The 2017 season of the International GT Open is coming to an end, and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will again deliver the name(s) of the Champion(s). As always, the grand finale in Catalonia will be an exceptional event, with 26 cars entered and some stellar visitors…
FIVE FOR A TITLE – No less than five contenders will fight for the title. Leading the standings is Giovanni Venturini, the young Italian of Imperiale Racing, who since Silverstone, shares the wheel of his Lamborghini Huracán with Marco Mapelli. He has 97 points (and one win), but he is also the only driver (with his initial team mate Thomas Biagi) to have scored points in all rounds, thus having to drop one result if he takes points in both races in Barcelona (his lowest score, so far, is 2 points). “It’s the first time in my career that I am in a position to win a top title”, he explains, “and I can feel some responsibility on my shoulders, but the best way to approach the decisive round is to do things exactly as we have done so far. The strategy will be the same: do the best we can, especially in Race1, where we will have only a 5-second handicap.”
Five (gross) points behind only are Fran Rueda and Victor Bouveng, the duo of youngsters (both turned 21 during the season) that has been the surprise of the year. At the wheel of the Teo Martín Motorsport BMW M6, they have won 2 races and sum up 92 points.
“It’s going to be a close fight”, reckons the Spaniard, “but being right behind the leader is the best position. The pressure is not on us, and we’ll try to do our best, as in every race. It has been an incredible season for us, improving the car and getting a better feeling with it at every race, thanks to the fantastic job done by a fantastic team.” His Swedish team mate confirms: “If we were told at Estoril, at the beginning of the season, that we would have been fighting for the title at the final round, we would have not believed it. We had a very strong season, all in crescendo, and I personally enjoyed very much the GT Open, a truly great series. We’ll face Barcelona in no different way from the usual, but we’ll drive this race as if we have to steal it!”
The third in contention is the Emil Frey Racing Lexus RC F of Albert Costa and Philipp Frommenwiler, who lie 14 points behind the top, at 83 points, after an impressive season (3 wins) with a brand new car and a team new to the GT Open. Albert Costa will race at his very home in Barcelona and sums up the spirit reigning in the Swiss camp: “We are extremely motivated and will fight until the end. We have prepared this decisive round very thoroughly, I’m just out of the simulator, and we’ll get there without stress, as we are in the hunter’s position. Of course, being on my home track that I know perfectly, and having some extra testing sessions on Thursday, should be a plus to have the car perfectly set-up.”
Given what at stake, the “Swiss” Lexus may count on the support of its “German” sister car, driven by the Farnbacher brothers, which also had a very solid campaign, while Rueda-Bouveng will be able to rely on the other Teo Martín’s M6, entrusted to Portuguese stars António Da Costa-Lourenço Beirão.
Thomas Biagi, the reigning co-champion, now paired with GT Open super-expert Raffaele Giammaria, is the second card in the hands of Imperiale Racing, 16 points behind former team mate Venturini. The Italian team will have a not easy strategic plan to draft in Catalonia, and to maximize its chances has upgraded the line-up of its car, with freshly-crowned BES co-champion and factory driver Christian Engelhart joining Vito Postiglione for the occasion.
Mathematically, also the Spirit of Race pair composed of Miguel Ramos and Mikkel Mac is in the title race, but things will be quite difficult for the Ferrari of the “two Mikes”, who are 16 points behind the leader.
SUSPENSE FOR THE OTHER CROWNS TOO – The overall title is, of course, not the only one at stake in Barcelona, but, although things are not done until they are done, things look more defined in the other classes. Shaun Balfe and Rob Bell are in good position to clinch the Pro-Am title, as their McLaren 650S is only 2 points away from title certainty, its only rival being Piergiuseppe Perazzini, who will be again associated with Marco Cioci in the AF Corse Ferrari 488.
In the Am class, Luis Silva and António Coimbra have already renewed their title, at the wheel of the Sports&You Mercedes AMG, ahead of the other AMG of Austrian outfit MS Racing, with Martin Konrad-Alex Hrachowina, excellent runner-ups in their maiden GT Open season.
The fight will be close, instead, for the Teams’ crown as Imperiale Racing and BMW Team Teo Martín are only separated by 2 points, with no third force within title reach.
A GREAT GRID FOR A GREAT SHOW – Understandably, the fight for the titles will attract most of the attention, but Barcelona, as every year, will be a great show in itself, with a grid rich of 26 cars.
As usual, the Barcelona round attracts some one-off entries of high caliber, who come to enjoy the season-closing in Barcelona (and, it is worth to remind, do not score nor block points, being this the last round). Stalwart German squad Rinaldi Racing, who already campaigned the GT Open in 2013, is back with one of its green Ferraris 488 and a Russian duo, Rinat Salikhov-Sergei Borisov. Optimum Motorsport, one of the leading UK teams, is, on the contrary, debuting in the series, with an Audi R8 LMS for Bradley Ellis and a driver still to be named. So is Senkyr Motorsport, the well-known Czech squad that is entering its BMW M6 with a Czech- Slovak pair, Jakub Knoll and former Euroformula Cup champion Richard Gonda.
Among GT Open regulars, freshly-crowned BES co-champion Andrea Caldarelli is back in the seat of the SF Ferrari, alongside Fu Songyang, while his brother-in-law Tonio Liuzzi will remember his F.1 times in Montmeló at the wheel of the FFF Racing Lambo shared with Hiroshi Hamaguchi. Brazil will be again well represented with the Mercedes-equipped pairs formed by Figueiredo-Basso (Sports&You) and Hahn-Khodair. In Pro-Am, the Garage59 McLarens of West-Ledogar and Benham- Tappy will again race for top honours, as will also do German outfits SPS Automotive Performance, with the Mercedes of Pierburg-Onslow Cole, and Konrad Motorsport, with the Lambo of Still-Scheuschner.
British squads will be in high numbers, with Wessex Vehicles’ Lambo Gallardo REX attempting a second race win after Monza’s with Morris-Dolby, while Jordan Racing, with its Bentley for Witt-Meadows, and FF Corse, with the Ferrari 488 of Dunbar-Mowlem, are both back after missing the Monza round, while on the contrary, Kaspersky Motorsport and Ratón Racing have called it a day, after the crashes and problems encountered at Monza.
At Barcelona, the fans will enjoy a rich race programme, with the other GT Sport- promoted series, the Euroformula Open, bringing, as usual, the excitement of Formula 3 cars. Singleseaters will be extremely well represented, with the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 joining the race programme for the second time this year. To further delight the fans, the Radical European Masters will offer once again close sportscar racing.
All the action can be followed from fans at home thanks to live coverage by major national broadcasters in key countries such as UK (BT Sport), Italy (Sportitalia), Spain (Teledeporte RTVE), Portugal (Sport TV), Russia, CIS countries and Baltics (Poverkhnost Sport), Poland (PolSat Sport TV) and Central Europe (Digisport in CZ, SK, HU and RO), among others. In addition, international coverage is ensured by Motors Trend on demand. Races are also livestreamed in English and Italian with commentary by Ben Evans and Antonio Caruccio, respectively, on our website www.gtopen.net.
PROVISIONAL STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 12 OF 14
Overall: 1. Venturini, 97 points; 2. Rueda-Bouveng, 92; 3. Costa-Frommenwiler, 83; 4. Biagi, 81; 5. Ramos-Mac, 78; 6. D.Farnbacher, 57; 7. Beirão, 52; etc…
Pro-Am: 1. Bell-Balfe, 68 points; 2. Perazzini, 56; 3. West-Ledogar, 52; 4. Cioci, Pierburg, 50; 6. Benham-Tappy, 42; etc…
GT-Am: 1. Silva Sardinha-Coimbra Da Costa, 43 points; 2. Hrachowina-Konrad, 34; 3. Moiseev-Rizzo, 32; 4. Basso, 30; 5. Figueiredo, 17; etc…
Teams: 1. Imperiale Racing, 82 points; 2. BMW Team Teo Martin, 80; 3. Emil Frey Racing, 47; 4. Spirit of Race, 42; 5. Farnbacher Racing, 33; 6. Garage59, 26; etc…
