French round to see another exciting battle between eight brandsBalfe-Keen (Balfe Motorsport Ferrari) determined to keep points leadershipStellar Lamborghini presence as Caldarelli-Liuzzi (FFF) join the Huracán camp Local hero Ledogar to lead Garage 59 McLarens’ assaultOne-point lead for the Sports&You Mercedes on the AF Corse Ferrari in GT-Am
The International GT Open is heading South for its third round of the season: the Circuit Paul Ricard, near Le Castellet, will host in its hi-tech premises an event that has become one of the defining moments of the calendar.
Based on what seen at Estoril and Spa, French fans will enjoy a great GT show, with closely-fought races and no less than eight different car brands represented, but difficult to predict who will win after four different cars, teams and driver pairs have taken the first four races of the year. It will maybe be Lamborghini’s turn? The Bull will have,in any case, an exceptionally strong presence in France.
The Ricard will see the debut of FFF Racing Team by ACM, the well-known squad based in Asia, which is now expanding its activities into Europe and tasting different competitions in the Old Continent. “The Ricard was a perfect opportunity to come and discover the GT Open”, says team principal and driver Andrea Caldarelli. The Italian star in Japan’s GT racing scene will have as team mate someone who on top of being a good friend and his brother-in-law is also an ace having raced in almost all top categories of the sports, from F.1 to WEC and F.e: Vitantonio Liuzzi. With no doubt, a stellar pair, that will obviously be balanced against the competition through a handicap. Seen for the first time at Spa, the Ebimotors Huracán of Fabio Babini and Emanuele Busnelli will be again on the starting blocks, alongside championship regulars Thomas Biagi-Fabrizio Crestani, twice on the podium with the Orange1 Team Lazarus car. With such a trio of representatives, the Bulls from Sant’Agata will certainly aim at their first win of the season.
Their task, though, will not be easy, given the level of competition. The BMW M6 of Teo Martín have clinched in Belgium their first success, with Miguel Ramos-Roldán Rodríguez, and are certainly eager to repeat the great result, counting also on Fernando Monje-Gustavo Yacamán’s car, completely rebuilt after serious damage in Spa.
Other win contenders include the two Garage59 McLarens 650S of Duncan Tappy-Michael Benham and Alexander West-Côme Ledogar, with the young French star in the role of main local hero. The Renault RS01 GT3 proved a winner in Spa, so the French sportscars coveted by Nicky Pastorelli’s V8 Racing will also have their say, just like the TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage of Euan Hankey-Salih Yoluc, the British machine being always at ease on the fast straights and corners of the Ricard.
The list of candidates to victory would not be complete without mentioning the Ferraris, and it is actually one of the Prancing Horse machines lying on top of the overall standings at the moment. Shaun Balfe and Phil Keen are accomplishing a brilliant and consistent season at the wheel of their privateer F458 and their success has gained them unanimous praise.
At the Paul Ricard, AF Corse will be present with one of its new 488, entrusted to Marco Cioci and Piergiuseppe Perazzini. These two are certainly not unknown in the series: they were actually team mates when they took the GTS title on a Viper in … 2006, the inaugural year of the series, and have been regular visitors since. Marco made his come-back at Spa, PG will do it now. On the anecdote side, it is interesting to report that Cioci, who is still recovering from a broken leg, has actually being operated by surgeon Perazzini…
The ProAm field also sees the presence of GT Open enthusiasts Drivex School, with its Audi R8 LMS ultra entrusted to Argentina’s Juan Cruz Álvarez and a driver to be announced and Radical Works Team, with the RXC Turbo GT3 of James Abbott-Colin Noble jr.
In the Am category, the fight currently sees the Sports&You Mercedes AMG of António Coimbra-Luis Silva leading in the standings, only one point ahead of AF Corse’s top car, entrusted this time to Stéphane Lémeret and new-comer John Dhillon, who normally stars in the British GT. Filipe Barreiros-Max Braams will try to repeat their Spa triumph with the V8 Racing Renault RS01 while the latest new entry is the one from Petri Corse, with a Lambo Huracán Supertrofeo for Davide Roda, who will become the third member of the Italian racing family to compete in the GT Open after brother Gianluca and nephew Giorgio.
Fans at the Circuit Paul Ricard will have the opportunity to enjoy, on top of Var’s beautiful coast, hills and cultural heritage, a rich race programme, which also includes the other GT-promoted series, the exciting Euroformula Open, and two of our most faithful partners, the SEAT León Eurocup and the Radical European Masters, certainly among the most spectacular racing championships around.
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 (Fox Sports 2), Spain (Teledeporte and Canal + Deportes), Portugal (Sport TV), Russia (Poverkhnost Sport) and Central Europe (Digisport), among others. In addition, pan-European coverage is ensured by Motors TV (43 countries). Races are also livestreamed with English commentary by Ben Evans on our website www.gtopen.net.
GT Open Round 3: Circuit Paul Ricard - Timetable (All times local, CET)
Friday 3 June 2016
13:00-14:00 Free Practice 1
16:40-17:40 Free Practice 2
Saturday 4 June 2016
11:05-11:35 Qualifying 1 (driver 1)
16:15-17:25 Race 1 (70’ - Rolling Start)
Sunday 5 June 2016
10:10-10:40 Qualifying 2 (driver 2)
14:15-15:05 Race 2 (50’ - Rolling Start)
STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 4 OF 14
Overall: 1. Keen-Balfe, 52 points; 2. Tappy-Benham, 44; 3. Pastorelli-Webster, 40; 4. Crestani-Biagi, 38;
5. Ramos-Rodríguez, 27; 6. West, 25; etc
Pro-Am: 1. Keen-Balfe, 22 points; 2. Tappy-Benham, Pastorelli-Webster, 18; 4. Biagi-Crestani, 15; 5. Ramos-Rodríguez, West, 10; etc
GT-Am: 1. Silva-Coimbra, 17 points; 2. Lémeret-Sdanewitsch, 16; 3. Barreiros, 11; 4. Sijthof, 6; 5. Nogueira, Braams, 5.
Teams: 1. Garage59, 20; 2. BMW Teo Martín, 14; 3. Balfe Motorsport, 18; 4. Orange1 Team Lazarus, 12;
5. Drivex School, V8 Racing, 8; 7. AF Corse, 6; 8. Ebimotors, 3.
