season crews in the overall title fight. The L’Espace Bienvenue pairing will be looking to challenge for a first overall victory of the season, in their BMW M4 GT4 Evo.
Tim Horrell and Frederik Zebis of W&S Motorsport will look to follow-up on their own overall victory in the 60-minute pitstop race at Portimão. However, after failing to score points in the first two races of the weekend, the pair in the Porsche Cayman will also be keen to finish both competitively and consistently.
Also in PRO-AM, Cedric Fuchs and Willi Kühne (#111 SR Motorsport Mercedes) will hope to bounce back from a challenging weekend in the Algarve, while Pavel and Troy Sovička will be keen to continue extracting strong performances from the Blue Garage Racing Lotus Emira GT4.
Another pair of Porsche entries are split across the AM and Cayman Trophy classes. Joachim Bölting is often referred to as a wet weather specialist, and the predicted conditions for this weekend suggest the German may be in his element aboard the #32 W&S Porsche. Meanwhile, Speedworxx Automotive brings a Clubsport-spec Porsche Cayman to the grid for the first time this year, entering the familiar pairing of Arne Hoffmeister and Franz Linden into the Cayman Trophy class.
At Portimão, the victories in the Club class were split across three driver pairings, all of whom return for Estoril. This coming weekend, Zome Racing’s pair of McLaren 570S GT4s will once again be driven by the young pairing of Rafael Rajani and Luis Aguiar, and long-time Caterham racers Breno Arruda and Antonio Duarte. Meanwhile, Mattis Pluschkell and Thilo Goos will once again share the BWT Mücke Motorsport Aston Martin V8 Vantage affectionately known as ‘James 4.0’.
The GT4 Winter Series will be joined by the GT Winter Series once again at Estoril, as well as the first event of the Formula Winter Series season. The racing will be streamed live all weekend long on the GEDLICH Racing YouTube channel, while tickets are still available on the Spectators section of the official series website.
Teams from across Europe arrived to the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the first GEDLICH Racing Winter Series event of 2026. Among the drivers, 16 nations were represented on the grid, with 29 cars taking the start of race one.
Pole position for the first race fell to Haupt Racing Team’s Kiano Blum, marking a successful introduction to the GT Winter Series for the Ford Mustang GT3. Juta Racing’s Arūnas Gečiauskas lined up alongside in the Audi R8 LMS Evo II.
In drying conditions, the race began in single-file formation, allowing Kiano Blum to establish a gap as the green flags flew. Gečiauskas initially lined up for a two-by-two start, and Blum took advantage as the Lithuanian racer corrected his error. This also allowed Jonas Karklys to move into second place at the first corner. However, a short time later, the Team Engstler Lamborghini driver found himself pointing the wrong way at turn 13, and fell down the field.
Karklys was not the only driver struggling on a still-slippery track; defending GT3 class champion Kenneth Heyer had a major off at turn 10, causing the SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes to fall out of the top 15. However, the German would recover to 11th by the race’s end.
Having started fourth, Krystian Korzeniowski (Olimp Racing Ferrari) had inherited second position after Karklys’ spin, and soon began challenging Kiano Blum for the race lead. At the halfway point of the race, lapped traffic held up the Mustang driver at turn one, allowing Korzeniowski to sweep around the outside and claim a lead he would not surrender.
By the end of the race, Korzeniowski finished 10.976 seconds clear of Blum. Arūnas Gečiauskas finished third, just holding off the AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Yaroslav Veselaho. Further back, the GT2 class NM Racing Team Mercedes of Branden Oxley surged past several GT3-spec cars, ultimately finishing eighth overall. LMR Motorsport’s Pablo Bras claimed a dominant victory within the Cup 2 class for Porsche Cup Machinery.
Carl Runefelt won the Cup 1 class in his Ferrari 296 Challenge; he celebrated this with a handstand on the podium.
Race two of the weekend was held in treacherous conditions, as overnight rain left the circuit in a greasy state on Sunday morning. Olimp Racing’s Karol Basz led from pole as the race began. Once again, the race started in single-file, allowing Basz to have an uncontested run to turn one.
Basz built a gap over three seconds in the early minutes of the race. But, as the temperatures rose and the track started to dry, the pendulum swung in favour of SR Motorsport’s Jay Mo Härtling. Basz defended admirably, however the Mercedes of Härtling had superior traction, which the German used to get to the inside of the Ferrari at turns 10 and 11. Basz attempted to cut back, but the traction advantage of the Mercedes proved too much to overcome.
In the remaining five minutes, Härtling proceeded to build a gap of over four seconds, securing a well-deserved win with relentless pace. Basz held on to second, while Marcus Clutton performed a storming drive to finish third, having started eighth in the Orange Racing by JMH McLaren.
One of the most exciting battles in the race decided the Cup 1 class, as Carl Runefelt and Lukas Azzato fought in their Ferrari 296 Challenge machines. After several laps of side-by-side moments, Lukas Azzato found grip on the outside of the Turn 5 hairpin, powering past Runefelt on the uphill run through Turn 6.
Leandro Martins was just ahead of the Cup 1 battle on the road, and romped to a comfortable Cup 2 victory in the LMR Motorsport Porsche. Cup 4 driver Alessio Ruffini finished 11th overall in his Auto Sport Racing Lamborghini, his best overall result of the Portimão event, in a weekend where he was the only class entrant.
The 55-minute pitstop race was held in near-dry conditions, with only a few puddles remaining around the circuit. However, a light sheen of water was still evident on the inside line approaching turn one. This would prove to disadvantage the race pole-sitter, Olimp’s Krystian Korzeniowski, who would lose out to fellow front-row starter Kiano Blum (Haupt Ford) as the race began.
Korzeniowski immediately approached the limit to try and reclaim the lead, but pushed too hard on the run through Turn 9, finding a damp patch at 200kph and rotating the car 720 degrees. Remarkably, he avoided the barriers, and finished the first lap in tenth position.
As a result of the drama behind, Blum had a 3.6-second lead at the end of the first lap, but he would soon find himself under pressure from the #111 SR Motorsport Mercedes of Moritz Wiskirchen. Determined to pass his car to co-driver Michael Sander in the lead, Wiskirchen carried impressive speed around the outside of the final corner, to set himself to sweep by the Mustang at Turn 1.
Halfway through the mandatory pit window – after working his way back up to third – Krystian Korzeniowski handed the car over to Karol Basz. Basz was immediately on the pace, setting purple sectors and fastest laps. Michael Sander exited the pits in the #111 Mercedes ahead of Basz, but was quickly reeled in with 19 minutes left on the clock.
The #64 Mustang exchanged hands from Kiano Blum to Emil Gjerdrum at the last opportunity within the pit window. As Basz reeled in Sander on the main straight, Gjerdrum exited the pits. With Sander not able to match the pace, and Gjerdrum on cold tyres, Basz made up two places in as many braking zones; he was now the race leader.
Basz would quickly build an iron-clad advantage, and ultimately finished the race 17 seconds clear of second-placed Gjerdrum. Michael Sander ultimately fell down the order in just his second weekend of GT3 racing, which handed the last podium slot to Juta Racing’s Arūnas Gečiauskas.
Carl Runefelt and Sean Hudspeth took the Cup 1 victory for AF Corse, after the latter driver performed a brilliant defensive drive in the final lap. AF Corse stablemate Josh Steed came close to claiming the win for he and Sean Ran, but ultimately had to settle for second place.
Leandro Martins and Pablo Bras completed a clean sweep of the Cup 2 class from 16th overall, finishing just ahead of the spectacular Classic&Speed BMW Z4 GT3, raced by Marcus & Christoph Oeynhausen in the GTX class.
Courtesy of their Cup 2 dominance, Martins and Bras lead the overall GT Winter Series championship after the first round on 60 points, two clear of Olimp Racing’s Krystian Korzeniowski and Karol Basz.
The next round of the GT Winter Series takes the paddock to the famed Circuito Estoril, from 22-25 January. Weekend tickets are still available for €25, with one-day ticket options also available.
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
The 2026 GT4 Winter Series began with three races at the always-popular Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão.
A grid of 16 cars competed in the opening round, with compelling battles promised across the PRO, PRO-AM, AM and Club classes.
The first race of the weekend was held in mostly dry conditions, though some patches of damp tarmac remained from earlier showers. As the conditions had shifted significantly from qualifying, race control elected for a single-file start.
W&S Motorsport’s Tim Horrell had placed the #30 Porsche Cayman on pole position. For the bronze-rated driver in the PRO-AM entry, this was a searingly impressive achievement. In second position was Hugo Bac, at the wheel of the #17 Greystone GT McLaren Artura. The British team had worked on the car long into Friday night after a heavy accident in practice.
As the race began, third-place starter Lucas Cartelle perfectly timed his start in the #26 Speedy Motorsport Toyota. By the first corner, he had drawn up alongside Bac, and swept around the outside to immediately move into second place.
The Belgian driver was immediately on the back of race leader Horrell, capitalising on an apparent early tyre and brake temperature advantage. At Turn 7, Cartelle was able to find the inside line, and moved past Horrell to take the race lead within the opening lap, while Hugo Bac was also able to sneak up the Porsche’s inside.
Cartelle had a clear pace advantage, which left Bac to defend second place from Horrell, who was performing admirably against the PRO driver.
For much of the race, Horrell was evident in the McLaren’s mirrors. However, at two thirds distance, Horrell’s Porsche suffered a wishbone failure under braking at turn five, bringing his bid for an overall podium to a close.
The recovery of the W&S Motorsport entry required a Safety Car, which would ultimately conclude the race in favour of Lucas Cartelle. The Belgian’s triumph marked the first GT4 Winter Series victory for both Speedy Motorsport and the Toyota marque.
Hugo Bac finished second, while Ravi Ramyead secured third overall and PRO-AM victory. The L’Espace Bienvenue BMW driver was yet another Bronze-rated disruptor among the PROs, and was looking likely to join the second place battle before Horrell’s failure.
AM class honours went to Joachim Bölting, who had to work his way through the field after problems in qualifying. On the team’s GT racing debut, Zome Racing won the Club class for out-of-homologation GT4 cars, with Breno Arruda in a McLaren 570S.
For race two, the #30 W&S Motorsport Porsche once again claimed pole position, this time in the hands of GT racing debutant Frederik Zebis.
The grid was presented with a conundrum, as the circuit was steadily drying after overnight rain; the grid was split on which tyres were suited to the conditions. A total of six drivers started the race on slicks, including second-place starter Hudson Schwartz in the #26 Speedy Motorsport Toyota.
And, while the slick shod runners would lose time on the first lap, it was clear that they had made the correct decision once the tyres were up to temperature.
As the ‘slick cars’ began dispatching those on wets, Hudson Schwartz found himself in the race lead. However, the American racer would be dealt a blow from race control. The decision to switch the Speedy Motorsport Toyota to slicks was a late one, and the car was on its air jacks too close to the start of the formation lap. As a result, a drive-through would have to be served.
Schwartz served the penalty with a dozen minutes left to go. Unfortunately, his time loss was then compounded on pit exit, as he asked too much of the slicks turning into the first corner on a damp patch, resulting in a spin. Ultimately, Schwartz found himself in eleventh position, but would recover to fifth before the chequered flag, despite a last-lap collision with lapped traffic.
Frederik Zebis’ potential for race victory quickly faded on wet tyres, and the W&S team ultimately elected to pull the GT racing debutant into the pits to switch to slicks.
This left Greystone GT’s Jayden Kelly at the front of the field. The Australian had also started the race on slicks, and flawlessly executed the 30-minute sprint to win by six seconds.
The overall runner-up spot and PRO-AM victory went to Charlie Robertson, scoring a second consecutive overall podium for the #71 L’Espace Bienvenue BMW squad. Joel Mesch took third overall, a strong performance in a back-up #11 SR Motorsport Mercedes, following engine problems for the originally-intended car.
Aleksandrs Bobrovs won the AM class, crediting his strong sixth overall to Team VRT’s decision to start the #18 Mercedes on slicks.
Mattis Pluschkell finished seventh overall in the #700 Mücke Motorsport Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4. The German racer qualified a remarkable fourth place in the first-generation GT4 Vantage, but was hampered in the race by wet tyres. However, his performance was still enough for the Club class win.
The 60-minute pitstop race closed out the first GEDLICH Racing Winter Series weekend of 2026.
Tim Horrell would once again assume pole position in the #30 W&S Motorsport Porsche, alongside Jayden Kelly in the Greystone GT McLaren.
Once again, the Bronze-rated driver’s grid position proved to be anything but a fluke, as he not only retained the lead but built a gap over Kelly, Robert Cronin, Charlie Robertson, and Hudson Schwartz. The quartet fought hard for the remaining podium places throughout the first stint, and while Cronin fell out of the top five from an early third place, Robertson ascended from fifth on the grid to second.
Tim Horrell handed the reins of the leading W&S Porsche over to Frederik Zebis at the first opportunity. However, at the conclusion of the pit window, the Dane found himself behind Lucas Cartelle, who benefitted from a fast end-of-stint from Hudson Schwartz.
Light damage on the Supra’s front bodywork was progressively getting worse, and seemingly began affecting the car’s performance as Cartelle’s stint continued. Regardless, the Belgian was holding off the Porsche of Frederik Zebis, but on the penultimate lap, the splitter began to vibrate violently.
As the Belgian drove over the main straight’s crest to start the final lap, the splitter finally gave in, and folded underneath the Supra’s front wheels. Zebis powered by into the lead, and would ultimately win the race, while Cartelle would have to settle for second position.
Meanwhile, Ravi Ramyead finished third overall, and second in PRO-AM behind Zebis and Horrell. Courtesy of this result, he and Charlie Robertson leave Portimão as the overall championship leaders in the GT4 Winter Series.
In the Club class, Mattis Pluschkell was set to bring home another win for he and Thilo Goos in the Mücke Aston Martin. However, on the final lap, Pluschkell was forced to pull over with technical issues. This handed the class win to Rafael Rajani and Luis Aguair of Zome Racing.
Joachim Bölting took a second victory of the weekend in the AM class, again working his way forward from the back of the grid.
The GT4 Winter Series now travels between famed Portuguese venues, ahead of the second event of the season at Estoril from 22-25 January.
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
