At the “Autódromo Internacional do Algarve”, located in Portimão, G4 Racing began their E4 campaign, a winter championship inserted in the realm of the “Spanish Winter Championship(s)” (SWC), prelude of the F4 Spanish Championship that will take place from April to November.
The team made its debut in the category with the Karras brothers, Jean and Philippe, already in the ranks at the end of last season, and Jorden Moodley, a young South African prospect who incepted his single seaters career in the Middle East by taking part in the Formula Trophy.
We didn’t wait too long to get our first results. Credit has to be given to Jean, 10th in the first race and 9th in the second. As for Philippe, instead, luck was not on his side in both race 1 and race 2. Thankfully, he managed to finish the Sprint Race in a respectable 18th place, even though there was margin for more. Eventually, Jorden delivered his best performance in the last race, which saw him conclude in the top fifteen.
The next event of the season is going to be hosted at the “Circuito del Jarama” on the weekend of the 1st of March. Following, you can find the declarations of our drivers other than our Team Principal, Patrick Gnos.
J. Karras (Driver #9): “The first races of the year did not end the way we had hoped, as we were not fully prepared going into the weekend. However, with some strong racecraft, I managed to secure a few points. We will analyse everything and come back stronger for the next round.”
P. Karras (Driver #12): “It was a very eventful weekend with quite a bit of bad luck. We showed that we had the pace to score strong points, but unfortunately we were not able to capitalise on it. A big thank you to the team for their hard work, especially after the car was heavily damaged, and to my coaches, family and sponsors for their continuous support. Now full focus on the next one.”
J. Moodley (Driver #94): “Round 1 of the Spanish Winter Championship was a really interesting experience. It was my first time driving in Portimão, and it took some time to adapt to the elevation changes, which added a lot of technical challenges to the track. I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the red flags during free practice limited our running — especially on new tyres — which made it harder to approach the weekend as comfortably as we would have liked and to put a clean lap together. Nevertheless, it was positive to finish Race 2 in P15 and take away many valuable learnings ahead of Round 2 in Jarama next week.”
Patrick Gnos (Team Principal): “The first SWC meeting did not end as we had expected. The team and the drivers gave their maximum effort throughout the weekend and we still managed to score some points. Our position in the pit lane significantly affected the qualifying sessions, as we were losing one flying lap each time. Combined with the red flags, this prevented our drivers from completing proper qualifying runs. In the races, however, they managed to gain several positions and score valuable points, which clearly shows that we had the pace. We now head to Jarama determined to improve and fight for stronger results. A big thank you to our drivers, sponsors and families for their continued support.”