Circuit on the French coast to host its first GT open official eventThree teams within 6 points in GTS23 cars entered, as key contenders returnEuropean F3 Open, FIA F2, Radical Cup and Trofeo Maserati complete great race programme in France
No rest for the International GT Open: right after Brands Hatch, the series is getting ready towards the fifth round of the season. Teams, cars and drivers are heading South, to the Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet, on the shores of the Mediterranean, where great weather can be expected on both race days, contrarily to what seen so far this season! After the Winter Series in March, this will be the first championship event at the Paul Ricard, the emblematic circuit that has taken its name from the beverage industrialist who created it at the end of the Sixties.
It is more than the second half of the season that will start this weekend, as the Brands Hatch results completely re-opened the games, narrowing the gaps in the standings of both the scratch and the GTS category. Five teams are now within 22 points (representing exactly a wins reward) in the overall standings, with three manufacturers in contention: Ferrari, Aston Martin and Porsche. No doubt that the top French team in the series, Raymond Narac-Patrick Pilet of IMSA Performance, will want to shine and conquer their maiden win of the season at home. The Porsche drivers are currently third in the standings, behind the leading pair, Nick Tandy-Marco Holzer (Manthey Porsche) and Brands heroes lvaro Barba-Matteo Malucelli (Villois Aston Martin), while the Ferraris of Bruni-Leo, Peter-Broniszewski and Montermini-Lpez are also shortening distances.
In GTS, the British round produced a new leader, Kessels young pair composed of Daniel Zampieri-Michael Dalle Stelle, who have a one-point advantage over ArchieHamilton-Marco Mapelli (Autorlando Porsche) and 6 over Stefano Bizzari on the other Ferrari by AF Corse.
23 cars have been entered to the French round, which will see a number of teams returning after missing the trip to Britain. This is the case of Drivex with its two Porsches, of Reiters Lamborghini, of the Ombra Racing Ferrari, and of Unzurrunzagas Mosler. A local addition is the Ferrari 458 GT3 of Frenchmen Steve Hiesse and Cdric Mzard.
The Paul Ricard round will enjoy the usual exhaustive TV coverage, live or slightly deferred, offered notably by Motors TV at pan-European level and key national broadcasters such as Raisportdue (Italy), Sport1+ (Germany), Teledeporte and Canal + Deportes (Spain), Sport TV (Portugal) and Orange Sport TV (Poland), to name just a few.
As usual, the European F3 Open and the FIA Formula 2 partner with the GT Open for this French round, with fans and holiday-makers having the possibility ofenjoying a great race programme, which includes high-level mono-brandchampionships as the Trofeo Maserati World Series and the Radical Cup.
GT Open Paul Ricard Timetable / Horario GT Open Paul Ricard(All times local, CET / Hora local, CET)
Friday 20 July 2012 / Viernes 20 Julio 201210:20-11:20 Free Practice 1 / Libres 115:20-16:20 Free Practice 2 / Libres 2
Saturday 21 July 2012 / Sbado 21 Julio 201209:40-09:55 Qualifying / Clasficacin1 GTS09:55-10:00 Qualifying / Clasficacin1 SGT + GTS10:00-10:15 Qualifying / Clasficacin1 SGT11:50-12:05 Qualifying / Clasficacin 2 GTS12:05-12:10 Qualifying / Clasficacin 2 SGT + GTS12:10-12:25 Qualifying / Clasficacin 2 SGT15:00-16:10 Race 1 / Carrera 1 (70 - Rolling Start / Salida lanzada)
Sunday 22 July 2012 / Domingo 22 Julio 201213:00-13:50 Race 2 / Carrera 2 (50 Rolling start / Salida lanzada)
Championship Standings after Race 8 of 16Scratch: 1.Holzer-Tandy, 94; 2. Maluccelli-Barba, 90; 3. Pilet-Narac, 88 p.; 4. Bruni-Leo, 81; 5. Peter-Broniszewski, 72GTS: 1. Dalle Stelle-Zampieri, 48; 2. Mapelli-Hamilton, 47; 3. Bizzarri, 42; 4. Rizzoli, 24; 5. Christodoulou-Hummel,24Teams SGT: 1. Manthey Racing, 42; 2. Villois Racing, 39; 3. IMSA Performance, 38 p. ; 3. AF Corse, 36; 5.Villorba Corse, 30Team GTS: 1. Kessel Racing, 64; 2. Autorlando Sport, 56; 3. AF Corse, 49; 4. Lapidus Racing, 24; 5. SeyffarthRacing, 20Manufacturers SGT: 1. Ferrari, 95; 2. Porsche, 77; 3. Aston Martin, 39; 4. Chevrolet, 18Manufacturers GTS: 1. Ferrari, 98; 2. Porsche, 69; 3. McLaren, 24; 4. Mercedes, 20; 5. Lamborghini, 6.
