The 2018 International GT Open is ready for an exciting second round of the 2018 season and for its traditional Spring rendez-vous at Le Castellet. The Circuit Paul Ricard has undergone improvements and will be in shining shape, ready to welcome, a few weeks later, the French F.1 Grand-Prix, which comes back to the calendar this year and to the iconic venue that hosted it 14 times between 1971 and 1990.
This coming weekend, French fans will have the opportunity to enjoy a rich and varied race programme, which includes almost all types of race cars, as the International GT Open and the Euroformula will be joined by touring cars, with the new TCR Europe kicking-off at this very occasion, the sportscar of the Radical European Masters and the prototypes of the MitJet Series. In the paddock, fans will also have the opportunity of enjoying the many animations brought to them by Michelin.
The GT Open, for sure, will contribute much to the show and the excitement, as this 2018 season is proving of very high level and is offering great fights in all the three classes, Pro, Pro-Am and Am.
The season-opener at Estoril saw a double overall win of the brand new Luzich Racing and its Ferrari 488 entrusted to Mikkel Mac and Alessandro Pier Guidi. The Prancing Horse also grabbed another podium finish thanks to another debuting team, RS Racing, with Daniele Di Amato-Andrea Montermini taking 3rd in Race 1.
No doubt thus that the Lamborghinis will want to take their revenge as soon as possible. The cars of reigning champion Imperiale Racing already proved very competitive in Portugal, with Giovanni Venturini-Jeroen Mul taking second twice and Riccardo Agostini-Rik Breukers also netting one podium finish (3rd in Race 2). The Bull of Sant’Agata can count also on the cars of Ombra Racing (Rees-Fioravanti) and VSR (Costa-Ling).
The third top contender in the Pro class, BMW Team Teo Martín, is certainly eager to have its say, and Fran Rueda-Andrés Saravia and Lourenço Beirão-Juan Cruz Álvarez will certainly be more at ease at Ricard, a track that suits much better the qualities of the BMW M6.
In the Pro-Am class, the Mercedes AMG took the two wins at Estoril, with the SPS Automotive car of Valentin Pierburg-Tom Onslow-Cole and Drivex’ Marcelo Hahn- Allam Khodair, but the Lambos and the Ferraris are ready to respond. The Daiko Lazarus Racing Huracán of Miguel Ramos-Fabrizio Crestani was twice second in Portugal, while the Luzich Racing Ferrari of Alexander West-Michele Rugolo took third spot also twice. Imperiale Racing is also a key player in the class, with the Huracán of Giammaria-Liang, while Daiko Lazarus Racing has a second valuable card with Cipriani-Sowery, the young Brit having taken a superb pole on the wet in Estoril.
Things look particularly open in the Am class, currently led ex-aequo by the Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Lambo of Andrzej Lewandowski-Giulio Borlenghi and the Sports&You Mercedes of reigning double champions Luis Silva-António Coimbra, who shared wins at Estoril. Strong forces in the class are also the Teo Martín BMW of Basso-Marques, the ARC Bratislava Lambo of Konopka-Calko and the HTP/MS Mercedes of Konrad-Hrachowina, who all visited the podium in the first round.
The Paul Ricard round brings a number of novelties, with the entry list growing up to 24 entries. Two stalwart teams are starting their season in France. Germany’s Rinaldi Racing, who had to miss Estoril because of a multiple clash of dates, will campaign from now until the end of the season two Ferraris 488; one is entered in Pro-Am for Blancpain GT Series Am Champion David Perel, from South Africa, and Russia’s Vadim Kogay, while German duo Christian Hook-Steve Parrow will drive another car in Am. Long-standing GT Open contender Lechner Racing, from Austria, will make its first appearance of the year, with its Mercedes entrusted to its usual pair, Mario Plachutta-Thomas Jäger.
A completely new entry is Target Racing. The Italian squad, well-known in both single-seater formulae and GT, is to debut in France and contest the entire season in the Pro-Am class with a Lamborghini Huracán, which will be entrusted to Alberto Di Folco-Stefano Costantini. Will not be present, in this round, the second Drivex Mercedes nor the Krypton Motorsport Mercedes.
With regard to driver changes, and as announced since the launch of the programme, Marco Cioci will be alongside Mikkel Mac in the Luzich Racing Ferrari, subbing for Alessandro Pier Guidi taken by his duties in the FIA WEC, where he defends his GT world crown. Similarly, Allan Hellmeister is back as team mate of Marcelo Hahn in the leading Drivex Mercedes, as Allam Khodair has a Stock Car Brazil commitment.
