Matmut Evolution duo Gabriela Jílková and Cindy Gudet experienced an unfortunate weekend in the GT4 European Series at Hockenheim with both races ended by contact from competitors - and eventually ending with Gudet fracturing her arm.
Matmut Evolution duo Gabriela Jílková and Cindy Gudet experienced an unfortunate weekend in the GT4 European Series at Hockenheim with both races ended by contact from competitors - and eventually ending with Gudet fracturing her arm.
Jilkova and Gudet drove well and were caught up in incidents not of their own making as they contended for points scoring finishes within the Pro-Am class. In race one, Jílková handed over to Gudet inside the top-10 with Cindy making further progress prior to the contact. Starting from second in class in race two, Gudet was holding a provisional podium position before receiving heavy contact which has left Gudet with an injury.
Entering the weekend sixth in the GT4 European Series Pro-Am standings, Jilkova and Gudet were aiming to add to the one podium they had achieved so far this season. Scoring points in both races at the previous round at Spa-Francorchamps was a notable achievement, with both drivers maximising the performance of the car in an expanded field. Hockenheim would provide a different challenge for the duo as they looked to move inside the top-5 of the Pro-Am class standings.
The Matmut Evolution pair began their racing weekend with a three-hour paid test session on Thursday, before two free practice sessions on Friday. It was a positive start to the event for Jílková and Gudet who finished Thursday’s test in tenth within the Pro-Am class, before ending Friday morning’s free practice in eighth. In the second session of the day, pre-qualifying, the duo were once again inside the top-10 of the Pro-Am class, placing eighth.
Targeting further improvements in Saturday morning’s qualifying session, it was Jílková who drove in the first of two back-to-back sessions. Lap times were extremely close among the Pro-Am drivers, with the Czech racer setting the ninth fastest time in class, half a second away from the top-5. Driving in the second session, Gudet produced an excellent lap time of a 1:48.270 which saw her qualify second in class and ahead of the sister Matmut Evolution car driven by Enzo Joulie.
Jílková was behind the wheel of the Toyota Supra GT4 for the start of race one and was looking to improve on her ninth place starting position in the Pro-Am class. It was an action-packed opening lap and Gabriela did well to negotiate multiple incidents, while losing just one position within class. The safety car was then deployed after the cars of Victor Bouveng and Alexandre Machado had stopped on track and required recovery.
As the racing got back underway, Jílková was on the move and overtook Emil Skaras on lap five, while Lonni Martins had entered the pits. Now into eighth place within Pro-Am, the Czech racer was defending well from Gregory Guilvert, with the Chazel Technologie Course driver moving ahead on lap six. Despite the challenges of battling within the midfield, Gabriela was closing in on a top-30 position in the overall classification before a second safety car was deployed for Nathan Vanspringel’s stopped Ford Mustang.
When the racing resumed, the pit window had also opened and although Jílková was shuffled back prior to the pitstop, she handed over to Cindy Gudet on lap 15. The French racer got up to speed quickly and set a fast out lap as she looked to move the Matmut Evolution prepared car into a strong points scoring position. As the pit cycle unfolded, Gudet was inside the top-30 overall, while running ninth in Pro-Am.
On lap 19, Gudet was involved in an extremely close six-way battle for position, with less than one second covering the drivers. Contact was made between multiple cars which dropped Cindy down the order into 12th position within Pro-Am. As a legacy of the contact, her Toyota Supra sustained damaged and this forced her into the pits and retire from the race. Despite an unfortunate end to race one, Gudet had shown great speed and was looking ahead to starting from second position within Pro-Am in race two.
Starting from second position within the Pro-Am class for race two, Cindy was looking to carry forward the speed she displayed in her brief race one stint. The Matmut Evolution driver made a good start among the midfield runners and although dropping to fourth in Pro-Am at the end of the first lap, she had moved inside the top-25 overall. Gudet regained a provisional podium spot on lap two after passing the Porsche Cayman of Tano Neumann, with the French driver once again showing good pace in comparison to her class rivals.
On lap three, Gudet was pulling away from the group of cars behind until she received heavy contact from Noam Abramczyk at the hairpin. Abramczyk’s car arrived at high-speed and impacted the right-hand side of the Toyota Supra, with Gudet taken to hospital following an injury to her arm. The French driver was promptly attended and has already undergone surgery.
"Thank you all for your messages following my crash at Hockenheim", Gudet wrote on her social media. "Secourists came fast and my arm operation went well."
"Now it's time for a bit of rest and patience to get back behind the wheel as soon as possible. Thanks to all the Matmut Evolution team and M Racing for their support."
Despite the Matmut Evolution duo retiring from both races with damage not of their own making, Jílková and Gudet both showed good speed at Hockenheim. Cindy’s qualifying effort was a particular highlight as she narrowly missed out on pole position within the Pro-Am class.
The talented all-female crew will aim to bounce back when the GT4 European Series visits Monza on the weekend of 21st/22nd September.
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