After a thrilling opening of the season at the Algarve, the GT Cup Europe is ready for a Round 2 that promises to be as exciting, given the stage: nothing less than Spa-Francorchamps, the Cathedral of the Ardennes.
There was plenty of action and close fights in the two races in Portugal, and it should be so in Belgium as well, as the level of competitiveness is more even than ever.
A pair combining youth and experience emerged from Portimão as the first leaders of the season: Paul Meijer and Jourriaan De Back in the HWM Motorsport Porsche will be almost on home soil at Spa, racing a few kilometres from their native Netherlands. The Dutch pair won one of the races in Portugal and have a 7-point gap on José Barros, the young Lusitanian of AF Motorsport, who surprised everybody with the performance level shown in the Algarve. He will now have to prove what he is capable of outside of his home track.
Third in (close) contention are Matteo Luvisi and Pietro Delli Guanti, the young pair of the reigning FAEMS Team, now associated with Ebimotors, who took the other win in Portugal. Also impressive in their first outing in the series were Diego Stifner and Ludovico Laurini, defending the colours of BiRace Motorsport, who are fourth in the standings.
The top SILVER class includes two other candidates to victory: Ludovico Longoni and Niccolò Schirò were not very lucky in the s-opener, but the ZRS Motorsport pair is ready for revenge, and the same could be said about the second FAEMS Team by Ebimotors tandem, composed of Matteo Martinelli and Giacomo Petrini.
In the PRO-AM class, there is a perfect tie at the top: Lars Zaenen-Fgani Salubre (HWM Motorsport) and Alejandro Barambio-Borja García (GT Corse) both have 11 points and one win to their credit. For Belgium’s Lars Zaenen, this will be his home race and he will certainly want to shine in front of his fans.
Both the leading pairs, though, will have to watch their shoulders, as LMR Motorsport’s Fabio Sampaio and Bernardo Pinheiro are only one point behind. The Brazilian and the young Portuguese are both new to the series but ready to fight for a maiden success.
The AM class is as closely-fought and lively as ever: at the top of the standings is the Tsunami RT duo composed of expert Fernando Navarrete and young gun Fernando Pedrera, one point ahead of the newly-formed duo of Cássio H. de Mello-Giacomo Giubergia (GDL Racing), who shared race wins in Portugal.
Class double reigning champions Leandro Martins and Dieter Svepes (LMR Motorsport) will be seeking revenge after an unlucky start to the season, while Brazilians Nelson Monteiro-Nelson Marcondes, in the second GDL Racing car, and Rick Van Zijverden-Hans Weijs (HWM Motorsport) will continue their familiarisation with the series.
Last but not least, the Spa round will see the return of a popular outfit in the series: Volcano Motorsport and its long-standing driver Evgenii Leonov, after a hiatus of some months and ready to fight for the top in a track that saw their most memorable overall success, back in 2023.