At Circuito de Jerez, the qualifying rounds for the inaugural races of the Iberian Supercars season, alongside the Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade and Supercars JARAMA RACE, unfolded with an unexpected twist: Speedy Motorsport clinched both pole positions with their Toyota, shared by César Machado and Jan Durán.
This season, the qualifying format is divided into two segments, one tailored for GT4s and the other exclusively for Touring Cars and GTC.
The first qualification of the season featured Touring Cars and GTC as protagonists. In a session where the two non-scoring cars were the fastest, Aubrey Hall was the quickest, beating Jemma Moore, both in Tockwith Motorsports Ginetta G55s.
Álvaro Vela achieved the best time in the GTX division, fulfilling the promises he had been making since the free practices at the helm of the Chefo Sport Ligier JS2 Rs. The Spaniard placed third on the time sheet, just four tenths behind Aubrey Hall.
Daniel Teixeira, in what will be his first race in the JT59 Racing Team's Hyundai Elantra N TCR, was the best among the Touring Cars, not far from the Ligier driver, just three tenths of a second.
Rui Miritta managed to impose his Monteiros Competição Porsche 911 Cup in the Cup division, despite strong opposition from Dave Benett.
The second qualification of the Touring and GTC categories, which defines the starting grid for the second race, was disputed immediately after, and this time it was Daniel Teixeira who came out on top at the helm of his Hyundai, beating Fábio Mota, who teams up with Jemma Moore in the Tockwith Motorsport Ginetta G55.
Just behind the ETCC former driver was Marcus Fothergill, in a Porsche 911 from the British team, finishing just 0.090s behind Daniel Teixeira and establishing himself as the fastest in the Cup.
The GTX division was once again dominated by the Chefo Sport Ligier, this time in the hands of Sébastien Villadary. Among the TCs, Rodrigo Ferreira and João Oliveira were the fastest in the division filled with FPAK Junior Team cars.
Then it was the turn of the GT4s to take to the track, with a fierce battle expected for pole positions for tomorrow's races.
Miguel Lobo and Francisco Mora hinted in the morning that they could be the strongest contenders in this fight, but the big protagonist turned out to be another.
In the first qualification, César Machado took the Speedy Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO to the top of the time sheet, beating Manuel Gião (Racar Motorsport's Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) by a mere 0.017s, but still crucial for the newcomer to the Iberian Supercars to secure pole position in his return to high-level competitions after a few years hiatus.
Bernardo Sousa placed another Toyota among the top, in third place, ahead Nerea Martí, who secured fourth place on BMW España Motorsport debut.
Stepan Suslov, who is making his debut in motorsport after several years in karting, performed at an excellent level and secured the best time among the GT4 Bronze competitors, surpassing Miguel Lobo and Jorge Rodrigues, who finished second in the division at the helm of the Veloso Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4.
André Nabais, in the Speedy Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, was the fastest in GT4 Am, with a time that placed him thirteenth overall.
It was expected that in the second qualification for the GT4s, Francisco Mora could respond to the superiority of the Toyota in the first session. However, Jan Durán, who secured pole position in the only qualification he had in the Iberian Supercars, last year in Estoril, kept his perfect record intact.
The Speedy Motorsport Spanish driver left his opponent trailing by an impressive three tenths of a second, while Mathieu Martins recorded the third time with his Racar Motorsport's Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. Carlos Vieira, in the Toyota Supra GT4 EVO from Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal, will line up alongside him on the second row of the grid for tomorrow's second race.
Nil Montserrat was, this time, the fastest among the GT4 Bronze competitors, while Patrick Cunha finished second in the division, three tenths of a second behind the Spaniard.
Among the GT4 Am, it was again one of the Nabais brothers, this time Miguel, who came out on top, starting tomorrow's race from the eighteenth position among the GT4 cars.
The races will take place tomorrow and all action can be followed through the official social media channels, where the races (10:25 and 15:35) will be broadcast live, and will also be aired on Portugal’s A Bola TV and Spain’s DAZN.
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