First Podium at Misano for W&S Motorsport

W&S Motorsport achieved a significant milestone at the fourth round of the GT4 European Series at Misano. Max Kronberg and Daniel Blickle secured second place in the AM class with the #30 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS, celebrating the team’s first podium at Misano. Hendrik Still and Joachim Bölting also showed marked improvement with the #32 Porsche, collecting valuable championship points.

Qualifying: Strong AM pole as foundation

The weekend began promisingly for W&S Motorsport. In the first qualifying session, Max Kronberg secured pole position in the AM class with the #30 Porsche (P19 overall), while the Nova Racing collaboration car #2 driven by Edvin Hellsten and Daniel Nilsson achieved P4 in the Pro-AM class (P18 overall). Hendrik Still and Joachim Bölting qualified the #32 Porsche in P7 Pro-AM (P21 overall).

The second qualifying session proved more challenging. Kronberg and Blickle secured P3 in the AM class (P29 overall), Still and Bölting started from P9 Pro-AM (P27 overall), while the Nova Racing car #2 lined up P11 Pro-AM (P32 overall) for the second race.

Race 1: Drama prevents potential victory

The first race began perfectly for Kronberg, who made good use of his pole position, but fate struck early. A BMW from another team hit Kronberg’s wheel, damaging the steering and preventing the car from running straight.

“I was losing time every lap,”

Kronberg reported about those dramatic moments. Additionally, the rear tire gave up before the pit stop, further compounding the difficulties.

Despite these massive setbacks, Kronberg and Blickle fought valiantly to P4 in the AM class. Daniel Blickle showed remarkable composure when taking over the heavily damaged car.

Meanwhile, Still and Bölting endured a frustrating first race. The duo pushed too hard and repeatedly exceeded track limits. The resulting 20-second time penalty cost three positions in class, leaving them to finish P8 Pro-AM.

The Nova Racing collaboration car #2 with Hellsten and Nilsson delivered a solid performance with P7 Pro-AM in their second joint race of the season following Zandvoort.

Race 2: Well-deserved podium in extreme heat

The second race brought reward for the entire team’s hard work. In extreme heat that didn’t favor the Porsche, all drivers delivered flawless performances. Kronberg and Blickle drove confidently to second place in the AM class, securing that long-awaited first Misano podium.

Daniel Blickle beamed after the race:

“Today I felt much better and more confident with the car. It was a great race for me.“

Even more emotional was Max Kronberg, whose dream came true:

“Finally a podium at Misano! After four years, the first podium here – simply perfect!“

Still and Bölting also showed impressive improvement, reaching P4 Pro-AM. The duo had learned from their first race mistakes and drove disciplined without penalties to the finish.

The Nova Racing car #2 completed the solid team result with P8 Pro-AM.

Team performance makes the difference

Behind the success stood a united team effort. Daniel Nilsson from the Nova Racing collaboration car particularly praised the mechanics’ work:

“The guys did a fantastic job. It was great working with this team as always.“

Team principal Daniel Schellhaas drew a realistic but positive conclusion:

“Finally we got the trophy at Misano! In this incredible heat, the Porsche didn’t have optimal pace, but our drivers maximized everything and made no mistakes. We couldn’t have done more under these conditions.“

With these strong results, W&S Motorsport has positioned itself well in both championship standings. After a difficult first race, the team successfully limited the damage and collected important points with the podium finish.