Matmut Evolution's all-female duo of Gabriela Jílková and Cindy Gudet concluded their GT4 European Championship season with a strong performance at the Jeddah finale, finishing fourth in the Pro-Am class in Race 1 and ultimately securing sixth in the Pro-Am championship standings.
Czech racer Gabriela Jílková and her French teammate Cindy Gudet concluded their GT4 European Championship powered by RAFA Racing Club season with a highly positive fourth place in the ProAm class at the Jeddah season finale, Saudi Arabia, ultimately finishing their first season as teammates sixth in the ProAm championship standings.
Gabriela Jílková and Cindy Gudet shared the #66 Toyota Supra GT4 as part of the Le Volant 100 % Féminin, an all-female project by Matmut Evolution, in its second year. Alongside the experienced Jílková, Gudet - in her rookie season in circuit racing after a highly successful career in hillclimb - showed remarkable progress over the season and this was on display once again at the Jeddah Corniche street circuit. Despite an injury mid-season at Hockenheim, Gudet was immediately up to pace and was on top of her game at the fastest street circuit in the world.
With the Jeddah circuit being new to all drivers, the practice sessions focused on familiarization and finding the limit. Jílková and Gudet initially achieved a best time of 2:14.017, which was enough for 8th place in the Pro-Am class and 28th overall.
The pre-qualification largely followed Thursday's trend with drivers finding the limit progressively and building speed. Gudet was not put off by her lack of experience and was able to set a time for the overall midfield early on. As the drivers became more familiar with the track, the times of the competitors also improved, which meant that #66 Toyota fell to eleventh in class, as it continued to suffer from significant BoP disadvantage like in most of the season - which was even more evident in the very fast sections of the Saudi circuit.
Gabriela Jílková started the qualifying session with strong lap times. As a result, the Czech star initially managed to reach 20th position overall out of a strong 35-car field of the most competitive teams and drivers in GT4 in the world. Her first good laps left little room for improvement and in the end she finished eighth in class and 26th overall in the session that would shape the grid for the opening race.
Cindy Gudet took over for the second session, to similar results: her first lap would have been enough for 22nd place overall, however she slipped to 23rd place despite improving. Thanks to some subsequent penalties for other drivers, the all-female duo would be lining up at the start the second race from 21st place overall and sixth in the ProAm class.
Just a few hours after qualifying, Gabriela Jílková took the start of the first race. At the very narrow first chicane, the action was chaotic: Jílková had to avoid a few vehicles on the inside of the track, which meant she lost some positions she had initially gained.
Nevertheless, she was lucky in her misfortune: a close pursuer collided with a car alongside her, causing it to spin, just missing the Matmut Toyota. The field remained bunched up and action was non-stop in the next few corners, which repeatedly led to drivers off the track, but to no major accidents. At the end of the first lap, Jilková had retained 26th place overall and eighth in class.
The accident-free run was interrupted by a collision between a BMW and the Porsche from W&S Motorsport, which was leading the championship at the time in the Pro-Am class. The BMW broke down on the track with suspension damage, while Zulauf had to park his Porsche in the pits. The subsequent safety car phase lasted several laps due to the complicated BMW recovery. Jílková was able to convert the restart into a position gain.
After a few more hard-fought laps, there was another accident involving an Aston Martin, which neutralized the race again. By keeping it clean, and also due to successful duels, the Matmut Evolution team driven by Jílková found itself in 17th place overall, just outside the class top five, when the green flag fell again, just before the pit stop window.
During the mandatory pit stops, Cindy Gudet took over the wheel - however the team lost some time and a position against the #16 Mercedes during the pit cycle. Gudet tried to find her rhythm in her first few laps and lost a duel against the approaching #55 Alpine - but the setback did not slow the Toyota down for long.
Just a few laps later, in fact, Gudet managed to overtake the #16 Mercedes with a tight, spectacular maneuver in turn 1 and secured 19th position overall, then even managed to move up to 18th place that gained her fifth in ProAm.
Although she was able to catch up with the group ahead with blistering pace, she couldn't further climb the order before the end of the race. However, due to a time penalty for the #46 Porsche, the Frenchwoman inherited fourth in class, narrowly missing the Pro-Am podium at the end of a widely positive first race. It was their second-best finish after the podium at Paul Ricard.
The race on Saturday was no less interesting. Starting from 21st place overall and sixth in class, Cindy Gudet was able to gain two places on the inside line at lights out. After several skirmishes the day before, the second race was a cleaner one and drivers got into their rhythm.
A small group formed behind the Toyota, led by the #007 Aston Martin and a Mercedes, which led to a spectacular, close five-way battle through Jeddah's fast-paced winding curves, which are often compared to a bobsleigh track. On the long starting straight, Gudet could no longer hold off the two closest pursuers and initially lost two places.
However she would regain one when just two laps later the #007 Aston Martin lost control and crashed heavily into the wall, which led to the first full course yellow of the contest. At the subsequent restart on the tenth lap, the #66 Matmut Evolution Toyota driven by Gudet was able to grab 19th position overall, just before the mandatory pit stops.
At the end of the pit window, Gabriela Jílková was in 20th place overall, but quickly picked up one position. The last few minutes of the race were particularly exciting for the Matmut Evolution Team. The Aston Martin from GPA Racing was closing in and in a tough but fair duel, the Czech racer kept the upper hand and crossed the finish line 0.8 seconds ahead, albeit in a battle not for class position. Jílková secured 19th place overall and 6th place in the Pro-Am class for the all-female team to close out the 2024 European GT4 season.
The two good races for the duo, again just on the doorsteps of the top-five, proved how important a mistake-free job is at such challenging circuits. By staying out of troubles, Jílková and Gudet were able to score important points in both races and ultimately secure 6th place in the Pro-Am championship - in a season often marked by an unfavorable BoP for the Supra GT4.
For Cindy Gudet in particular, the final weekend was also a personal success. After the injury in Hockenheim, Monza and Jeddah - two very high-speed tracks - followed, and she always proved to be up to the task, running on pace with the top ProAm competitors. Her performance also gained her the top rookie in the field in Race 2, in a fitting end to her rookie campaign.
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