Phoenix Racing And Sport Garage Among The Many Interesting Additional Entries At The Traditional Automn’s Catalan EventFässler-Camathias (Trottet Ferrari) To Defend Championship Lead From The Assault Of The Porsches Ahead Of Closing Event In The Algarve
The International GT Open is heading to the Circuit de Catalunya for one its mosttraditional and popular events. Exceptionally, the Barcelona round will lose its status of“closing event” of the season, as the series will hold its last round one week later in theAlgarve, but the Catalan rendez-vous will still play a key role in the fight for the title andwon’t lose its main characteristic: being an event that attracts numerous entries from allover Europe. As a further note of interest, many new teams, cars and drivers will maketheir first appearance in the GT Open this time.
Over 40 cars are expected to be present in Montmelò. The autumn event will see the firstappearance ever in the International GT Open of the Audi R8 and the BMW Alpina B6. Thesuper-car from Inglostadt, which has had an impressive debut in the GT3 scene this year,is brought by GT stalwart team Phoenix Racing, from Germany, and driven by the Swissduo composed of Lloyd La Marca and former F.1 driver Jean-Denis Delétraz. As for theBMW Alpina B6, two units entered by France’s Sport Garage are confirmed to be present.The diversity in the GTS (GT3) category will be further enriched by the additions of twoLamborghini Gallardos from Ruffier Racing, the several Ferraris F430, the Porsches 997Cup of Germany’s Attempto Racing, the Aston Martin of RSV Motorsport (with Severin-Amorim) and one Ascari KZ1.
In the Super GT (GT2) category, it is to be noted that IMSA Performance will bring a fourthPorsche 911 GT3 RSR for Polette-Noyriel, while a number of prominent Iberian team willalso be present. These include the Ferraris F430 of PCR Sport (Mayola-Carol), MotorCompetición (Villalba-Gutiérrez) and Automòbil Club d’Andorra, and the Porsche 911 GT3RSR of Drivex, with De Castro-Amaral at the wheel.
On the sporting side, Marcel Fässler and Joël Camathias, who took the lead in the overallstandings thanks to a double win in the last event in Monza, will try, at the wheel of theirTrottet Ferrari, to confirm their current good form. The Swiss outfit, though, can expectvery strong opposition from the three Porsche teams that are still in contention for thetitle.
Richard Lietz-Gianluca Roda (Autorlando) are 14 points behind, while Pedro Couceiro-Manuel Gião on the second Autorlando car and top IMSA Performance duo composed ofRaymond Narac-Patrick Pilet will try to keep their title chances alive until the last roundin the Algarve.
In the GTS category, the Kessel Racing pair of Philipp Peter-Michal Broniszewski can aimat taking the crown already in Barcelona, but they will be again under the attacks ofVillois Racing’s Aston Martins.
The definitive entry list for Barcelona will be issued early next week. The Barcelona weekendwill also see the final round of the Euro F.3 Open, with the battle for the titlebetween Celso Míguez (Drivex) and Bruno Méndez (Campos Racing) reaching its climax.
CATALUNYA GT OPEN TIMETABLE
Thursday 29, October
11:30-12:30 Free Practice / Libres 114:40-15:40 Free Practice / Libres 2
Friday / Viernes, 30 October / Octubre 200910:20-11:10 Free Practice 3 / Libres 314:45-15:00 Qualifying / Clasificación 1 GTS15:00-15:05 Qualifying / Clasificación 1 GTS + SGT15:05-15:20 Qualifying / Clasificación 1 SGT
Saturday / Sábado, 31 October / Octubre 200910:50-11:05 Qualifying / Clasificación 2 GTS11:05-11:10 Qualifying / Clasificación 2 GTS + SGT11:10-11:25 Qualifying / Clasificación 2 SGT16:40-17:50 Pro-Am Race / Carerra Pro-Am (70’ – Rolling Start / Salida lanzada)
Sunday / Domingo, 1 November / Noviembre 200914:05-14:55 GT Open Race (Super GT) / Carrera GT Open (Super GT) (50’ – Rolling Start / Salida lanzada)16:10-17:00 GT Open Race (GTS) / Carrera GT Open (GTS) (50’ – Rolling Start / Salida lanzada)
