PTWS | ANS and Rinaldi Racing prevail in Portimao

The safety car in both 50-minute races prevented the pit stop handicap system from running as intended.

But things went well for Julien Lemoine and Clement Moreno (ANS Motorsport) on Saturday and for Holzem (driving alone for Rinaldi Racing) on ​​Sunday.

Race 1

Saturday's match was a “whoever stays out of trouble wins” series. That said, the safety car certainly played its starring role in the result.

The first to have problems was Inter Europol's Ligier, and it all started in the first qualifying session when Pedro Perino went straight into turn 1 and hit the barriers at 165 km/h, moments after setting a enough time to secure pole.

The 18-year-old felt grateful to have escaped with only back pain after what he described as brake failure. Despite frantic repair attempts, the car failed to exit the pits in time to take its place on the grid.

This left Sandro Holzem (Rinaldi Racing – Duqueine) and Danny Soufi (Konrad Motorsport – Ligier) battling at the front in the first half of the race.

Both had to pit for the maximum handicap time (151 seconds) due to their “Silver” status, but the advantage they had built up in an attempt to cover it was wiped out by a safety car just before the starting window. stops.

And any chance of victory, despite this stroke of luck, was shot down by the troubles in the second half of the race. While Holzem lost several seconds due to a spin, Soufi had a problem with the dashboard which meant the ignition system continued to shut down in the final minutes.

Others who could have benefited from all this were Chris Short/Wyatt Brichacek (DKR Engineering – Duqueine) and Bernardo Pinheiro (Mühlner Motorsport – Duqueine). Short ruined all four tires when he spun early in the race, which resulted in Brichacek being handed a battered car, as well as having to stop for 120 seconds. Pinheiro lost 39 seconds when he inadvertently turned off the car instead of pressing the ignition button after his pitstop (from 151″).

All these problems left Lemoine and Moreno with the victory, although Brichacek moved back to within four seconds. Theirs was certainly not the fastest car, but a clean race, a pitstop of just 89 seconds and the fortuitous intervention of the safety car created the perfect cocktail for victory.

Race 2

There was a lot of curiosity as the cars lined up for round two on Sunday morning. In particular, the Inter Europol car and Pedro Perino were ready to make up for the difficult Saturday, even if Perino's partner, Sebastian Gravlund, had to start from behind after missing the second qualifying.

It would have been interesting to see what Brichacek could do with a new set of tyres, especially starting from pole position. The answer was soon revealed, as the American confidently led the pack throughout the first half of the race.

When the pit stop window opened, Brichacek had a 3.5″ lead over Daniel Keilwitz (Rinaldi Racing – Ligier), who preceded Holzem by a couple of seconds, then Soufi and Gravlund.

Meanwhile Saturday winner Moreno, awaiting a short pit stop, was around 47 seconds behind the leader.

This time the stops were made when the safety car came out, which ruined an intriguing situation.

Ironically, the cause was Lemoine, who crashed at Turn 9 immediately after taking the wheel of the Ligier.

Photo by: Gedlich Racing

Perino on the podium

Short and Steve Parrow had taken their places in the two leading cars at the stops, while Soufi had overtaken Holzem. The American “Silver” then proved a little too eager to overtake the two “Bronzes” in front of him on the restart, passing Parrow before the safety car line. The inevitable drive-through penalty ended his challenge.

Short and Parrow, who would have had a big lead without the safety car, were unable to keep Holzem and Perino behind for long. As the finish line approached, Perino closed in on the German and the two exchanged fastest times at the start of the final lap, with Perino trailing by just over half a second.

A last-gasp victory obtained the day after the violent accident could have been a good script, but Perino was unable to find the opportunity to make it happen. Second place ahead of Pinheiro was still a good result after what happened on Saturday.

Holzem's triumph was the second in the series which currently has four rounds under its belt, after the one in the wet achieved by Rinaldi's standard bearer in Saturday's race at Estoril, a week ago.

PTWS – Portimao: The results of the weekend