Ferrari on top at Paul Ricard GT Open

Ferrari was a dominant force on the first weekend of this seasons GT Open International championship with one outright victory and a class win. Taking the top spot was the Scuderia Villorba 458 GT2, which won this afternoons Race 2, after yesterday coming third overall and first in the Super GT category.Contested at first on a wet track thanks to the rain, before it gradually dried towards the end, Luca Filippi and Andrea Montermini secured the lead in the closing stages of an incredible race, profiting from a spin for Aleksander Talkanitsa Senior, who seemed to have the victory in his pocket, with really just a few minutes to go. The Talkanitsa duo in their AT Racing 458 GT then also lost second place to the Aston Martin of Soulet-Ide, who after losing the lead at the compulsory pit stop, staged a great climb back up the order thanks mainly to the slick tyres fitted at the stop. Indeed, this crew had already proved to be very competitive, having won Saturdays Race 1 in far from spring-like weather with rain and fog, ahead of the all-Danish crew of Laursen-Magnussen in the Kessel Racing 458 GT3 and the aforementioned Italian pairing of Montermini-Filippi.Among the other noteworthy class results obtained by the Maranello marque, was a second place in Race 1 for Cameron-Griffin (M-Tech) in Super GT and a third for Beretta-Lyons (AF Corse) while in Race 2 Bontempelli-De Marco (Kessel Racing) made it to the third step of the podium.After the Paul Ricard round, Ferrari heads both Constructors classifications: 36 points in Super GT ahead of Chevrolet (12) and Porsche (6) and 24 in GTS four more than Aston Martin, with Mercedes third on 8.


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