Duran and David beat the odds at Barcelona to snatch second victory

An additional five seconds on their pit stop for an unsafe rejoin at the start couldn’t deny the pair, with David rejoining third and then completing two decisive passes in the closing stages to secure the victory.

Hugo and Thibaut Mogica mastered a turbulent Pro-Am race to score their first win of the year aboard the CMR Ginetta, while W&S Motorsport pair Max Kronberg and Daniel Blickle fought back from a mid-race clash to secure their fifth Am class win of the season, and with it the class championship.

SILVER: MATMUT MASTERS TURBULENT RACE

It did not take long for the drama to begin at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with two early incidents mixing up the order and creating a thrilling showdown in which David proved the star.

Josh Rattican had qualified the #78 Elite McLaren on pole and led when the lights went out, however part of his early advantage was down to speeding before the start, which would later earn the Artura a time penalty. Rattican held off Duran into Turn 1, with the Toyota running wide and rejoining across the track to try and hold second. That triggered a chain reaction behind, with Gregory Guilvert tangling with early Pro-Am leader Edvin Hellsten. Duran was handed five seconds extra on his pit stop for the rejoin.

A further clash between the Academy Mustang and L’Espace Bienvenue BMW left the M4 stranded in the middle of the track where it was then hit by the #317 Chazel Technologie Course M4, both summoning the Safety Car and wrecking Chazel’s Am class title hopes.

Rattican led from Duran and Hugo Mogica when racing resumed, but a second multi-car tangle caused a caution period that delayed the pit window. When the race resumed, Rattican immediately hit trouble with a puncture, handing the lead to Duran, as Lluc Ibañez fought past Mogica to grab third in the #15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG.

At this point, Berkay Besler was sixth and dived into the pits early to hand to Gabriele Piana while others stayed out. Piana’s pace helped the Borusan Otomotiv BMW jump to third once the stops had been completed, behind new leader Alex Papadopulos in the NM Mercedes-AMG and David, who had swapped with Duran and served the time penalty. Piana managed to dive past both cars to assume the lead with daring moves into Turn 1, but when his older tyres began to wilt, David fought back and eventually snatched top spot back into Turn 1 late on to secure a superb win, and with it second in the Silver points ahead of Piana and Besler. Charlie Hart and Callum Davies took third for RAFA Racing after Hart also fought past the Papadopulos/Ibañez Mercedes-AMG.

PRO-AM: MOGICA MAGIC BRINGS BREAKTHROUGH WIN

Brothers Hugo and Thibaut Mogica proved the epitome of calm in an otherwise stormy race, carefully managing their Pro-Am lead almost from lights to flag despite heavy pressure from the chasing pack.

Hellsten’s bad luck at the start allowed Hugo into the class lead, and he picked his battles around the Safety Cars to bring the #51 Ginetta into the pits ahead before Thibaut took over and successfully held off the JSB Competition Porsche shared by Viny Beltramelli and Nicco Ferrarin to seal a family celebration.

Cindy Gudet and Gabriela Jilkova were third after Gudet put in a fighting final stint to work the #99 Toyota into a position to claim its fourth podium from the last five races. Stanislav Safronov and Aleksandr Vaintrub could only manage sixth in the points-leading Mirage Aston Martin, but that was still enough to put them on the brink of the title after Hendrik Still and Joachim Bölting lost chunks of time with a pit stop delay and were just 12th.

AM: KRONBERG GOES BACK-TO-BACK WITH BLICKLE

W&S Motorsport drivers Kronberg and Blickle sealed the Am class title a race early by scoring their fifth win of the year, despite a mid-race clash costing them time.

With their closest title rivals out in a lap one accident, Kronberg led the class comfortably through the opening stages but a tangle with the #5 Mirage Aston Martin briefly put the #30 Porsche down to fourth, allowing Reema Juffali to lead in the #77 Elite McLaren. However, a suspension breakage put Juffali out before the pit window, doubling Elite’s pain.

Kronberg picked his way back up the order before handing to Blickle, who proved unshakable across his stint, bringing the car home to spark the celebrations. It also made Kronberg the GT4 European Series’ first back-to-back champion, having won the Pro-Am title last season. W&S made it a one-two with Tim Horrell and Ismaeel Ellahi finishing right behind, ahead of Mikael and Christoffer Brunnhagen in the Toyota Gazoo Sweden Supra.

Results are HERE