"It was a fantastic race and a wonderful way to cap off the season." - Solenn Amrouche and her father Lionel concluded the 2024 Spanish GT Championship GT-CET with a hard-fought second place in the GPX class at the Barcelona finale, solidifying Solenn’s fourth-place in the class standings despite a development-focused season.
Solenn Amrouche completed the 2025 Spanish GT Championship (GT-CET) with a second-place finish in the GPX class at the 2-hour season finale in Barcelona, cementing fourth in the class standings despite a partial campaign.
The young French racer was at the wheel of the #101 Vortex for the final round of the GT-CET championship, aiming to conclude the 2024 campaign in the Spanish series, which over the course of the season became the perfect testing ground for the new-generation Vortex machine, the 2.0.
In her second season in the championship, Solenn aimed to contend for the title again after claiming the runner-up spot in the GPX class in 2023, courtesy of eight podiums, four class wins, and an outright victory. However, the 2024 season proved to be more challenging, with several technical issues hampering the start of her campaign. This shifted her focus to a developmental year, refining the new car of the small French manufacturer.
"At the start of the year, my goal was to win the 2024 Spanish Championship title", she told us. "However, my team and I decided to take on the challenge of developing the new Vortex car within this championship. Combining car development and competing for the title proved to be incompatible."
"Throughout 2024, I focused on testing the car in real race conditions", she explained. "It was a year filled with emotions."
Reliability issues prevented her from even starting the first two races at Portimão, Portugal. While another mechanical issue took her out of the first race at Navarra, Solenn bounced back with a stellar performance in race two, taking a dominant class win in effectively her first untroubled contest of the year.
"The beginning of the season was tough—we couldn’t even start the first two races. But there were also moments of joy, like in Navarra, where we finally finished first in our category", Amrouche recalled.
The win was another confidence boost, and a second-place finish in class followed at Motorland Aragón in the next round, continuing a positive podium streak in completed races. While the team missed the fourth and fifth rounds at Monteblanco and Valencia, Solenn Amrouche returned behind the wheel of the Vortex 2.0 machine, alongside her father Lionel, for the season finale at Barcelona—a two-hour race that was set to be even more demanding for the machine.
"This final race of the year marked the conclusion of our development journey", she said. "It was an opportunity to showcase what this new car, built by a small family team and driven by a father-daughter duo, could achieve—even competing for overall victory."
Solenn's weekend started on Saturday, as she missed pre-event testing due to a non-racing commitment. This meant she would have to adapt quickly to the track and car in Saturday's practice before tackling qualifying. Strong from a victory in class at this year's 24H of Barcelona, however, Amrouche had good knowledge of the Circuit de Catalunya and was soon up to pace.
"Due to other obligations (an exam), I couldn’t participate in the Friday test sessions and only arrived on Saturday, determined to make the most of the remaining sessions", she said.
Solenn showed good pace in practice, with the father and daughter duo finding time ahead of qualifying. her father Lionel was ready to take on the Q1 session in the #101 Vortex.
Lionel had a brilliant session, with a closely fought battle at the top for the GPX and overall pole position. He ended with a best lap of 1:45.605, seven-tenths short of pole.
Solenn took over the car for the second qualifying session; she initially led in class, but as times began to improve, she set a 1:47.045 with five minutes to go, moving into third in class, just a couple of tenths behind the Audi R8 of Yeregui, who was second in GPX. The #116 Mercedes-AMG GT2 of Duran claimed pole, with Solenn eighth overall and second in class.
"I quickly got up to speed during practice and moved on to qualifying, where I posted a time of 1:47.04", she recalled. "This placed me eighth overall and second in my category. While it was a solid result, I was disappointed as I had set myself a target of 1:46 and was just 0.04 seconds shy of it."
The two-hour race that closed out the GT-CER season began with Solenn Amrouche taking the start on a wet track under very challenging conditions on Sunday morning. GTC leader Leandro Martins spun at Turn 1, with more accidents occurring on the opening lap. The damp track proved in fact extremely difficult.
Solenn however kept her cool, retaining third in class despite losing some overall positions. Crucially, she kept the car on track while others ended up in the gravel. A safety car neutralized the race six minutes in, with the #112 Escuderia Faraon Porsche of Gomez stuck in the gravel at Turn 1. Vinyes' Baporo Motorsport Porsche led, with Carretero and Lao holding the top two GPX positions ahead of Amrouche, who was tenth overall.
The race resumed 15 minutes later, but action was short-lived as another car went off, triggering another safety car a few corners later. On the next restart, Lao, second in GPX, went off, prompting yet another safety car and promoting Solenn to second in GPX. Amrouche herself hit trouble but was able to rejoin. With Lao's Mercedes still being recovered, Solenn remained second in GPX.
When the race went back underway with 1 hour and 20 minutes to go, Solenn managed to catch up to slower-class cars and gained positions. As the track dried, her times became more competitive, running at a 2:06 pace—over 10 seconds quicker than some of the touring cars ahead.
However, another caution for the stricken #126 Mercedes GT4 of Parera allowed drivers to pit under safety car conditions. Solenn pitted from second in class and P20 overall, handing the car over to Lionel on lap 21.
The green flag flew shortly after, and Lionel, running at a 2:04 pace, steadily improved lap after lap as the track conditions improved. He climbed to P15 overall, continuing to gain positions on the touring cars and GT4 entries.
Class leader Carretero in the #111 Audi R8 pitted on lap 26 for his driver change, allowing Lionel to close back the gap. By lap 28, the two GPX class frontrunners were ninth and tenth overall, separated by just one second.
One lap later, the #101 Vortex took the lead, passing Yeregui. Lionel Amrouche reached 2:01 lap times and pulled away, gaining nearly ten seconds on the competitor.
He would pit for the second time with 30 minutes to go, switching to slick tyres, although an issue with a wheelgun cost some time in the pits.
After the second pit cycle, Lionel rejoined second in class. He broke the 2:00 barrier for the first time, setting the fastest time in class on lap 40 and gaining nearly two seconds per lap on the GPX class leader.
As lap times significantly dropped due to track evolution, Amrouche clocked a 1:56.9 and climbed back into the overall top 10. However, another caution was deployed with 13 minutes to go when overall leader Pires, in the #199 Veloso Motorsport Porsche, spun into the gravel at Turn 11.
With five minutes left in the 2024 GT-CER season, Lionel Amrouche climbed to sixth overall after the restart, gaining significant time. Despite having a sizable gap to the cars ahead and behind, the NM Mercedes GT2 of Duran, quickest in class in the closing stages, remained uncatchable.
Solenn and Lionel Amrouche therefore concluded the 2024 Spanish GT Championship with a second-place finish in the GPX class at the 2-hour Barcelona race—an extremely solid performance, especially in the tricky early conditions which saw Solenn managing with skills and cool head.
"On Sunday, I started the race in rainy conditions, which I actually enjoy. Driving on a wet track is one of the best ways to improve and learn to feel the car and the grip of the tires", Solenn said. "During my stint, I focused on staying error-free."
"There were several strategic calls regarding pit stops and safety cars, and I managed my time on track very well", she continued. "After my stint, I handed the car over to my father, who did an excellent job, engaging in an exciting battle with the leader."
"In the end, we finished second in our category and fifth overall. It was a fantastic race and a wonderful way to cap off the season."
With the 16 points collected, Solenn sealed fourth place in the GPX class standings despite missing multiple rounds and ranked ninth overall. While she wasn’t ultimately able to contend for the title, the young French racer showed great fighting spirit through the adversities and delivered strong performances in the Spanish GT rounds, as well as her outings in the Ultimate Cup and the Creventic 24H Series, ending her year with a podium that will fuel her ambitions for 2025.
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