Qualifying
Saturday afternoon, track temperature pushing close to 40°C. In Qualifying 1, Ruben put the Toyota on P22 with a 2:13.132 — just 1.18 seconds off the pole time set by the NM Racing Mercedes. A solid first benchmark in an untested car, especially considering the Supra drives nothing like the Aston Martin they had been preparing for all winter. Different braking points, different turn-in characteristics, different power delivery. Everything had to be recalibrated on the fly.
Qualifying 2 saw Sherrington take over for his session, posting a 2:14.518 for P28. For a driver in his debut GT4 qualifying, on a car neither of them had driven before this weekend, it was a composed and promising run. No mistakes, no drama — just clean laps building confidence.
Race 1
Sunday morning, 11:00. Green flag. Forty GT4 cars funnelled into the first corner under clear skies and dry conditions. From P22 on the combined grid, Ruben and Sherrington had work to do and they delivered. Over the course of 26 laps and one safety car period, car #5 climbed five positions to finish P17 overall in the Silver class.
The race pace told the real story. A best lap of 2:15.332 showed consistent, clean speed with no penalties, a rarity on a weekend where track limits and pit lane infringements hit half the field. The gap to the leader was 51.6 seconds, but for a crew discovering their car in real time, this was about gathering data, understanding tyre degradation, and building a setup baseline.
Race 2
The afternoon race, starting at 16:30, is where the progress became clear. Same 26 laps, same car but a better result. Car #5 crossed the line in P18, but the gap to race winner CRT-Sport dropped from 51.6 seconds to just 17.3 seconds. That is over 34 seconds of improvement between races, found through nothing but in-weekend learning.
Notably, the Race 2 winner — Cartelle and Schwartz in the #87 CRT-Sport entry — was driving the exact same Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO 2. Proof that the car has the pace to fight at the front. Mirage Racing just needs seat time to unlock it.
Meanwhile, sister car #9 of Roméo Leurs and Hugo Conde set the outright fastest lap of Race 2 — a 2:13.581 — before a 40-second penalty dropped them to P33. The speed within the Mirage Racing garage is undeniable.
The Bigger Picture
This was always going to be a learning weekend. When you change cars weeks before the season opener and have no opportunity to test, the first round becomes your test session.
The feedback from both drivers was overwhelmingly positive. The Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO 2 is a completely different animal to the Aston Martin, different weight distribution, different aero balance, different character through slow and fast corners. But the underlying potential is clear. The car responded well to every setup change, and by Race 2, the crew was already extracting significantly more performance.
For Sherrington, the weekend was an invaluable first chapter. Quick, composed, and penalty-free across both races, the hallmarks of a driver who belongs at this level. The partnership with Ruben has the ingredients to build through the season.
Weekend Results
Session Position Best Lap Gap
Qualifying 1 P22 / 40 2:13.132 +1.180s
Qualifying 2 P28 / 39 2:14.518 +2.909s
Race 1 P17 / 36 2:15.332 +51.620s
Race 2 P18 / 36 2:15.341 +17.281s
