Jílková and Gudet battle through chaos at Spa to score class P6 in GT4 Europe
- MIKA BÖCKER
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Gabriela Jílková and Cindy Gudet survived two chaotic GT4 Europe races at Spa Francorchamps and scored a sixth-place Pro-Am finish in Race 1, but were denied a top-five result in Race 2 after a final-lap contact which saw Jílková being hit by another competitor.
Two promising races for the Matmut Evolution all-female team in GT4 Europe were only rewarded with a successful finish once. The #99 Toyota of Gabriela Jílková and Cindy Gudet survived two big start accidents in the crowded field supporting the 24 Hours of Spa and drove well, but could only achieve one top ten result, as Jílková was taken out on the final lap of Race 2 while battling for another encouraging finish within the class top five.
Gabriela Jílková and Cindy Gudet began their second season together in the GT4 European Series with a strong performance at Circuit Paul Ricard, where they claimed a Pro-Am class podium for Matmut Evolution—matching their best result from 2024 at the same venue.
The all-female pairing continued to show consistent pace in a highly competitive 42-car field, and at Zandvoort, they added more valuable points with a fourth-place class finish in Race 2, bouncing back from an incident in the opener where Gudet was forced to retire after contact.
Selected through the “Volant 100% Féminin Matmut” program, Jílková and Gudet represent Matmut Evolution’s commitment to promoting female talent in motorsport. Jílková, an experienced GT4 driver with multiple podiums across European championships, is now in her third year with the team, while Gudet—transitioning from a successful hillclimb career—is quickly proving her adaptability in only her second full season of circuit racing.
The third GT4 Europe race weekend took place in Belgium as part of the famous 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Jílková and Gudet were tenth fastest in the first official practice session, with Gudet clocking a 2:47.842 lap. Jílková was then the faster of the duo in the pre-qualifying session, with a 2:34.318 that placed them P13 among the Pro-Am entries.
Jílková contested the first qualifying session, and her 2:45.181 lap placed the #99 Toyota P13 in class and 30th overall. Gudet then took over for the second qualifying segment and put in a great effort to set a 2:45.380, good enough for fifth in class and 19th overall.
The first race started on Friday evening and was scheduled to continue into the night. The team started from 30th place overall on the grid, P13 in class. The flying start could have been cleaner for the participants: the #61 Mustang spun around at La Source and was hit by several cars, including a BMW, a Ginetta, and the #44 Audi. The debris and wreckage caused a safety car period.
Jílková escaped the accident and gained two places overall, slotting into P11 in Pro-Am. The restart, with 47:30 minutes remaining, was much cleaner, but it didn’t even last a lap before the next yellow period. The sister Matmut #87 Toyota slid into the gravel due to suspension damage and got stuck in the gravel.
The car was recovered under Full Course Yellow, which was then converted into a safety car period.
During this period, night and darkness began to fall. Due to the safety car, the pit stop window was postponed by two laps. After the restart with 33 minutes remaining, a full green-flag lap was completed.
Following this lap, the first cars came into the pits for the driver change, temporarily moving Jílková up to 22nd overall and cycling her up to 10th in class. She came in herself two laps later.
Cindy Gudet took over for the second half of the race: she rejoined in 23rd overall and 10th in class after the pit stop window and quickly moved up another position. This put her between Duffieux and Sugliano. She made significant gains on the driver in front and was close after just under 10 minutes. Together with her new pursuer, Meakin, she quickly overtook Duffieux and was able to attack the next driver.
Nomblot was also not a long-standing opponent and was soon behind the Frenchwoman. This time, Meakin also passed at the same time. This proved tough for Gudet in the final minutes, as she struggled to defend against him and lost a position. In the end, the Matmut all-female team crossed the finish line in 21st place overall and sixth in class, nevertheless making significant gains over the race.
For the second race, the Matmut Evolution team had a better starting position, lining up 18th overall and fifth in Pro-Am. This time, the start was a few meters further than in the first race, but again, it wasn’t accident-free. A BMW from the leading group took a shortcut at Eau Rouge, re-entered the track at a sharp angle at Raidillon, and clipped an Audi, which spun uncontrollably onto the track and in front of the entire GT4 pack.
A massive crash resulted, leading to eight retirements. Gudet luckily made it through without significant damage. While attempting to evade the collision, there was minimal contact with the car in front, which had braked hard to avoid the accident. The race was red-flagged for over an hour as a result of the incident. Until this interruption, Gudet was 17th overall and had retained fifth in class.
A resumption of the race over the full distance was not possible; at the restart behind the safety car, 28:30 minutes remained on the clock, and after two laps the race went green again. Gudet managed to work her way up to 14th overall, with class competitor Bolting just ahead of her, before coming into the pits after just one lap.
Jílková resumed the race after the pit stop window from 18th place and fifth in her class. By now, there were only 10 minutes left on the clock. Jílková was only stuck behind Blickle for a short time. After Nicolae failed to overtake the Czech driver in the Bus Stop chicane, Blickle, irritated by the attack, didn’t handle the chicane perfectly either and lost momentum heading into the following straight.
On the approach to La Source, Jílková braked late and passed Blickle but wasn’t able to open up a clear gap from the pack. The fighting group revived and stayed close together until the final lap. This proved critical for the all-female team: the #310 BMW ran out of patience on the final lap and attempted a divebomb past Gabriela’s Toyota at Turn 12, hitting the Toyota and sending it straight into the gravel.
The race was over for the BMW, while Jílková managed to break free but lost several positions. She fell back from fifth in Pro-Am to 11th in class—not the result she had hoped for, but she still made it to the chequered flag.
Jílková and Gudet now have to look ahead to the next race in Misano, which takes place from July 18th to 20th, to score points again. They currently sit seventh in the Pro-Am standings.
