• The Porsche-Ferrari duel resumes with Autorlando (Roda-Lietz) and Trottet (Fässler-Camathias) leading in each camp• IMSA Performance to seek success at home• Ruffier, JMB and FR among expected new entries• Peter-Broniszewski (Kessel Ferrari), strong leaders in GTS• French event to offer also the emotion of the Euro F.3 Open
After the summer break, the International GT Open is back ! Next week-end (19-20September), the acclaimed European GT2 and GT3 pro-am series will resume its racingactivity, with the fifth round of the season, to be held in the beautiful and demandingCircuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. The stop in Bourgogne has become a traditional andappreciated “rendez-vous” for the GT Open, as the French circuit is the only one,together with Monza and Barcelona, that has been visited every year by the seriessince its creation in 2006.
The summer break may have been long, but has not all be holidays, as most teams anddrivers have been involved in testing or other competitions and the GT Sport team hasbeen actively working on the future of the International GT Open.The Magny-Cours GT Open will be the kick-off of the second half of the season, whichpromises to be as closely-fought as ever. The eternal battle between Porsche andFerrari has seen the Stuttgart machines taking a slight advantage, but Maranello ismore than determined to react. It will be interesting to see if and how the balance ofpower between the 997 RSR and the F430 has changed since the last race inDonington.
For the time being, Richard Lietz and Gianluca Roda, on their Autorlando Porsche 997RSR lead the table with 124 points and 2 wins, ahead of the best Ferrari F430, theTrottet one, driven by Swiss aces Marcel Fässler and Joël Camathias (114 points and 2wins also).
Third in the standings are Patrick Pilet-Raymond Narac with the IMSA Porsche (96points and 2 wins as well) and there is no doubt that the French squad will wish to dowell on their home soil. Other teams to be watched closely are the Autorlando’sPortuguese pair of Manuel Gião-Pedro Couceiro, in the Porsche camp and among theFerraris, Advanced Engineering top pair Giacomo Ricci-Michele Rugolo and Edil Cris’Raffaele Giammaria-Alessandro Bonetti, fresh from a win in the Italian GTChampionship.
Things look more under control for the Prancing Horse in the GTS category, as PhilippPeter and Michal Broniszewski lead the table with 66 points and 6 wins, with theirKessel Ferrari F430 GT3, but the Villois Aston Martins of Wiser-Lancieri and Guerrero-Petrini are never far.
Up to 30 cars are expected in the Nièvre, as the GT Open always attracts a goodnumber of French participants. The final entry list will be published early next week,but it is already sure that Ruffier Racing, with its Lamborghinis, FR Motorsport with itsVipers and JMB Racing will add themselves to the regular entrants.
The Magny-Cours event will also see in action the Euro F.3 Open, one of the mostcompetitive Formula 3 series in the continent, which has produced a number of driversthat are currently shining at the top, like Jaime Alguersuari in F.1, Roldán Rodríguezand Javier Villa in GP2, Andy Soucek in F.2 and Nelson Panciatici in the Superleague,to name just some of the most recent examples. At the moment, the 2009 season seesBruno Méndez and Celso Míguez tied up for the title battle at 76 points.
The Formula Le Mans, the Formula Academy Euro Series and the Coupe Caterham willcomplete a varied and appealing program.
As usual, the Magny-Cours GT Open will get TV coverage throughout Europe thanks toEurosport and Motors TV and additional live coverage in Spain (Canal +), Italy(Nuvolari) and Portugal (Sport TV).
MAGNY-COURS GT OPEN TIMETABLE
Friday, 18 September 200911.25-12.25 Free Practice 116.00-17.00 Free Practice 2
Saturday, 19 September 200909:15-09:30 Qualifying 1 GTS09:30-09:35 Qualifying 1 GTS + SGT09:35-09:50 Qualifying 1 GTS11.40-11.55 Qualifying 2 GTS11.55-12.00 Qualifying 2 GTS + SGT12.00-12.15 Qualifying 2 SGT16.15-17.25 Pro-Am Race (70’ – Rolling Start)
Sunday, 20 September 200913:40-14:30 GT Open Race (50’ – Rolling Start)
