The GranTurismo MC GT4 is in debut  action this weekend with an official entry being run by the highly experienced AF Corse team with the #40 car being shared by Cédric Sbirrazuoli and Lorenzo Casé. Two of the older GranTurismo racers have been entered privately at Spa in the GT4 class by Gianni Giudici for himself and Andrea Perlini (above). The pair soon got to grips with the car on the wet track posting the 12th and 14th quickest class times in the first session and the 10th and 14th quickest times in the second session respectively.

Spa is set to be a hectic weekend for the GT4 category, with almost 40 cars due to line up on the grid. There are around 20 cars from the GT4 European Cup, joined by another 21 from the Tango Dutch GT4 Championship which is the first new series based on the GT4 category, under franchise from SRO. A great success from the start, the series uses the same principles of performance balancing, but with more professional drivers taking part and different tyres (Michelin). There will be separate grids for the two series, separated by 45 seconds.

Last year, Spa proved to be a good weekend for RJN Motorsport’s Alex Buncombe, who won the two sprint races in his Nissan 350Z before spinning out in the third longer one. Eric de Donker also had a good weekend with three podium finishes in his Motorsport98 Mustang FR500C. Other podium finishers of the weekend were Guino Kenis in the G&A Racing BMWZ4 (second in race 1), Jürgen Van Hover in the Speedlover Aston Martin N24 (1st in the third and second in the second race) and Nikolaus Mayr Melnhof and Klaus Engelhorn in the Jetalliance Aston Martin N24 (third in the third race). This year’s 40-minute format should suit both the cars and the circuit, while the drivers will be keen to show their skills up against their Dutch rivals.

After a strong start to the season, the Ginettas cars will have to work hard for their podiums now, with the longer, power-hungry tracks more suited to the BMWs, Aston Martins and Nissans. Pierre Brice Mena in his Espace Bienvenue BMW M3 GT4 has been getting consistent strong results for the past few races, closing the gap in the points down to seven between him and points leader Osborne, who is at 37 points after a bad weekend at Oschersleben. Also catching up are Alex Buncombe and Luca Ordoñez, who are currently joint third at 29 points after two podiums in Oschersleben, putting them only one point behind Mena. Kevin Veltman, the only driver to have scored points in every race so far is fourth in the points, thanks to his consistency, with 27 points.

The first free practice session yesterday took place in tough conditions, with the track only drying in the final few minutes, and with a 13 minute red flag due to one car spinning off in the middle of the session not leaving much time for the drivers in the drier conditions. Racing alongside the Tango Dutch GT4 championship, the times were all mixed together. Maxime Martin came out on top in the Ice Pole Racing Team Porsche 997 GT3, with the only time under 3 minutes with a lap of 2:59.035. Pierre Brice Mena was second fastest in a BMW M3, setting a lap of 3:0.431. Ordoñez set a lap time of 3:01.846, giving him the third fastest time overall in the RJN Motorsport Nissan 350Z. Next up in an impressive turn of speed for its competitive debut was the new AF Corse Maserati GranTurismo MC which posted the fourth fastest time in GT4 and seventh overall, with a time of 3:04.375, immediately demonstrating that the latest breed of Trident sports car is set to be a real challenger for honours.

The second free practice at Spa went by relatively smoothly. With the track drier than the morning session, the laps were quicker and the positions settled early on, with only a few changes during the session. The four best laps were set by Dutch GT4 drivers, with Frankehout and Bastiaans in the PS Autosport Porsche 997 GT4 setting the best lap of the session with a time of 2:37.572. Martin and Ludovic Sougnez were the fastest of the European GT4s in their Ice Pole Racing Team Porsche 997 GT3, setting a best lap of 2:38.698. Second fastest this session were Tobias Guttroff and Jens Richter in the Callaway Competition Corvette C6, with a lap of 2:40:035, putting them seventh fastest overall. The Ginetta G50 of Abbott and Fletcher was third fastest with their best time of 2:40.743 and overall. The #40 Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4 of Sbirrazuoli and Casé was again in rapid form and posted the fourth fastest time for the second consecutive session (2:41.188) while Michael Mallock in the RS Williams Aston Martin was fifth (2:41.772). In Supersports the Donkervoort D8GT of Denis Donkervoort was fastest with a time of 2:44.185. Augustin Eder in the KTM Xbow set the second quickest time of 2:46.246 while Athanasios Ladas also in a KTM set the third fastest time of 2:53.823.

Also in action were two of the older generation of GranSport racers which were entered in the GT4 class by perennial privateer racer Gianni Giudici for himself and team mate Andrea Perlini. The pair very quickly got to grips with this racer at the Spa circuit posting the 12th and 14th quickest GT4 class times in the wet first session and then the 10th and 14th quickest times in the second session respectively.