Soufi scores a double at the start of the Prototype Winter Series in Estoril

Reigning champion Danny Soufi took a double victory at the first meeting of the 2025 Prototype Winter Series in Estoril, in very contrasting weather conditions.

At the wheel of his Ligier JSP320, the Konrad Motorsport driver took pole position and converted it into success in two races lasting 50 minutes and one lap, organized at the site of the former Portuguese F1 Grand Prix.

His victory in Saturday's first race, which took place in perfect conditions, came as he drove two seconds faster than Philip Lindberg, entered by High Class Racing, who started in second position.

All two-driver teams started the race with their Bronze competitor behind the wheel, which allowed Soufi and Lindberg, Silver drivers, to break away. The American maintained a comfortable advantage before the mandatory stop, then he rejoined the race with a lead which he maintained until the finish.

Lindberg, on the other hand, lost second place, because in the Prototype Winter Series the compulsory stop times must be longer for teams composed exclusively of Silver and Gold drivers, in order to balance the peloton. Laurents Horr (who had taken over from Jon Brownson at DKR Engineering Duqueine) therefore finished second while David Droux (associated with Quentin Joseph) further demoted Lindberg by taking third place for CLX Motorsport.

On Sunday, it was this time in pouring rain that Soufi once again took the lead ahead of Laurents Forderer before the DKR driver spun and ended up in the gravel. This required the intervention of a safety car which regrouped the peloton before the stops.

Soufi returned to the track in third position, but he quickly overtook Wolfgang Payr (Racing Expérience) and Quentin Joseph to take victory. A Full course yellow then froze the hierarchy for the rest of the race, preventing Lindberg from gaining the advantage over Joseph for second place.

The next round of the Prototype Winter Series will take place in Portimão this coming weekend. The races scheduled for January 25 and 26 can be followed live on the Gedlich Winter Series YouTube channel.