2 Seas Motorsport signs off European season in Barcelona

Having taken victory earlier in the weekend, 2 Seas Motorsport returned to action for the final race of the International GT Open season and claimed a hard-fought top-10 finish at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The driver pairing of Ethan Simioni and Martin Kodrić delivered another impressive performance to conclude the team’s racing programme in Europe for the year, with a 7th place finish mirroring the results seen at the last event.

The day’s action got underway with Ethan in the car for qualifying, looking to set the grid for the second race. Running in warm and dry conditions, the 23-year-old Canadian immediately put the #9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 into the top-10 on the timesheets, and then worked to improve his time. A second run would push him up the order before a final effort as the clock ran down saw him improve yet further, claiming a third-row grid slot in 6th.

Race 2 started with several changes of position into turn 1 with a number of the lead group forced to cut the corner to avoid contact. With the action unfolding ahead, Ethan initially dropped back but he fought hard to maintain a top-10 position in the opening laps. As the race settled into a rhythm, the pace remained high and Ethan was engaged in a two-way battle, pushing forward for position but also being forced to defend hard. Making only his second championship appearance, Ethan showed impressive racecraft as he kept the pressure on the more experienced Adam Carroll ahead, while keeping the recently crowned series champion Michele Beretta at bay to maintain 8th place as the pit window opened.

A strategy call by the team saw Ethan as one of the first to pit, looking to clear some of the traffic and give Martin clear track for his stint. More good work by the pitcrew had the blue and black-liveried Mercedes-AMG quickly back out on track, and Martin quickly closed down the gap to the cars ahead. A brief battle saw the Croatian ace take advantage of a bold move ahead to gain a position, and he followed this up with a fight over several corners as he looked to improve further. Slower backmarkers then allowed Martin to take further steps forward as he cleanly negotiated the traffic, moving up the order.

With consistently quicker pace than the cars immediately ahead, it didn’t take long before Martin was engaged in a further battle as the laps counted down. The pair quickly caught one of the Pro-Am leaders and the chase quickly became a three-way fight for position, with Martin delivering his quickest laptime of the race but unable to make a pass. A penalty for one of the battling cars ahead would gain the hard-fighting 2 Seas Motorsport entry one additional position and, at the chequered flag, the European season was signed off with 7th place.

“I am hugely proud of the results we have achieved here this weekend, and the efforts by the whole team. Another great drive by Ethan and Martin, and another strong race performance against some really strong competition. We have worked hard to put together a team which can put up a real challenge, and shown that we have what it takes to battle with the best. It is great to sign off this programme with another trophy, and it is a reward for the huge amount of work that the team has put in over a busy year. We are still building our knowledge, and we become stronger after every session. We will now regroup and focus on the next challenge, which we hope to confirm soon.”

Sh. Isa Al-Khalifa, team co-owner, 2 Seas Motorsport

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