PROsport Performance wins exciting Competition102 GT4 European Series race at the Hungaroring

PROsport Performance drivers Jörg Viebahn and Peter Terting have won the seventh race of the 2016 Competition102 GT4 European Series at the Hungaroring this evening. The German duo came out on top in an exciting first race of the weekend at the Hungarian track. Their teammates Riki Christodoulou and Carsten Struwe claimed victory in the GT4 AM category. However, pending outstanding investigations the result will remain provisional.

After an extra formation lap, Villorba Corse driver Patrick Zamparini pulled away and held onto the lead into the first right-hander. Jörg Viebahn pushed hard to close the gap and on the run down to turn 5 he put his Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4 next to the Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4 and moved into the lead of the race. Zamparini stayed right behind the Porsche and when Viebahn made a mistake, the Italian was able to retake the lead.

While Zamparini and Viebahn continued to race each other for the lead, Mads Siljehaug was involved in a hard but fair battle for sixth position with Paolo Meloni and Jérôme Demay. The RYS Team Hohenberg driver first passed the Maserati of Meloni, before going after the GT4 AM leading Aston Martin of Demay. Zamparini came into the pits with 26 minutes left, handing over to teammate Luca Anselmi. As Anselmi headed back out onto the track, Viebahn came in to hand over his Porsche to Peter Terting. The extra lap and a faultless stop was not enough to take the lead and the German driver rejoined several seconds behind the Maserati.

Terting, however, was much quicker than Anselmi and after 14 laps he had reduced the Italian’s lead to just 1.1s. A puncture on the Villorba Corse Maserati meant Terting took the lead on the next lap and soon after, Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport driver Simon Knap also passed Anselmi to take third place. By the time the Maserati had reached turn 13 the tyre came off the rim, but it made it back into the pits.

Knap was not in a position to challenge Terting in the final part of the race and, despite having some brake issues, the German Porsche driver went on to take victory in the GT4 PRO class. After 25 laps he came across the line to take the chequered flag, with Knap finishing 6.739s behind him in second place. Knap’s teammates Ricardo van der Ende and Bernhard van Oranje were scored in third place, despite having to serve a drive-through penalty during the race and initially crossing the line in fourth place.

Nicolaj Møller Madsen finished in front of the second Ekris M4 GT4, but he was given a 25-second time penalty post-race for exceeding track limits. The Dane had been in a fantastic fight for the final podium position in the final minutes of the race when he was hit by Mauro Calamia, who was then hit by Maciej Dreszer. All three cars suffered damage, but while Calamia spun Møller Madsen was able to keep his Porsche on the track and crossed the line in third, only to be penalized and drop to seventh overall.

In GT4 AM Street Art Racing’s Damien Dupont was in the lead after the pit stops, but the Aston Martin driver was unable to keep the PROsport Performance Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4 of Riki Christodoulou behind him. On lap 20 Christodoulou made his move to pass Dupont and take the lead. In the remaining five laps he built up a 7.772s lead over the Belgian driver. Massimiliano Tressoldi secured a GT4 AM podium finish for Swiss Team.

Peter Terting (#18 PROsport Performance Porsche): “It was good. Jörg did a really good job. It was tricky, because the track is really hard for the brakes so the temperature kept getting up and my pedal was getting softer and softer. In the end I had to reduce my speed and brake a little earlier, so I was struggling a bit towards the end. I could keep the gap and I was happy I could keep that, because I thought I would drop off, but we did make it until the end. We have to find a solution for tomorrow. I caught the Maserati and then he had this problem and it was very easy to pass him because he went off. In motorsport you need some luck, this time I had it. I am very happy and I’ll go for the championship now.”

Riki Christodoulou (#21 PROsport Performance Porsche): “I wasn’t sure who I was racing at the time. I had a good battle with one of the X-Bows, but the main battle was the Aston. I was behind him for some laps and tried to put a few passes on him at the exit of turn 1. It was a bit close and I had to back out a few times, otherwise it would have been a crash. But it all came together. I was patient when he tried to pass a guy into turn 3, I hung back, got the run and did him in turn 4. That was the turning point of the race. But my teammate and obviously my team did a great job.”

Competition102 GT4 European Series

The Competition102 GT4 European Series consist of six rounds, held at premier race tracks in Europe and partnering top level GT or touring car championships except from the last round in Zandvoort where the GT4 category will be the main programme. The championship includes two endurance races and one round at a street course.

Competition102, unique fuel for maximum performance

Competition102 is premium petrol with an octane number of 102. The unique high octane number of 102 (RON 102) and MON number of at least 90 ensures optimal performances. Competition102 is suitable for all petrol-powered vehicles: from classic (Formula 1) cars and normal passenger vehicles to cross motorcycles and high performance racing cars. Competition102 fuel is exclusively produced, stored and distributed by Salland Olie Maatschappij B.V. in the Netherlands. It’s available at over 60 petrol stations nationwide and is sold in 60-litre barrels.

Pirelli, official tyre supplier

Pirelli is a tyre manufacturer and world leader in the automotive industry. It has an exclusive relationship with over 50 racing series worldwide, including Formula One. Pirelli has a long and illustrious history in endurance racing, and has also claimed a huge variety of class wins in GT racing all over the world. The design of the new Pirelli GT tyres meets the needs of GT racing while maintaining the performance characteristics that endurance drivers have appreciated in the past. The slick tyres used for GT racing are branded Zero: just like the slicks that have become a central feature of Formula One. The name P Zero is used in the highest categories of motorsport such as GT racing.

SRO Motorsports Group, architect of modern GT Racing

SRO Motorsports Group was founded by Stephane Ratel and has specialised in the promotion, support and organisation of many national and international motorsport series since 1995. In 2016, SRO Motorsports Group will promote several championships and series, such as the Blancpain GT Series, including the iconic Total 24 hours of Spa, the British GT Championship, the Blancpain Sports Club with the GT Sports Club and the Ultracar Sports Club, the Competition102 GT4 European Series and the Intercontinental GT Challenge. SRO Motorsports Group runs also the SRO Race Centre by MMC, a high-level technical centre at the Paul Ricard Circuit in the south of France.