GT4 Europe - Piana and Besler fight through for a big win at Hockenheim

The #12 BMW started from 19th on the 51-car grid but emerged victorious after a late-race charge from defending Silver Cup champion Piana. W&S Motorsport secured a fine Pro-Am triumph with its guest entry of Alon Gabbay and Tano Neumann aboard the #31 Porsche, while Schumacher CLRT made it six from seven with victory in the Am class for Pascal Huteau and Laurent Hurgon in the #55 Alpine.

Lluc Ibañez took the start from pole at the wheel of the #15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG, though his advantage lasted just a few corners as the #61 Academy Motorsport Ford of Erik Evans charged past on the run to the hairpin. The Mustang was able to make use of its significant horsepower in this section of the track, a theme that would be repeated throughout the race.

A short Safety Car period neutralised the field before the opening lap was complete. Evans held his position at the restart, but Ibañez was quickly on the attack. When Evans ran a little wide into the final corner, Ibañez drew alongside and completed a pass into Turn 2. But the Mustang was again able to fight its way back into the lead, with Evans charging past before the cars had even reached the braking zone.

Evans survived a second Safety Car restart – which caused a slight delay to the pit window – and ducked in shortly after the half-hour mark to hand over to Marco Signoretti. Ibañez ran an extra lap, which helped team-mate Alex Papadopulos to exit the pits marginally ahead of the #61 Ford. This did not last long, however, with Signoretti making full use of his warmer tyres to overhaul the American driver.

The big winner during the pit stop phase was the #12 BMW. Once the order had settled, Piana was up to fourth spot behind the #92 Wimmer Werk Motorsport Porsche of Nick Maloy and the leading pair. The Italian dispatched the Porsche with 20 minutes remaining, then chased down Papadopulos, only for a Full-Course Yellow to be called just as he looked set to make a pass.

This developed into another Safety Car period, which ultimately served to help Piana as the field was bunched up. Racing resumed with 10 minutes remaining and the BMW quickly overhauled the #15 Mercedes-AMG into the chicane, while fellow M4 runner Benjamin Lessennes (#17 L’Espace Bienvenue) also dived past into third.

Piana eased on to the rear of the Ford, though the win was not a forgone conclusion. Indeed, he put two wheels on the grass when drawing alongside Signoretti with four minutes left on the clock, but still couldn’t get by. One lap later, however, the BMW made a winning pass in the stadium section. There were barely two minutes to spare, though he was able to gap the Ford by 1.9 seconds on his way to the chequered flag, earning a first win of 2024 in the process.

The #61 Academy Motorsport crew finished second to score a first Silver Cup podium of the campaign, while the #15 Mercedes-AMG of Ibañez and Papadopulos secured a hard-fought third after a penalty for the L’Espace Bienvenue machine. Team Speedcar was fourth with its #3 Audi, followed by the #78 Elite Motorsport McLaren of championship leaders Josh Rattican and Tom Lebbon.

Alon Gabbay and Tano Neumann enjoyed a dream debut in the Pro-Am class. Regulars in ADAC GT4 Germany, the W&S Motorsport duo ran as guest entries at their home event and made an instant impression when Gabbay grabbed class pole aboard #31 Porsche.

While the result may appear straightforward, both drivers had to overcome a host of challenges on their way to the top step. The sister #30 car of Finn Zulauf took the lead early on and was followed through by Jon Lancaster (#812 RAFA Racing McLaren) and Edvin Hellsten (#27 Nova Racing Porsche), while Gabbay dropped to fourth following a scrappy start.

Hellsten then made it a Porsche one-two and set about chasing down Zulauf, eventually finding a way past into Turn 2. The fight at the front was neutralised by the Safety Car periods, allowing the #31 duo to stay within touching distance. Gabbay gained one spot when the #812 McLaren was handed a penalty for contact, then ran longer than both the #30 and #27.

Neumann jumped into the lead after the stops and never looked back, pulling clear to seal the win by four seconds. The points-leading #7 Mirage Racing Aston Martin was second, despite Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub having to start the race from the pits to check a tyre pressure problem.

Consistent pace and the Safety Car neutralisations helped the Vantage crew to climb the order and take second when the #75 AV Racing Porsche of Paul Petit and Noam Abramczyk was handed a penalty for exceeding track limits. This left Antoni de Barn and Gregory Guilvert to complete the podium aboard their Chazel Technologie Course BMW, ahead of the penalised Abramczyk and Kronberg.

The Am class was more straightforward, as Pascal Huteau and Laurent Hurgon powered to their sixth win of the season in the #55 Schumacher CLRT Alpine. Huteau put the car on pole and led throughout the first stint before handing across to Hurgon to bring the result home.

Jean-Mathieu Leandri and series newcomer Frédéric Roy made it an Alpine one-two on the road in the Chazel-run entry, however a post-race penalty dropped them back. That meant the returning Adrien Paviot and Nikolas Markiewicz were second in their Team Speedcar Audi. Florent Grizaud and Kevin Jimenez completed the revised top three in their GPA Racing Aston Martin, allowing Huteau and Hurgon to extend their championship advantage to 62 points.

Results are HERE