Archie Hamilton switches to SRT Corvette for the remainder of 2014

Maxime Soulet joins V8 Racing

TF Sport Aston Martin enters British round with Turner-Fanin

Pastorelli-Ramos and Montermini-Schirò to battle for points lead

Open situation also in GTS, with Barba again with Sicart at Ombra

The second part of the International GT Open 2014 season starts this weekend in the United Kingdom.

For the second time, the Silverstone GP track will host the British round of the series, and teams and drivers are anxious to race on the fast and legendary Northamptonshire circuit. British fans will have much action to enjoy over the weekend as, besides the GT Open and the sister GT Sport series, the Euroformula Open, two major mono-brand championship, the SEAT Leon Eurocup and the Maserati Trofeo MC International Series, complete the racing programme.

In the GT Open, the last round at the Hungaroring has brought a situation as close as ever on top of the overall standings, with the V8 Racing Corvette of Miguel Ramos-Nicky Pastorelli retaking the lead, by only two points, over Andrea Montermini-Niccolò Schirò on their Villorba Corse Ferrari F458, with Daniel Zampieri-Roman Mavlanov (SMP Racing Ferrari) being a close third. The battle promises to be exciting at Silverstone!

The GTS class is no less exciting, with Spain’s Alan Sicart (Ombra Racing) and the SMP Racing duo of Vyacheslav Maleev-José Manuel Pérez-Aicart closing the gap on the points leader, AF Corse young star Giorgio Roda.

While attention will focus on the championship battles, the British round will also bring to the forefront some British contenders. Breaking news is that GT Open regular Archie Hamilton is switching Corvettes, from V8’s to SRT’s machine. The 23-year-old will finish the season along Isaac Tutumlu with the Belgian team and explained the situation: "I had some great races with the V8 Racing team and I want to thank them for everything. We had more than our fair share of bad luck and could have had much better results without some minor issues. I was given the opportunity to race with Isaac and SRT and have moved across with Nicky understanding my decision. It was important to me to drive with the best possible chance of good results but remaining on good terms with V8 Racing was a big priority. We now have eight races to go and I’m looking forward to trying my best to get back on the podium at Silverstone.”

With the support of

For Maxime Soulet, the fast Belgian driver who has been driving for SRT so far, finding another seat has been not difficult, as he has been recruited by V8 Racing! “We are extremely happy to have secured a top driver such as Maxime”, commented V8 Racing’s Nicky Pastorelli, “and this raises our championship chances, as Maxime is among the title bidders.”

The other top novelty is the presence of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage of TF Sport. The Surrey-based team, which has collected many successes in GT4, will make its debut in the series, in the SuperGT class, with a stellar duo composed of Darren Turner, the 40-year-old works Aston driver and a double Le Mans 24 Hours winner in GT, and 20-year-old Jody Fanin, the 2012 British G4 champion.

V8 Racing still has to confirm a replacement for Hamilton, while Daniel Leilwitz will again be at the wheel of the GT3 car of the Dutch squad, alongside Dennis Retera. At Ombra Racing, Álvaro Barba is again alongside Alan Sicart, following their excellent weekend in Hungary and while Stefano Costantini completes his recovery. The Ebimotors Porsche is back for a second outing, with Switzerland’s Ivan Jacoma and Adriano Pan, while the Team LNT Ginetta seen last year is expected to join.

The Silverstone round will also see the introduction of a small change in the handicap system for the SuperGT class: whenever the number of cars in the class will be equal or lower to 6, they will get handicaps according to their position in the overall results (and not in the class) and the extra handicap of 15” for three first finishes in a row will not apply.

Fans at home can follow all the Silverstone action thanks to the pan-European live coverage by Motors TV, with major national broadcasters also offering races live in key markets such as Italy (Raisport2), United Kingdom (BT Sport) , Spain (Teledeporte and Canal + Deportes), Portugal (Teledeporte), Turkey (Sport TV) and Central Europe (Digisport), among others.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER RACE 8 OF 16

Overall: 1. Pastorelli-Ramos, 123; 2. Montermini-Schirò, 121; 3. Zampieri-Mavlanov, 102; 4. Soulet, 93; 5. Roda, 70; etc.

Drivers SuperGT: 1. Pastorelli-Ramos, 60; 2. Montermini-Schirò, 56; 3. Zampieri-Mavlanov, 52; 4. Soulet, 43; 5. Tutumlu, 27; etc.

GTS: 1. Roda, 42; 2. Sicart, 36; 3. Ruberti, Aicart-Maleev, 35; 5. Sdanewitsch, 24; etc

Teams SuperGT: 1. V8 Racing, 78; 2. Villorba Corse, 56; 3. SMP Racing, 52; 4. SRT, 43; 5. Drivex, 7; etc Teams GTS: 1. AF Corse, 90; 2. Ombra Racing, 64; 3. SMP Racing, 35; 4. Autorlando Sport, Novadriver, 21; etc

Contructors Super GT: 1. Chevrolet, 112 ; 2. Ferrari, 108 ; 3. Porsche, 7.

Constructors GTS: 1. Ferrari, 131 ; Porsche, Audi, 21 ; 4. Nissan, 13; 5. Mercedes, Chevrolet, 12.

Gentlemen’s Trophy: 1. Sdanewitsch, 62; 2. Maleev, 60; 3.Cordoni, 31 ; 4. Flohr, 18; 5. Silva-Coimbra, 15; etc

QUALIFYINGAll drivers eliminated in Q1 or Q2 are available for media interviews immediately after the end of each session, as are drivers who participated in Q3, but who are not required for the post-qualifying press conference. The TV pen interview area will be located next to the FIA Hospitality unit, behind the FIA garage, paddock side.RACEAny driver retiring before the end of the race will be made available at his team’s garage/hospitality.In addition, during the race every team will make available at least one senior spokesperson for interview by officially accredited TV crews. A list of those nominated will be made available in the media centre.