On a late afternoon with extremely difficult conditions, Nuno Pires and Elias Niskanen took victory in the second race of the Circuito de Jerez round of the Iberian Supercars Endurance.
The Andalusian track is known for its good weather conditions, but today the weather turned completely upside down, with thick clouds descending on the Spanish tarmac throughout the afternoon and a strong wind making life even more difficult for all the drivers.
It was in these conditions that the forty-five minute race began, after a Safety-Car lap for the drivers to recognise the track conditions, with Elias Niskanen, in the Lema Racing Mercedes AMG GT4, holding the lead ahead of Nil Montserrat, also in a Stuttgart car but from the NM Racing Team, who was the best classified among the GT4 Bronze competitors.
The Spaniard was pressurised by Roberto Faria from the outset, which allowed the Finn to pull away in the lead, securing a five-second advantage over his pursuers.
On the fourth lap, however, the Brazilian, at the controls of the Racar Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT4, overtook Nil Montserrat and, from then on, began to gain time on the leader and when they both stopped in the pits to change drivers, he was just one second behind Elias Niskanen.
With a five-second handicap due to his second place in the first race against three of his rivals, Manuel Gião in the Racar Motorsport Mercedes AMG came out of the pits five seconds behind Nuno Pires in the Lema Racing car.
Both drivers were on the limit, and in the final laps the defending champion got significantly closer to the leader, but it wasn't enough, with Nuno Pires confirming his, and Elias Niskanen's, third victory of the season, leaving his pursuer 1.5s behind.
Manuel Gião crossed the finish line in second place, once again helped by Roberto Faria strong performance in the opening stint, securing his best overall result of the season.
Starting sixth on the grid, José Carlos Pires began to recover in the Speedy Motorsport BMW M4 GT4, with Francisco Abreu continuing to finish the race in third place, six seconds behind the winners.
Guillerme Aso took the NM Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT4 to fourth place, followed by Bruno Pires and Fábio Mota, in the Tockwith Motorsports Ginetta G55 GT4, who drove an excellent race.
Jorge Rodrigues and Patrick Cunha, in the Veloso Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4, once again won GT4 Bronze with a consistent race, beating Alberto de Martín and Nil Montserrat, after the NM Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 had started from second on the grid.
Alfonso Colomina, in SMC Racing's McLaren 570S GT4, secured the third position on the podium in the division, in a consistently good performance by the Spaniard under extremely difficult conditions.
Daniel Teixeira, in the JT59 Racing Team's Cupra TCR, made yet another remarkable recovery from last place to fourteenth, winning the Touring car race and the TCR division, despite a jump start penalty.
JC Group Racing duo José Correia and Beatriz Correia once again finished in second place in the TCR division, concluding a race that proved to be very difficult for everyone, given the very complicated weather conditions.
The TC division was monopolized by Spanish drivers, with Borja Hormigos and Héctor Hernández putting the BMW M240I Racing through its paces on the slippery Jerez track, completing a perfect weekend.
The Autorworks Motorsport pair was joined on the podium by the PRM Racing drivers, both in Mini Cooper, with Antonio Albacete and Alejandro Barambio ahead of Javier Moreno and Cesar Serrano.
Marcus Fothergill and Dave Benett, racing in the Tockwith Motorsports Porsche 911 Cup, delivered an outstanding performance, setting themselves apart from their GTC competitors. In the second position, Álvaro Ramos and Fernando Soares secured another triumph in the GTX division.
However, the drivers of Araújo Competição's Aston Martin Vantage AMR faced a challenging battle in their division. They only managed to overtake the Tockwith Motorsports Ginetta G50 driven by Simon Moore and Tomás Pinto Abreu on the last lap. The English driver demonstrated an impressive performance, capitalizing on the demanding track conditions to outperform his car's potential. Unfortunately, his Portuguese teammate experienced engine problems during his stint, which played a decisive role in missing out on victory in the GTX category.
Miguel Nabais and André Nabais, following their morning disappointment in the first race, where they had to retire, showcased their resilience by reaching the podium in their division. This success demonstrated that the switch from the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport to the McLaren 570S operated by Speedy Motorsport was indeed a winning decision.
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