GT Open goes to the wire in Barcelona

Last round to decide all titles once againBruni-Leo and Holzer-Tandy separated by only 7 points on top of the overall standings, in typical Ferrari-Porsche duelMalucelli-Barba and Montermini-Lpez also with mathematical chancesZampieri-Dalle Stelle, Hamilton-Mapelli and Bizzarri fight for GTS crownOver 45 cars expectedMartin-Baguette, Camathias and Engel among top names also present

The moment of truth has arrived! The International GT Open heads to Barcelona for the final and decisive round of the 2012 season, which will have to deliver the names of the 2012 Champions, in a grand-finale closer than ever! But the traditional automn event in Catalonia is also synonimous of a big GT racing event, with a huge entry. This year will not be an exception, with over 45 cars already confirmed, thanks to many European teams joining the party and to the presence of the participants to the Iber GT Championship (which will race jointly with the GT Open on Saturdays Race 1).

The Circuit de Catalunya is ready for another Ferrari-Porsche duel for the overall title, with the AF Corse Ferrari of Gimmi Bruni-Federico Leo and the Manthey Racing Porsche of Marco Holzer-Nick Tandy to e Ferrari as the main title bidders. At the eve of the end of a very exciting season, the two teams are separated by only 7 points, with 44 still to be awarded in the final weekend. But they are not alone, as the Villois Racing Aston Martin is still of Matteo Malucelli-lvaro Barba is still on the race, 22 points behind, and mathematics also give a chance to a fourth competitor, the aabar Villorba Ferrari 458 of Andrea Montermini-Cochito Lpez, 42 points behind the top of the standings. The first three teams are also in contentionfor the Teams laurels.

It is a quite similar situation in the GTS category, with three title contenders within 7 points and 20 points still available in the category. The young pair of Kessel Racing, Daniel Zampieri- Michael Dalle Stelle is leading with its Ferrari GT3, followed by the Autorlando Sport Porsche of Archie Hamilton-Marco Mapelli and the AF Corse Ferrari of Stefano Bizzarri. In the GTS Teams fight, Autorlando and Kessel are separated by a mere 1 point.

Regarding the entry for this grand-finale, some top tcars having participated occasionally to the GT Open this year have confirmed their presence: it is the case of Swiss Team Maserati Granturismo MC3, which made its racing debut in Budapest, of the two Mercedes SLS-AMG of Seyffarth Motorsport, the Reiter Lamborghini of Kox-Pronk and the two BMW Z4 of Schubert Motorsport, while Lapidus Racing has switched the McLaren for a Mercedes SLS, in the hands of Klaas Hummel and former DTM driver Marco Engel. From England are attending the Ferrari GT2 of Mtech (Cameron-Griffin) and a Ferrari 458 GT3 by Scuderia Vittoria.

Usual Barcelona participants as Porsche teams Attempto from Germany and Almras fron France are also confirmed. Among the Iber GT contenders, are worth mentioning the Novadriver Audis R8 from Portugal (with Campanio-Eskelinen and Gio-Vieira), the Goodsense Lamborghinis and the Baporo Ferrari GT3 of Miguel Toril-Pol Rosell.

There will be also a good number of famous names. Among those which can be already announced, Belgian young guns Maxime Martin and Bertrand Baguette will make their debut with the Aston Martin GT3 of Belgian squad GPR Racing, while Switzerlands Jol Camathias,the only double GT Open champion in history so far, will be back to the series on the Ombra Ferrari GT3.

As usual, the European F3 Open will partner the GT Open in the racing programme and offer also an exciting final title battle between RP Motorsport drivers Gianmarco Raimondo and Niccol Schir. Two spectacular series such as the Mit-Jet and the European Radical Cup complete the racing programme.

The GT Open 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 Raisport (Italy), Sport1+ (Germany), Teledeporte and Canal + Deportes (Spain), Sport TV (Portugal) and Orange Sport TV (Poland), to name just a few.

GT Open Catalunya Timetable / Horario GT Open Catalunya (All times local, CET / Hora local, CET)

Thursday, 1st November 2012 / Jueves 1 Noviembre 201210:10-11:10 Private test / Test privado12:30-13:30 Private test / Test privado15:30-16:30 Private test / Test privado

Friday, 2nd November 2012 / Viernes 2 Noviembre 201210:30-11:30 Free Practice 1 / Libres 114:20-15:20 Free Practice 2 / Libres 2

Saturday 3rd November 2012 / Sbado 3 Noviembre 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 SGT15:45-16:55 Race 1 / Carrera 1 (70 - Rolling Start / Salida lanzada)

Sunday 4th November 2012 / Domingo 4 Noviembre 201213:00-14:00 Race 2 / Carrera 2 (50Rolling start / Salida lanzada)

Championship Standings after Race 14 of 16Scratch: 1. Bruni-Leo, 177; 2. Holzer-Tandy, 170; 3. Malucelli-Barba, 155; 4. Montermini-Lopez, 135; 5. Giammaria-Ramos,129; 6. Pilet-Narac, 124GTS: 1. Zampieri-Dalle Stelle, 76; 2. Bizzarri, 71; 3. Hamilton-Mapelli, 70; 4. Rizzoli, 53; 5. Puglisi-Beretta, 43Teams SGT: 1. AF Corse, 78; 2. Manthey Racing, 74; 3. Villois Racing, 66; 4. aabar Villorba Corse, V8 Racing, 57; 6. IMSAPerformance, 51Team GTS: 1. Autorlando Sport, 113; 2. Kessel Racing, 112; 3. AF Corse, 81; 4. Ombra Racing, 25; 5. Lapidus Racing, 24Manufacturers SGT: 1. Ferrari, 170; 2. Porsche, 122; 3. Aston Martin, 66; 4. Chevrolet, 57Manufacturers GTS: 1. Ferrari, 187; 2. Porsche, 126; 3. Mercedes, 29; 4. McLaren, 24; 5. Lamborghini, 18; 6. BMW, 6.


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