Let battle begin: GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club returns at Circuit Paul Ricard

The GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club will roar back into life at Circuit Paul Ricard next weekend (April 11-13) as the fight to be crowned champion of the world’s biggest GT4 category begins anew.

A 43-car field will contest the opening races of the season, with a total of 10 different manufacturers represented as the series continues to form a key part of GT World Challenge powered by AWS race weekends. Since 2017 the GT4 European Series has been contested across three classes – Silver, Pro-Am and Am – with a total of 42 different drivers celebrating titles over that time. This year six former winners return, along with a host of new entries.

Silver: Could Elite and Rattican make history?

Never in the history of the GT4 European Series has a driver or team managed to win the Silver title twice, let alone defend the crown. Elite Motorsport and Josh Rattican will have that chance as the headline entry.

With 21 cars, Silver continues to be the biggest class, offering the rising stars of GT racing the chance to shine. Having lifted the Teams’ and Drivers’ double last year, Elite and Rattican are back to defend their titles, with Rattican now partnered by GT4 Winter Series champion McKenzy Cresswell in the team’s lead McLaren Artura.

However there is a host of top challengers, such as 2023 champion Gabriele Piana, back alongside Berkay Besler in a Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo. GT4 European Series champion from 2017, Ricardo van der Ende, returns alongside Benjamin Lessennes in a race-winning combination for L’Espace Bienvenue BMW.

They may not be champions, but Team Speedcar pair Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche won the last four races of 2024 and will be aiming add their names to the roll of honour. Others threats come from Lluc Ibañez and Alex Papadopulos (NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG), Erik Evans and Marco Signoretti (Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang) plus single-seater star Hadrien David and Jan Duran (Matmut Évolution Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2). Two-time Pro-Am champion Gregory Guilvert teams up with Paul Petit (Team Speedcar Audi) while Charlie Hart and Callum Davies will represent RAFA Racing Club sharing the first of the team’s McLarens.

Pro-Am: W&S and Mirage to reignite rivalry

Last year’s Pro-Am title chase became a straight fight between W&S Motorsport and Mirage Racing, and both teams return in what could again be a close contest.

With reigning champion Max Kronberg switching to the Am class this year, W&S will call on Hendrik Still and Joachim Bolting to share its Pro-Am Porsche, while Mirage enjoys the consistency of keeping both Aleksandr Vaintrub and Stanislav Safronov aboard its Aston Martin.

An Am class star last year, Andy Cantu moves up alongside Miguel Cristovao in (NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG), while AV Racing brings a Porsche for Mathieu Detry/Fabian Duffieux. The 2022 Am champion Mikhail Loboda returns alongside Vasily Vladykin (Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport BMW), while Schubert Motorsport takes over the M4 of Victor Bouveng/Joachim Wilde. Gabriela Jilkova/Cindy Gudet will also be ones to watch in Matmut Évolution’s all-female Toyota.

Father and son Paolo and Davide Meloni share the familiar W&D Racing Team BMW, while brothers Hugo and Thibaut Mogica continue the family theme in CMR’s Ginetta.

Am: All bets are off in wide-open contest

With last year’s dominant team and drivers moving on, the stage is set for new champions to be crowned in the Am class.

An eye-catching new entry is Kronberg alongside new team-mate Daniel Blickle in his W&S Motorsport Porsche, as is the AV Racing Porsche set to be raced solo by Bollywood superstar Ajith Kumar. Newcomers Igor Sorokin and Keith Gatehouse share the third NM Mercedes-AMG.

There are also familiar faces, such as Antoni de Barn and Jean-Mathieu Leandri (Chazel Technologie Course BMW), Julien Ripert/Philippe Thalamy (Team Speedcar Audi), Stefan Nilsson/Mats Olsson (Schubert Motorsport BMW) and father-and-son Mikael and Christoffer Brunnhagen (Toyota Gazoo Racing Sweden).

The GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club season begins at Circuit Paul Ricard with testing on Thursday, April 10 before Free Practice (17:40) on Friday. Pre-Qualifying (08:30) and Qualifying (14:00) is on Saturday before the two hour-long races are held on Sunday at 10:35 and 16:30 respectively. Qualifying and both races will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel, and live timing will be available on the official championship website.