Racing at Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the site of the team’s International GT Open vice-championship title success in 2022, the team showed good promise amid the practice phase of the weekend.
In qualifying, Alain Valente, Reema Juffali, and Ralf Aron performed consistently from Q1 to Q3, and secured seventh on the grid in the Bronze Cup for the #81 Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Reema started the race and battled forward after settling into a consistent early rhythm, but unfortunately lost ground after being tapped wide by the #10 Boutsen VDS Audi of Andrea Cola in Turn Four.
Three Full Course Yellow and Safety Car periods broke up Reema’s time in the car, and during the third neutralisation, she elected to hand the cockpit over to Alain as the race resumed to green flag running with two hours remaining.
Alain held 12th at the restart and ran an uninterrupted stint into the final hour before handing the reins over to Ralf, who rejoined the race 13th in class.
Oil across the racing surface in Sector Three led to a fourth Full Course Yellow period which lasted for 30 minutes, creating a 25-minute sprint to the flag – a run which Ralf maximised to finish 11th in class.
Reema Juffali, Driver & Founder, Theeba Motorsport
“Last race of the season and it was another tough one. We’ll learn from everything we’ve faced this season and I’m very proud of the team for their efforts. We came into this championship as a new team, gave it our all, showed our strengths, and came away with some good results on the way. Those results come down to their passion, and I can’t thank the team enough. Now we will look to the future.”
Ralf Aron, Driver, Theeba Motorsport
“It was a difficult race for us. There was a lot of action throughout the field, and there were also a lot of incidents which led to lots of Safety Car and Full Course Yellow periods. We picked up some damage after some contact quite soon into the race, and that didn’t help with our performance. But we did our best, and I’m confident that we can work forward from here.”
Alain Valente, Driver,Theeba Motorsport
“It feels like yesterday that it started, but our season is done. Our last race wasn’t an easy one, and after a problem in the pits, we got stuck in a lot of traffic. It’s been a great honour to be a part of Theeba Motorsport’s journey in 2023 and I would like to thank the team for all of their hard work.”
