Two from two for Consani and Lariche as Team Speedcar finishes strong at Zandvoort

Consani started from pole but briefly dropped behind the sister #8 Audi early on. However, a determined fightback helped him snatch the lead back before the pit window, with Lariche proving unshakable across the second half to secure the result. Coupled with their victory last time out at Circuit Paul Ricard, Consani and Lariche leave The Netherlands with the Silver points lead.

Joachim Bölting and Hendrik Still capped a dream weekend by completing a clean sweep of Pro-Am wins, but only after the PB Racing Lotus that led the class throughout suffered a penalty for a short pit stop. Jean-Mathieu Leandri and Antoni de Barn made it three Am class wins from the first four races in their Chazel Technologie Course BMW.

SILVER: CONSANI AND LARICHE EXTEND WINNING FORM

Consani never let his head drop despite a misjudged start costing the #3 Audi the lead into Turn 1, and the impressive fightback to victory showed how hungry he and Lariche are for this year’s title. Their Zandvoort result means they have secured a race victory at each of the last four GT4 Europe events, a run stretching back to Monza last September.

Paul Petit got the jump at the start to vault past Consani but his efforts to build a gap were put on hold when the red flags flew to recover the damaged #31 W&S Porsche that was stranded on track after being hit.

When racing resumed, Consani closed on Petit at the restart, getting a slipstream into Turn 1 to assume a lead the car would never lose. Things would go from bad to worse for Petit when the #8 was handed its second time penalty of the event, this time for a start procedure infringement. That blew the fight for second wide open.

Jan Duran ran third for the first half and successfully relayed Adrien David to ensure the Matmut Évolution Toyota emerged from the pits in second, just ahead of the Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang of Erik Evans, Lluc Ibañez in the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG and Roberto Faria’s Mirage Racing Aston Martin.

Ibañez found a way past Evans after a mighty fight between the Mustang and Mercedes, eventually muscling by after the pair ran door-to-door for multiple corners. Ibañez pushed hard, but ran out of laps to catch the Toyota. Berkay Besler and Gabriele Piana were fourth for Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport after Piana also passed Evans, with the penalised Audi of Petit and Gregory Guilvert rounding out the top six.

PRO-AM: LOTUS PENALTY OPENS THE DOOR FOR W&S

Alberto Naska and Stefano D’Aste controlled the entirety of this race aboard their PB Racing Lotus Emira, but somehow failed to win it after a pit stop error cost them dearly.

Naska did a superb job in Qualifying to start the Lotus well clear of his Pro-Am rivals and kept things clean across the first half to bring the car in six places higher than his nearest pursuer. However, the changeover to D’Aste proved too rapid and while the Emira rejoined still in the lead, it was hit with a 12-second penalty for a short stop.

That set up a race against the clock for W&S. Bölting kept the #32 Porsche in the top four before handing to Still, who rejoined third and bravely attacked the #7 Mirage Racing Aston Martin of Stanislav Safronov ahead. An attempt around the outside of Turn 1 resulted in a scary rub on exit, but Still recovered to get the pass done and then closed enough to the Lotus to be elevated to the win on corrected times. Safronov and Vaintrub were third to secure their first podium of the year.

AM: CHAZEL BACK ON TOP WITH DOMINANT WIN

Nobody could deny Antoni de Barn and Jean-Mathieu Leandri a third win of the season, the Chazel Technologie Course BMW leading from start to finish.

De Barn put plenty of cars between himself and Hans Holmlund’s Toyota Gazoo Racing Sweden Supra in the first stint, leaving Leandri a comfortable run to the flag. Daniel Blickle and Max Kronberg followed up their strong opening race by fighting through to second, with NM Racing Team’s Keith Gatehouse and Igor Sorokin completing the podium ahead of Holmlund.

Results are HERE