If Italian traditions are to be believed, the International GT Open has had the best possible start, as the inaugural race has been “blessed” by a surprise guest: the rain. In such difficult conditions, competitors had to fight first against the slippery track. The race has seen a one-two of the Vipers of the Racing Box team, with Stefano Zonca and Andrea Belicchi winning over their team-mates Marco Cioci and Piergiuseppe Pirazzini, after a nice and clean family battle.
Another battle took place for the third position, with the MoslerMT900R of Lucas Guerrero and José Manuel Pérez Aicart beating the early leader, the Playtime Sara Free Ferrari 430 of Alessandro Pier Guidi – Michele Bartyan and the Marcos LM600 of Cor Euser – Miguel Cristovão.
The Ferrari 360 Challenge of the Scuderia Giudici driven by Paolo Cutrera and Andrea Larini clinched the victory in among GTBs.
QUALIFYINGUnder a grey sky, but on a grey track, the qualifying session for the first race saw the Ferrari 430 of the Playteam Sara Free squad setting the best time, according to most predictions, with Alessandro Pier Guidi setting a time of 1.52.079, only one tenth ahead of the Edil Cris Ferrari 360 Modena of Paolo Ruberti. Two other Ferrari 360, those of Monti and Sundberg, were sharing the second row, ahead of the first Viper of Cioci, the Marcos of Euser and the first of the Porsches, the one of Kaufmann. Giuseppe Arlotti, on one of the Ferrari 360 Challenge prepared by Scuderia Giudici, sat the fastest time in GTB.
Other pre-race key news to note were the debut of the Seat Cupra GTs with their new engine (the V10 of the Lamborghini Gallardo) and the problems encountered by the Lamborghini n. 22, which went on fire and was quite seriously damaged. The black Italian “bulls” had to face other kind of troubles, as they were among the few cars that were found over the 110 decibel sound limit that is causing so many trouble to the Monza circuit these days. While other cars could solve the issue, the exhaust pipe of the Gallardos is designed in a way that prevented any last-minute fixing, putting unfortunately an end to their participation. On another hand, the organisation decided to impose an additional 10” penalty to the Viper entered in GTB/GTS, in order to balance their performances.
RACE 1 REPORTFew minutes before the start, heavy rain soaks the Autodromo nazionale, turning the first part of the Italian GT Open into a “wet race”. 26 cars are brave enough to take the grid. First corners see some serious battle between Pierguidi and Ruberti, but the poleman manages to emerge first at the end of lap 1. The pace-setters will quickly build some gap with respect to their rivals, led by Euser, Kaufmann, Zonca and Cioci. Soon the Vipers will start making their way through up to the top and on lap 8, Zonca and Cioci are second and third at less than 5” from the leading 430, while Ruberti, in trouble with the handling, has lost contact with the top guns.
In the meantime, the treacherous conditions had provoked some spins and chicane cuttings (Groppi, Kaufmann, Giannocaro and also Zonca among others) and sent the then GTB leader, the 360 of Arlotti against the armco (lap 6). The Seat Cupras of Gião and Ligonnet touch each other in the braking of the first ‘variante’ (lap 11) but the contact remains very gentle. Also Jourdain spins twice in lap 10, breaking its radiator and spilling the cooling liquid of its Porsche in a spectacular way.
Shortly into the 20th minute, the ballet of pit-stops for driver change starts, with no serious consequences on the standings, as only the three Vipers run with an extra handicap (10”).
The charge of the Vipers become more forceful and on lap 16, Perazzini, who had passed Belicchi (who has lost a lateral glass at full speed in the straight) takes the lead over Bartyan. Not for long, as two laps later, Belicchi wins for good the family battle, after a perfect overtaking at the breaking point of the firt chicane. The final laps see an interesting fight for the third place between Perazzini, Pérez Aicart and Euser, separated by no more than 5 seconds. Despite a couple of excursions in the grass, the young Spaniard takes the last spot in the podium. In GTB, Cutrera accomplishes a quiet and excellent job, winning the junior category.
POST-RACE QUOTES(1°) Stefano Zonca: “It has been a very nice experience, and a wonderful race. The car was just perfect and it was not too difficult in the rain”. Andrea Belicchi: “Stefano has done a very good job and I just had to finish it. The only concern was in the final laps, with the gearbox, and I ended without the second gear”.
(3°, 1° GTA) Lucas Guerrero: “We are very happy with the result and with how things went. It was not easy to drive in the rain, as the car was set up for the dry, and on top it is a brand new car, but everything went well”. José Manuel Pérez Aicart: “Lucas did most of the job, so I tried to not to spoil that! It’s only my fourth race with the car and my first in the rain, so I was not feeling entirely comfortable, but I managed to stay away from big trouble”.
(1° GTB) Paolo Cutrera: “My team-mate, Andrea Larini, has missed the podium and driven the minimum time. He is sick as hell and half-dead, so I had to do things almost alone, but everything went ok, I just hope Andrea will get better tomorrow”.
