Equality in wins between the two makes to be confirmed in traditional Magny- Cours event, as more Ferraris 458 debut in the series
Following the exciting season-opener, the International GT Open is heading toFrance for its second 2011 round and one of its most traditional stops: Magny-Cours,the track in the bucolic scenery of the Nièvre, which is celebrating this year its5Oth anniversary.
The French event will have to confirm the trends seen in Italy, which offered a newchapter of the duel between Ferrari and Porsche, the two historical makes in GTracing. Despite the numeric superiority of the red machines, it was a draw in wins,with the Autorlando Porsche of Álvaro Barba and Andrea Ceccato taking a beautifulsuccess in Race 2.
The winners of Race 1, Marco Frezza and Juan Manuel López, currently hold thelead in the provisional standings with the Ferrari of Vittoria Competizioni. Thepresence of the Argentinean driver, and its excellent results, has had an additionalpositive impact on the GT Open, as the series is now followed with great interestby South American media and TVs.
In GTS also, the duel is between the Ferraris and the Porsches, with one win eachso far, and a tie on top of the standings between Gianluca Roda-Fabio Babini(Autorlando Porsche) and the young AF Corse duo composed of Stefano Bizzarri-Andrea Rizzoli on a Ferrari 458.
The main novelties in the 23-strong field for Magny-Cours will concern some of theFerrari teams, as a number of them started the season with the F430s and will havethe new 458s, in GT2 or GT3 version, debuting in France. This is the case of thetwo cars of JMB Racing and the Bontempelli-Gattuso pair at Kessel Racing. Thisshould also be the first appearance of a Mercedes SLS AMG (from Portugal’s Sport &You) while an additional French entry will be the Lamborghini of Noël Del Bello.For the rest, there will be few changes in the field: US Stephen Earle will be theteam-mate of Gianandrea Crespi in one of the Kessel’s GTS while Thomas Gruberwill drive alone the Deboeuf Porsche, as his team-mate Marco Seefried isexceptionally non-available for this round. The final entry list will be released onTuesday.
The French event will see again the European F3 Open partnering with theInternational GT Open. All the Magny-Cours action will have continental livecoverage through Motors TV, with additional premium live coverage offered in Italy(Nuvolari TV and Primocanale), Spain (Canal + Deportes and Teledeporte), Portugal(Sport TV) and Poland (Orange TV Sport).
Magny-Cours Timetable / Horario Magny-CoursFriday 13 May 2011 / Viernes 13 Mayo 201108:40-09:40 Test13:45-14:45 Free Practice 1 / Libres 117:50-18:50 Free Practice 2 / Libres 2Saturday 14 May 2011 / Sábado 14 Mayo 201109:15-09:30 Qualifying 1 GTS / Clasificación 1 GTS09:30-09:35 Qualifying 1 SGT + GTS / Clasificación 1 SGT + GTS09:35-09:50 Qualifying 1 SGT / Clasificación 1 SGT12:10-12:25 Qualifying 2 GTS / Clasificación 2 GTS12:25-12:30 Qualifying 2 SGT + GTS / Clasificación 2 SGT + GTS12:30-12:45 Qualifying 2 SGT / Clasificación 2 SGT15:00-16:10 Race 1 (70’ - Rolling Start) / Carrera 1 (70’ – Salida lanzada)Sunday 15 May 2011 / Domingo 15 Mayo 201113:40-14:30 Race 2 (50’ - Rolling Start) / Carrera 2 (50’ – Salida lanzada)
