27 cars entered for first-ever visit to legendary British GP trackTitles battle heats up as second half of the season startsLamborghini back thanks to Rhinos Leipert MotorsportNew entries also from Lechner Racing, Team LNT and Balfe MotorsportThe second part of the 2013 season of the International GT Open kicks off with a special event, as the series will visit the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit for the very first time.
Thehistoric track in Northamptonshire is known for being one of the most spectacular tracks in Europe and expectation runs high ahead of this first visit. No doubt that power cars will be favored on the very fast F.1 track, and the duel between the Ferraris and the Corvettes promises to be as exciting as ever, with Montermini-Filippi (Villorba Ferrari) and Pastorelli-Ramos (V8 Corvette) fighting for the points lead. In GTS, the fight is extremely close between the Seyffarth Mercedes (with Miguel Toril) currently leading in the standings, the Ferraris, the BhaiTech McLarens and the top Porsche GT3.
A number of interesting changes are to be noted in the 27-strong entry for the British round.While Rinaldi Racing is back with its Porsche after missing the Jerez round, the 911 RSR of Drivex Racing has withdrawn following the serious damage from fire suffered in Spain. Some new cars are joining the GT Open for the event. Austrias Lechner Racing is making its debut this year (after taking part in the Winter Series) with a Mercedes SLS for Walter Lechner and Mario Plachutta, while Seyffarth Motorsport is entering a second SLS for Max Volker Kenneth Heyer.
Two all-British entries in the GTS category are the Ginetta G55 of Team LNT for Mike Simpson Lawrence Neil and the Balfe Motorsport Ferrari F458 of James Swift Shaun Balfe.
The most interesting new entry, still, is Team Rinhos Leipert Motorsport, as this will be the first time that the German squad directed by Ingo Leipert is present in the GT Open and this marks the return of a Lamborghini Gallardo, to the series. It will be driven by Peter Kox and Fabian Hamprecht.British fans will of course be able to cheer for GT Open regulars Duncan Cameron Matt Griffin, who are title contenders with their AF Corse Ferrari 458 GT2, and Michael Lyons, who shares a F458 GT3 of the same AF squad with Matteo Beretta.
Once again, the International GT Open and the European F3 Open will be sharing the programme with two superb series like the Maserati Trofeo MC World Series and the European Radical Masters in a weekend that promises to be exciting.
Fans not present at the track will be able to follow all the action thanks to the GT Opens excellent live TV coverage, which includes: Motors TV (pan-European), RaiSport2 (Italy), Sport1+ (Germany), Teledeporte and Canal+ Deportes (Spain), Sport TV (Portugal), without forgetting the live webstreaming on www.gtopen.net.
GT Open Silverstone Timetable / Horario GT Open Silverstone (All times local, CET -1 / Hora local, CET -1)
Thursday 11 July 2013 / Jueves 11 Julio 201313:00-13:55 Private test 1 / Test privado 115:00-15:55 Private test 2 / Test privado 2
Friday, 12 July 2013 / Viernes 12 Julio 201310:35-11:35 Free Practice 1 / Libres 114:10-15:10 Free Practice 2 / Libres 2
Saturday 13 July 2013 / Sbado 13 Julio 201309:45-10:00 Qualifying / Clasficacin1 GTS10:00-10:05 Qualifying / Clasficacin1 SGT + GTS10:05-10:20 Qualifying / Clasficacin1 SGT11:40-11:55 Qualifying / Clasficacin 2 GTS11:55-12:00 Qualifying / Clasficacin 2 SGT + GTS12:00-12:15 Qualifying / Clasficacin 2 SGT16:00-17:10 Race 1 / Carrera 1 (70 - Rolling Start / Salida lanzada)
Sunday 14 July 2013 / Domingo 14 Julio 201312:00-12:50 Race 2 / Carrera 2 (50 Rolling start / Salida lanzada)
