Third win out of four races for the AF Corse duo, a solid points leaderPorsches of Lietz-Roda and Narac-Pilet confirm regained formDouble win for Dayraut-Ortelli and one-two for Luxury in GTS
Pierre Kaffer and Alvaro Barba reinforced their leadership in the International GTOpen, by clearly imposing (for the third time out of four races this year) their AF CorseFerrari in the second race in the Nürburgring. They beated the two Porsches 911 RSRof Pilet-Narac (IMSA) and Lietz-Roda (Autorlando), which are respectively third andsecond in the current standings.
The GTS race saw a one-two of the Ferraris of the Luxury Team, with Stéphane Ortelli-Jean Philippe Dayraut taking their second win of the weekend ahead of team-matesJohan Boris Scheier-Michael Petit, at the end of a glorious week-end for the Frenchoutfit. The Autorlando Porsche of Gruber-Deverikos was third.
After a very rainy morning, the track dries up just in time for the start allowingeverybody to race on slicks. Lietz takes immediately the lead, with Pilet also passingBarba on lap 2. Third is Griffin, ahead of Tieman, Giammaria, Scheier and Goodwin.Versluis spins and hits the armco in lap 3.
After 6 laps, Pilet closes up on Lietz and starts his attack, passing the Austrian in lap7. Shortly after, also Barba starts attacking the Autorlando Porsche. Niarchos stopstwice in the pits after hitting debris. In GTS, it’s Tiemann controlling the race aheadof Scheier, Lancelotti and Ortelli.
Barba will open the ball of pits stop for driver change on lap 11, with the leaders Piletand Lietz (separated by 6”) stopping in lap 14, while the Phoenix Audi comes back tothe pits at slow pace. A drive-through is imposed to Kauffman and Mortimer for nonrespectof pit stop procedures.
After the pit stops, Roda leads with 12” on Kaffer, Gerber and Narac, ahead of Peter,Toccacelo and Wiser on the Aston GT2. In GTS, the trio composed of Matthews, Petitand Gruber is in close fight, with the French taking the category lead ahead of theAustrian, and Dayraut catching up everybody to take second place.
In the meantime, Kaffer has joined Roda and takes the lead in lap 20. The last laps seeDayraut passing team-mate Petit to take double win for Luxury in GTS, ahead of theAutorlando Porsche of Gruber. Kaffer wins the race in front of the Porsches of rodaand Narac, the Ferraris of Peter and Gerber and the Aston of Wiser, while Morocrashes in the last lap.
Overall Standings GT Open: 1. Barba-Kaffer, 70 p.; 2. Pilet-Narac, 54; 3. Roda-Lietz,52; 4. Dayraut-Ortelli, 36; 5. Giammaria-Toccacelo, 33
Overall Standings GTS: 1.Ortelli-Dayraut, 26 p.; 2. Deverikos-Gruber, 19; 3. Couceiro-Frezza, 16; 4. Petit-Scheier, 15; 5. Lancieri-Lancelotti, 14
Teams Super GT: 1. AF Corse, 36 p.; 2. IMSA Performance, 24; 3. Autorlando Sport,22; 4. Edil Cris, 14; 5. CRS Racing, 11
Teams GTS: 1. Kessel Racing, 37; 2. Luxury, 26; 3. Autorlando Sport, 19; 4. VilloisRacing, 14; 5. Phoenix Racing, 13
