he #1 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 took victory in the opening race at Zandvoort, the ninth race of the 2019 GT4 European Series season.
After 31 laps round the Dutch circuit, Nicolaj Møller-Madsen and Cédric Freiburghaus claimed their first victory of the season. Marius Zug and Gabriele Piana were victorious in the Pro-Am class, while Alessandro Giovanelli and Bob Herber took the win in the Am class.
FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON FOR MØLLER-MADSEN AND FREIBURGHAUS
Pole-sitter Mads Siljehaug held the lead on the run to the first corner, with Nicolaj Møller-Madsen behind the #24 KTM in second place. A great start from Ricardo van der Ende resulted in the Dutchman taking third behind the leading duo. Shortly after a brief full course yellow to recover the stranded #61 Academy Motorsport Aston Martin, Van der Ende was all over Møller-Madsen in battle for second place. The Dutchman tried to pass the Dane into Tarzan corner, but Møller-Madsen kept his Audi in front of the Ekris.
The gaps between the top three cars remained the same for several laps, with Pro-Am leader Duncan Huisman in the #69 V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro closing in on Van der Ende. As the pit window opened, the two Dutch drivers were battling for track position and by lap 13 Huisman had won the position. Four laps later race leader Siljehaug and Huisman came into the pits for the mandatory stop, one lap after Møller-Madsen had come in to hand over the #1 Audi to Cédric Freiburghaus.
Nicolai Elghanayan rejoined in the lead, but shortly after all teams had completed their stops Freiburghaus passed the American to take the lead. On the same lap Elghanayan’s teammate Reinhard Kofler crashed into the tyre wall at turn 2 and soon after Kofler retired the KTM in the pits. Behind them it was Euan McKay in third, until he was given a drive through penalty for track limits. This allowed V8 Racing’s Olivier Hart to take third overall.
At the front, Freiburghaus had established a comfortable lead over Elghanayan, who saw Hart closing in on him lap after lap and on lap 29 the Dutchman overtook the American into Tarzan corner. There wasn’t enough time left for Hart to go after Freiburghaus and two laps later the Swiss driver crossed the line in first place, taking Phoenix Racing’s first win of the 2019 season, with the V8 Racing Camaro of Olivier Hart and Finlay Hutchison taking second in its first outing of 2019.
Behind Freiburghaus and Hart, Elghanayan secured the final podium step for Valvoline – True Racing, with Daniel McKay (Equipe Verschuur) and Jan Kisiel (Leipert Motorsport) taking fourth and fifth in the Silver Cup. The #25 MDM Motorsport BMW completed the overall and Silver Cup top six.
CLASS WINS FOR RN VISION STS AND SELLESLAGH RACING TEAM
Just like the opening race at Misano two weeks ago, RN Vision STS and Selleslagh Racing Team were victorious in Pro-Am and Am. Gabriele Piana and Marius Zug took their third win of the season in the #111 RN Vision STS BMW, finishing seven seconds ahead of the #15 NM Racing Team Ginetta G55 GT4 of Lluc Ibanez and Jorge Cabezas Catalan.
Pro-Am points leaders Luci Trefz and Marcus Paverud finished the first race at Zandvoort in third place, ahead of the Allied Racing Porsche of Jan Kasperlik and Nic Schöll. The #69 V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro ended the race fifth in class, after reaching third place overall earlier in the race.
The two Schwede Motorsport Mercedes-AMG cars were sixth and seventh, with Jan Rehnig and Dominik Schraml beating Marc Basseng and Phillip Bethke. Sixth in Pro-Am was the second Allied Racing Porsche of Constantin Schöll and Benjamin Mazatis.
Alessandro Giovanelli and Bob Herber won the Am class with the #31 Selleslagh Racing Team Mercedes-AMG. It was the #48 CMR Alpine that had started the race from pole position, but in the second part of the race the Selleslagh Racing Team crew overtook the Alpine and then went on to win the race. Eric Mouez and David Loger finished in second place, ahead of Street Art Racing’s Clement Seyler and Pascal Bachmann.