GT and GT4 Winter Series: Champions crowned at Barcelona

Cristiano Maciel and Rui Aguas (AF Corse Ferrari 296 Challenge) entered the final weekend of the GT Winter Series season with a slim advantage of eight points in the overall championship. Alessio Ruffini and Milos Pavlovic of Auto Sport Racing came into Barcelona in second. However, the deck was stacked against the Italo-Croatian duo in their Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo II.

Points are scored within the classes of the GT Winter Series, with greater rewards coming for competitors in divisions with larger grids. Only three cars were entered into the Cup 4 class for Super Trofeo Lamborghinis, meaning a maximum of 14 points could be scored for Ruffini and Pavlovic.

In Cup 1 – Aguas and Maciel’s class – 20 points were available. This was also the case in GT3, where Kenneth Heyer and Moritz Wiskirchen were entered. The SR Motorsport duo were third in the overall standings, 12 points behind Maciel and Aguas. The defending champions in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo would face stern competition from the likes of Razoon – more than racing, Comtoyou Racing, Konrad Motorsport and Orange Racing by JMH.

Race 1

As the first 30-minute sprint race began, Comtoyou Racing’s Kobe Pauwels made a brave move around the outside at Turn 1, stealing the lead from the pole-sitting SR Mercedes of Wiskirchen. The Cup cars started in a separate group, which was led away Jerzy Spinkiewicz in the Uniq Lamborghini.

Pauwels had a smooth race in the #700 Aston Martin and won by 5.6 seconds. Wiskirchen had a hard-fought run to the chequered flag, finishing second, and holding off the GT3 Pro class Liqui Moly Team Engstler Lamborghini of Dante Rappange.

Spinkiewicz won Cup 4, while Cup 1 was topped by Eric Cheung in his AF Corse Ferrari. Second in Cup 1 fell to Maciel, who increased his overall championship lead. Since both Wiskirchen and Maciel both came second in their classes, they both scored 18 points, while Ruffini only scored 12 in Cup 4. Wiskirchen and Heyer were now second in the overall standings, but remained a dozen points behind the leaders.

PTT Racing won Cup 2, with GT racing newcomer Fabian Dybionka.

Race 2

As the teams readied for the second race, held in the early afternoon, the track had been drying out after a morning of intermittent rain. The circuit was not dry, but it was greasy enough for the vast majority of teams to opt for slick tyres.

Seeing the evidence of these decisions on the pre-grid, race director Werner Aichinger decided to start the race after an additional lap under the safety car, in single-file formation.

Once the race began, the first lap was smooth for the cars at the front of the field, including Razoon’s Simon Birch, who led the early stages ahead of Luca Engstler. Further back, however, the damp surface caught out several drivers. While all parties were OK, there was barrier damage, and a safety car soon gave way to red flags.

The race resumed with less than 10 minutes left, and Birch controlled proceedings at the front, despite significant pressure from Engstler. The pair finished just half-a-second apart, ahead of Matisse Lismont of Comtoyou Racing.

Cup 1 honours went to Goncalo Araujo of Santogal – Araujo Competiçao, while the championship-leading Ferrari of Maciel finished fourth in class. Cup 2 victory went to Wileco Motorsport’s Calle Bergman, elevating Bergman and Manz Thalin’s Porsche 992 Cup to a joint second in the overall standings.

Both the Wileco Porsche and the SR Mercedes had 176 points, while Maciel and Aguas went into the title-deciding race on 188. As long as the AF Corse Ferrari was classified, it would be the championship winner.

Race 3

There were a few scares along the way before AF Corse pair sealed the championship

Photo by: Gedlich Racing

The third and final race of the season began with defending champion Heyer on pole in the SR Motorsport Mercedes.

Lismont hung on from the outside of the front row at Turn 1, and was still alongside Heyer at the apex of the corner. The Aston of Lismont had a nose ahead and, as SR Motorsport’s Heyer tried to get the power down, he lost control. Heyer ended up last among the GT3s.

Lismont led the early stages until Leo Pichler swept around the outside at Turn 12 in the Razoon Porsche. However, with 20 minutes elapsed, Lismont returned to the race lead after Pichler lost time behind lapped traffic.

A safety car came out shortly thereafter to collect Cheung’s expired Cup 1 Ferrari. At the same time, Lismont was declared as one of six cars to receive a drive-through for an incorrect starting formation. The Comtoyou team elected to serve its drive-through after the safety car was declared. This caused an unfortunate double-whammy for the #700 Aston Martin, as the car was held at pit exit on a red light, and drive-through penalties cannot be served during safety car periods. Therefore, this visit to the pits did not count as serving the penalty.

The pit window created a heart-in-mouth moment for Maciel. He passed the car over to Aguas for the final stint, and reported that it had been developing a misfire. The Ferrari struggled to get out of the pits, and briefly pulled up at pit exit. Aguas was forced to perform a hurried control-alt-delete, and the car continued as normal.

A non-finish at that stage of the race would have meant no points scored for the #50, as 75% race distance had not been completed.

By the end of the race, Razoon’s Birch had driven away from the field and took a comfortable victory for alongside Pichler. While the Comtoyou Aston finished second on the road, it received a penalty for not correctly serving the drive-through. Marcus Clutton and Simon Orange inherited second, ahead of Danny Soufi and Carrie Schreiner of Konrad Motorsport.

With a second-place finish in class, Maciel and Aguas secured the overall GT Winter Series. It was a great milestone in the fledgling career of Maciel, whose first race came at the Estoril season opener in January.

Fourth in class for SR Motorsport’s Heyer and Wiskirchen proved to be enough for second in the overall standings, as Bergman and Thalin came home second in Cup 2.

GT4 Winter Series: Elite completes the feat, takes home the titles

Single-seater convert Cresswell (left) clinched the title

Photo by: Gedlich Racing

In the GT4 Winter Series, Elite Motorsport and McKenzy Cresswell left Barcelona with the teams’ and drivers’ championships.

Race 1

In the first race, RAFA Racing by Race Lab’s Charlie Hart took an early lead, despite running wide at the first corner. Elite’s Tom Lebbon, who started alongside his fellow McLaren driver, found his way by before the end of the first lap. Lebbon proceeded to defend throughout the 30-minute race, and crossed the line first as the chequered flag flew. However, a track-limits penalty was applied to the Elite McLaren in the last moments of the race, handing victory to Hart and Race Lab.

Lebbon was ultimately classified second, ahead of SR Motorsport’s Enrico Forderer. With 50 points to score, Cresswell had a 38-point advantage against Förderer and Jay Mo Hartling.

Race 2

A conservative approach was taken by Cresswell, who allowed himself to fall to fourth, in the second sprint race on Sunday morning as he knew it was enough to secure the championship honours.

Denny Berndt won the race for Razoon – more than racing, while Alon Gabbay of W&S Motorsport made it a Porsche 1-2. Callum Davies finished third for RAFA Racing by Race Lab.

For Cresswell, the championship win was the culmination of a perfect first campaign in GT racing. He won the championship alone, as he shared with both Lebbon and Joshua Rattican during the season, but Elite also clinched the teams’ title.

Race 3

Elite’s McLaren has been the car to beat for much of the season – and that continued at Barcelona

Photo by: Gedlich Racing

Elite Motorsport and RAFA Racing started from the front row for the final race of the season, and fought throughout the contest. Lebbon and Hart were the first sparring partners at the wheel of the two McLarens, and it was Hart in the lead for the duration of their stint.

However, as the PRO-AM East Racing Porsche Cayman of Manuel Lauck was tagged into a spin, a safety car had to be called at the tail-end of the pit window. RAFA Racing’s McLaren was in the pits at the time, and exited into the lead, and the newly-installed Davies was picked up by the safety car as the leader.

However, a red light was being displayed at the pit exit, and this ultimately resulted in a drive-through penalty for Davies. However, this decision was made late in the race, and the white McLaren Artura crossed the line first on the road. The drive-through was later converted into a 35-second post-race penalty.

Therefore, Cresswell and Lebbon ended the season on a high, being classified as the race winners ahead of Hartling and Forderer’s SR Motorsport Mercedes. The FK Performance BMW of Joseph Ellerine and Benjamin Sylverstersson rounded out the podium, while the Race Lab McLaren was classified in 14th.

The GT grids end on a high as the 2025 Winter Series concludes

A huge field was attracted for the GT4 finale

Photo by: Gedlich Racing

A season-high entry in the GT4 Winter Series, and another deluxe grid of over 25 cars in the GT Winter Series, is another exciting development for GEDLICH Racing’s paddock. The quality and quantity of the grids continues to develop, and the prestige of winning against the field grows as a result.

AF Corse’s Maciel and Aguas will carry great momentum into the remainder of Maciel’s first racing season, while Elite Motorsport has kicked off its busiest season yet with a showcase display against tough competition.

Many of the teams in the paddock in Barcelona were already looking ahead to participation in the 2026 Winter Series, which will once again bring the thrill of international motorsport to Iberia’s best circuits from January.