Valencia, 4 October 2006 - Less than two weeks after the last race in Istanbul, itis “show time” again for the International GT Open, which will live next week-endwhat promises to be one of the most exciting events of its first season.
The Spain GT Open, which takes place 7-8 October in the Circuito Ricardo Tormo inCheste, near Valencia, will be the International GT Open’s first visit to Spain, thehome country of GT Sport Organización, the initiator of this new international serieswhich aims at reviving the genuine GT racing spirit.
This will certainly be the case in Valencia, as no less than 51 cars have been enteredin the fifth event of the season! As it happened in Estoril, the regular competitors ofthe International GT Open will be joined by the participants to the Spanish GTChampionship, for which the Valencia rounds will be valid too. Once again, the GTOpen will pair with the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), thus offeringSpanish fans a busy and superb racing week-end, which includes also races of theSpanish F.3 Championship, the Trofeo Maserati, the Seat León Cup and the HyundaiGetz Cup.
A crowded entry list as the one for the Spain GT Open clearly poses some logisticalproblems. This is why, as it happened in Estoril, the 51 cars will be split in twogroups for the qualifying sessions, according to the classes they belong: GTAs on oneside and GTBs, GTSs and GTCs on the other. Nevertheless, the two scheduled onehourraces (one on Saturday and one on Sunday) will see the full field competingtogether, with a rolling start as the only change with respect to the traditional formatand procedure.
“The Valencia circuit is homologated to take such a big number of participants and Iam sure we are going to live very interesting races, in the traditional warm, sunnyand friendly atmosphere that Valencia always provide”, says GT Sport boss JesúsPareja.
The entry list of the Spain GT Open, of course, sees a good number of new cars anddrivers. Worth of noting is the first appearance in the series of a well-respected teamin the GT arena such as JMB Racing. The Monegasque squad will bring a Ferrari 360Modena for Britons Joe Macari and Ben Aucott. Also making their debut in the GTOpen will be the ASM Team Racing for Portugal, fresh from their very successfulcampaign in the LMP2 category of the LMS. The squad enters a Ferrari 430 in theGTA category for Bravo-Espiritu Santo and Porsche 996 in GTB for Del NoceAlburquerque.
The LMS LMP2 champions, Miguel Amaral and Miguel Ángel De Castro,will also be among the contenders, at the wheel of Drivex’ Porsche GT3.
Other good news came at the eve of the Valencia round from Dodge MotorsportEurope, as the American carmaker confirmed it is developing a FIA GT2 version of itsFIA GT3 Viper Coupe and will provide technical and logistical assistance to all itsclient teams wishing to make the category switch. Italy’s Racing Box is the first teamthat has made public its interest for the new car and hopes to be able to race it inthe last event of the year, in Barcelona next 11-12 November.
In the meantime, Valencia will be a crucial moment in the fight for the title. Thanksto their two wins in Turkey, Lucas Guerrero and José Manuel Pérez-Aicart, theEscudería Bengala’s pair, are now leading the overall standings, with 126 points.They will race in front of their own crowd in Valencia (where the team and thedrivers are from), but their Mosler MT900 will of course have to race with almost amaximum success time handicap. Paolo Ruberti is second in the standings with 111points and will again share the black Ferrari 430 of Edil Cris Racing with RaffaeleGianmaria, while third-placed (104 p.) Playteam SaraFree Ferrari 340 also has itssay in the battle for the championship, in the hands of Michele Bartyan and a driverstill to be nominated (in replacement of regular Alessandro Pier Guidi, who will beracing for Italy in the Brno round of the A-1 single-seater series).
As usually, the Spain GT Open will be broadcasted live by the Eurosport networkthroughout the continent, with further live coverage being granted in Spain (TVE),Portugal (RTP) and Italy (Sport Italia).
