GT4WS | In the Estoril deluge, Day, Pichler and Mesch prevail

The new stand-alone championship splits entries into Pro, Am and Pro-Am categories, with drivers earning points based on the number of opponents they beat in their category. There's flexibility on the technical side too, with a special class created for SR Motorsport's pair of 'sub-GT4' Porsche Caymans.

The format of the six-round series sees teams take on two 30-minute sprint races and a one-hour endurance race with one pit stop.

Race 1

The sprint race on Saturday was the highlight of the day's programme. The weather was more cooperative than other races, with the track only damp at the start. It was dry enough for the slick tires, but only marginally, which made for a fun 30 minutes.

The author of the pole position, Leo Pichler (Razoon – Porsche Cayman), immediately took the lead and seemed too strong for his rivals, even after an initial safety car lap caused by a spin behind him. In fact, he had a lead of over three seconds when another driver knocked out by a rival led to a second safety car intervention.

But it wasn't so easy for Pichler to take off on the second restart, shortly after the halfway point of the race, which turned into a four-way battle between Pichler, Jamie Day, Joel Mesch and Mathieu Martins. Day pushed his Aston Martin Vantage ahead of Pichler at the narrow 'Gancho' chicane, but the overall loss of speed sparked some moments of chaos among the leaders.

The confusion led to Pichler slipping to fifth due to an excursion into the gravel at the exit of the long Parabolica 'Ayrton Senna', while Martins jumped ahead of Day and Mesch (Schnitzelalm Racing, Mercedes). It was an exciting comeback for Martins, who had in fact been among the protagonists of a spin at the first corner of the race.

But due to a misunderstanding between Martins and a lapped driver, the former's Racar Motorsport Porsche also had an unexpected off-track exit. The win was none of his business and Martins dropped to third, with the battle in the closing laps between Day and Mesch.

But the eighteen-year-old Day withstood every attack from his rival, giving the brand new Forsetti Motorsport team success in its first race.

The British team is managed by engineer Joe Holloway, who has several years of experience in Formula 1 behind him. But why this name? Holloway says Forsetti's etymology is a secret for now. But he added that those who know about motorsport might be able to find out…

While the Pro drivers took the podium, Pichler needed only fifth place overall to take the Pro-Am class honors. Max Huber (NM Racing Mercedes) won the Am category.

Race 2

There were no slicks for Sunday morning's second sprint race, which started in the wet and got worse.

Pichler admitted he loved the rain and took advantage of it to make up for the mistake he made in Race 1. Ironically, the long final turn once again played a key role. This time he was the Austrian's main rival who was surprised by the fast and famous right-hander at the hands of poleman Ivan Ekelchik (Wimmer Werk Motorsport, Porsche Cayman).

Ekelchik gave Pichler a hard time after losing ground at the first corner, but pushed a little too hard when the initial safety car phase ended on lap five. The mistake he made exiting Parabolica cost him a huge amount of time in the fight to get back on track and he ended up retiring to the pits.

This made life relatively easy for Pichler, who had a smooth run to the checkered flag, extending his lead to over five seconds at the finish line.

Behind him, Tom Lebbon (Elite Motorsport, McLaren Artura) spent much of the race trying to overtake Schnitzelalm Racing's Jay Mo Hartling. Their battle was a study in their very different wet racing lines, but Lebbon's choice to stay on the inside paid off on lap nine.

Hartling then had to battle with Enrico Forderer (whose SR Motorsport 'special' Cayman was strong in the wet) for the remainder of the race – a battle he narrowly won to complete the overall podium.

Class winners were Pichler (Pro-Am), Lebbon (Pro) and Speedy Motorsport BMW M4 driver Luis Liberal (Am).

Photo by: Gedlich Racing

Joel Mesch

Race 3

As the sun continued to stubbornly hide on Sunday afternoon, the track looked less wet than it had for some time when the GT4 cars took to the grid for their endurance race.

However, only Zac Meakin chose to fit slick tyres, a gamble that didn't pay off on a track that proved very slow to dry.

The excellent Day took the lead from fourth at the start, while Pichler and Hartling kept an eye on him when the safety car came out on lap two. Egor Khichin, in his first car race, spun at turn 4 and his Porsche required the intervention of a tow truck.

Pichler executed a clean move into Turn 3 to take the lead from Day at the start of lap five, only to fly away to put more than five seconds between himself and his rivals. The fight behind the Austrian continued, with Martins and Forderer catching up with Day and Hartling.

Then, just before the pit stop window opened with 35 minutes to go, Pichler suffered transmission problems, slowing down on the main straight as he struggled to find a solution, but neither he nor the team could do so and his race in fact it ended at that point.

When the pit stops were over and the new leaders handed over their cars to their teammates, Roberto Faria (Racar) preceded Mesch and Mikey Porter (Forsetti), while Forderer's teammate, Willi Kuhne, was unable to match the their pace and walked away.

With 20 minutes to go, it was shaping up to be a close fight to the finish line, but then the stewards announced a drive-through penalty for Faria. His pit lane time was one second above the set minimum.

With Faria out of action in a distant third following the penalty, Mesch was gradually able to shake off Porter, whose second-place finish was still a strong result for the teenager's first race in a car GT.

It was another Pro-dominated podium, but fourth place overall and the Am winner were taken by the other NM Racing car, driven by Alberto de Martin and Nil Montserrat. The CV Performance duo of Charles Dawson and Emil Gjerdrum took Pro-Am class honors with Mercedes.