W&S Motorsport Fights Through the Heat of Misano

Class Victory for the #30 in Race 1, Technical Setbacks and Bad Luck in Race 2 – Looking Ahead to Zandvoort

The fourth round of the GT4 European Series in Misano was a mixed weekend for W&S Motorsport – and that came as no surprise. Extreme heat in Italy poses well-known challenges for the Porsche GT4, and drivers, team and machinery were all pushed to their limits. Nevertheless, the team showed fighting spirit throughout the entire weekend and takes important lessons away with its sights firmly set on Zandvoort.

Preparation – Test Days and a Storm

On Thursday, the team made use of a test day at the Misano World Circuit. In the evening, a severe storm brought dramatic conditions to the paddock. On Friday, two further test sessions followed as the team prepared the cars for the races ahead.

Qualifying

In Q1, the #27 of Daniel Nilsson and Edvin Hellsten delivered a solid performance and placed third in class and 12th overall. The #30 of Daniel Blickle and Max Kronberg secured second in class and 35th overall. The #31 of Tim Horrell and Alon Gabbay placed 13th in class and 31st overall. The #32 of Joachim Bölting and Hendrik Still finished sixth in class and 17th overall.

In Q2, the #30 stepped it up further and claimed the class lead and 27th overall – the strongest qualifying result in the team. The #27 placed 14th in class and 35th overall, the #31 12th in class and 33rd overall, and the #32 11th in class and 32nd overall.

Race 1 – Class Victory for the #30, Setbacks for Others

In the first race, the #30 of Blickle and Kronberg made a strong statement: the duo claimed a convincing class victory in the AM category and finished 19th overall – an excellent result given the difficult conditions.

The #32 of Bölting and Still finished fifth in class and 21st overall. The #31 of Horrell and Gabbay battled ABS issues throughout and crossed the line in tenth in class and 29th overall. For the #27 of Nilsson and Hellsten, the race came to an early end through no fault of their own after contact with another car – the duo was forced to retire.

Race 2 – Bitter Until the Very Last Lap

The second race once again brought a mix of highs and lows. The #27 of Nilsson and Hellsten responded impressively and fought their way to fifth in class and 17th overall – the strongest result of the weekend for Nova Racing.

The #30 of Blickle and Kronberg once again delivered a strong performance and held the lead in class – until a tyre failure in the penultimate lap ended their race. The final result was second in class and 28th overall. A bitter end to an otherwise convincing drive.

The #32 of Bölting and Still was spun through no fault of their own in the second race and was subsequently unable to improve their result due to accumulated track limit penalties. The #31 of Horrell and Gabbay came to an abrupt end after the pit stop: the car failed to restart – DNF.

Results Overview

Voices from the Weekend

Edvin Hellsten (#27): “Race 1 wasn’t great – but Race 2 more than made up for it. It was a lot of fun, we had some great battles out there.”

Tim Horrell (#31): “We had no luck again. It was tough – after contact with another car the whole setup was off. Then after the pit stop the car wouldn’t start. But we stay positive.”

Max Kronberg (#30): “Race 2 was really great – and then the tyre failure came just before the finish. That hurts, but the pace was there.”

Team Principal Daniel Schellhaas: “Extreme heat again – drivers, team and machinery were all pushed to the limit. We fought our way through and had a lot to deal with regarding track limits on top of everything else. We will come back attacking in Zandvoort.”

Next Round: Circuit Zandvoort – 18–20 September