Olivier Hart scored excellently in the GT4 European Series at the Zandvoort circuit. Together with Italian Luca Bosco, Hart reached the podium twice in the Pro-Am class with the Selleslagh Racing Mercedes and finished in the top ten twice in the 40-car field.
Although the call to action at the third European GT4 event of the year came very late, and he had never driven the Mercedes AMG GT4 before, the speed was evident from the very first meters, something that proved useful during qualifying. After Luca Bosco set the eleventh fastest time in the first session, good for fourth in class, Hart finished ninth overall and fifth in class in the second qualifying session, which counts towards the second race.
The first race of the weekend was held on Sunday morning, and Luca Bosco took the starting line in the green Mercedes AMG. The Italian, a former top karter and new to motorsport this year, held his own in the opening stages. With an eleventh-place finish overall and third in the Pro-Am class, the Selleslagh Racing Team was ideally positioned to move forward and make a move when Hart took over the car during the pit stops. However, the race was red-flagged after twenty minutes after a heavy crash in Scheivlak necessitated the repair of the barriers.
Once the repairs were complete, the drivers scheduled for the second stint were allowed to compete for the remaining 18 minutes of race time. With Hart behind the wheel, the Mercedes stayed on track very well, and once he found his rhythm, Hart was able to move even further forward. Although the race was short, the debutant in the Mercedes managed to secure sixth place overall and second place in the Pro-Am class.
Olivier Hart started the second race, and the dark green Mercedes got off to an excellent start from ninth place. The GT4 European Series is one of the most competitive GT championships in the world, and this was evident in the opening stages, where Hart was constantly engaged in a fierce battle, briefly dropping back to eleventh place.
That didn’t last long, as with some very clever moves, Hart moved back up to eighth overall and third in the Pro-Am class.
From there, he brought the Mercedes in for the mandatory pit stop, after which Luca Bosco finished the job, bringing the car home in sixth place overall and third in the Pro-Am class.
Olivier Hart was quite pleased with the result: “It was a great experience to be racing in such a competitive field again, and I think with a bit more luck we could have finished in the top five overall. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be, but all in all, we have to be very happy with two trophies.”
And so the weekend at Zandvoort proved to be an excellent one for Olivier Hart and his teammate Luca Bosco in the Selleslagh Racing Mercedes.