GRS’ fifth full season in Formula 4 Spanish Championship came to its end this weekend. As usual, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosted the season finale. The weekend left us, once again, so close to reach our goal of scoring points. Despite not achieving it, there were plenty of positives and improvement for our drivers.
After racing on the previous round in Valencia, Dani Maciá was back into the team for this meeting. Alongside him, Isaac Barashi and Luis Carlos Pérez completed the team’s line-up. The Mexican driver was making his debut in European racing.
Three hours of collective testing took place on Friday morning, with good feeling for the team. On Saturday, the team ended Qualifying 1 with mixed feelings. Our results were especially good on the grid for Race 2, with Maciá in P19, Barashi in P24 and Pérez in P28 on his first ever qualifying on the championship.
Coming into Race 1, Maciá had to retire due to a technical issue while fighting in the Top 20. Both Barashi and Pérez improved their starting positions in solid performances, with the British in P26 and the Mexican in P28.
On Sunday, our chances for Race 3 were compromised by a difficult Qualifying 2. Before that race, the second one came. Maciá was once again close to scoring points after he finished 12th at the flag -later demoted to P14 due to a time penalty-. Barashi got his best finish in the championship after being 21st. Pérez improved his result from Saturday and crossed the finish line in P27, which could have been higher as he was sent to a spin by a rival.
The final race of the season was chaotic. Fortunately, none of our drivers got caught in crashes. Macià was close to reach the goal as he finished in a solid P15 after starting from 28th on the grid. Both Pérez and Barashi were yet again brilliant. The Mexican ended his weekend on a high being 21st, while the British finished in P22.
We wrap up a season in which we faced lots of difficulties. The results obtained did not match the team’s expectations. However, we learnt a lot from this year, we worked at our best to improve and to give it all so our drivers can race and develop their careers in the best possible conditions. We end the season very determined to improve the situation next year and to have a great 2024.
