SURPRISE WINNERS IN THE MORNING RACES

GT4: THRILLING ACTION RIGHT TO THE CHEQUERED FLAG

The opening races of the 2025 Iberian Supercars season — encompassing the Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade and Supercars España — delivered high drama, with surprise victors emerging across the board.

In GT4 Race 1, the threat of rain loomed overhead, but the contest got underway on a dry track. Francisco Mora (Toyota GR Supra GT4 – Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal) held the lead from pole, fending off early pressure from Roberto Faria, who made a strong start to climb to second and briefly eyed the top spot.

Faria, in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, eventually ceded a place to César Machado (Toyota GR Supra GT4 – Speedy Motorsport), and the order remained largely unchanged until the pit stops.

It was during this phase that the rain finally arrived, intensifying steadily. With eleven laps to go, a Safety Car was deployed following an off-track excursion by the Porsche Cayman CS RS of Luís Calheiros and Paulo Macedo. Heavy rain then soaked the Algarve circuit.

After several laps under caution, racing resumed under green flags. Rafael Lobato, who shares driving duties with César Machado, appeared to make contact with Francisco Abreu — leader at the time in the Toyota co-driven by Francisco Mora — sending the latter into a spin.

What followed was a tense three-way battle for the win, featuring Lobato, Mathieu Martins (Aston Martin – Racar Motorsport), and Filip Vava, who shares a Mercedes-AMG GT4 with Guillermo Aso for NM Racing Team.

Despite multiple attacks from his rivals, Lobato held on to take the chequered flag by just 0.020s ahead of Martins, with Vava a close third, 0.7s behind — enough to secure victory in the GT4 Pro-Am Bronze category.

Gonzalo de Andrés and Álvaro Lobera (McLaren Artura GT4 – McLaren Barcelona/SMC Motorsport), having secured double pole in GT4 Bronze, converted their performance into a dominant win in class.

Likewise, Ruben Vaquinhas and Pedro Bastos Rezende claimed honours in GT4 Am at the wheel of their Gianfranco Motorsport-run Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.

YOUNG GUNS UPSTAGE THE CHAMPIONS IN TOURING + GTC

The first race of the Touring + GTC categories began in dramatic fashion. The Ligier JS2R of Chefo Sport, driven by Angel Santos and Alejandro Iribas, suffered technical issues during the formation lap, forcing a restart of the start procedure.

Even before the lights went out, reigning Touring Car champion Daniel Teixeira was forced to take his Hyundai Elantra N TCR (JT59 Racing Team) to the pits with gearbox issues, losing two laps before rejoining and eventually finishing a distant 17th, unable to capitalise on his pole position.

Rui Miritta, who started alongside Teixeira on the front row, also had a troubled race. Brake problems on his Monteiros Competições-run Porsche 911 Cup car opened the door to former FPAK Junior Team drivers Henrique Moura Oliveira and Rúben Silva, competing in a BMW M4 GT4 (F82) for the same team.

After a fierce fight with the GTC champion and João Posser (Veloso Motorsport – Porsche 911 Cup), the BMW duo emerged in front and looked set for overall and GTX class victory.

The race finished behind the Safety Car after an incident in which Posser spun and Frederico Castro (Art of Speed – Porsche 911 Cup) was unable to avoid a collision.

However, post-race, the Monteiros Competições BMW received a 49-second time penalty, dropping it to 10th overall. That handed the overall win to Rui Miritta and the GTX class win to Alba Vázquez and Alfonso Colomina (McLaren 570S GT4 – McLaren Barcelona/SMC Motorsport).

Among the FPAK Junior Team’s young talents, it was Diogo Castro and Tomás Gomes who came out on top, taking their Ginetta G40 to victory ahead of the pairings Rodrigo Vilaça / Tomás Martins and Martim Romão / João Faria.