The third round of the Spanish GT Championship 2018 season took place on the track of Navarra. After having missed the first round at Valencia, KTM España by Virage came from Motorland with a double podium and was edging to taste the victory.
The X-Bow showed itself very competitive from the first free practice session. While José Antonio Ledesma was the car’s first driver, Philippe Valenza switched to our LMP3 programs and was substituted by Miguel Fernandez Yuste.
In the first qualifying session, Ledesma scored the 6th fastest lap time, which placed him 2nd in the GT4 class. Fernandez Yuste was a bit quicker in Q2, managing to score the 4th fastest lap time overall and the class’ pole position.
In Race 1, Ledesma took a decent start and managed to take the category’s lead, which he hold on until mid-race. An unfortunate contact with a Ginetta in Turn 8 just before his driver change made him loose more than one minute, with Fernandez Yuste jumping into the car with half an hour to go and a gap of 70 seconds with the leader. Immediately one of the fastest on track, Fernandez Yuste shortened the gap quickly with the leader, getting at -10s with only 5 laps to go. He took the lead with 2 laps to go in order score the team’s maiden win in Spanish GT.
Fernandez Yuste took the start in Race 2, closely followed by SPV Racing’s Mercedes AMG GT4. Both cars swapped positions several times in the first 20 minutes, before the Mercedes AMG took the lead until the driver change pitstop. While Fernandez Yuste swapped for Ledesma, the KTM España by Virage car had a 15 seconds handicap, consequence of its win in the first race. Rejoining the race with 40 seconds delay to the leader, Ledesma started to close the gap lap by lap, crossing the finish line only +2.5s behind the Mercedes AMG. However, the Mercedes was given a 10 seconds post-race penalty, which meant the victory for Ledesma and Fernandez Yuste.
Julien Gerbi, Team Manager :
« It was a very positive week-end for us. Miguel and José Antonio drove well and managed to place the car among the fastest in each session. The Mercedes was a tough competitor and each victory was really close, but it feels good to see our drivers on the top of the podium. Now we will focus on our next LMP3 race, with the objective to achieve the same results. »
