Biagi-Crestani (Orange1 Lambo) go to the decisive round with a 29-point gapover Monje-Yacamán (T.Martín BMW), S.Balfe (McLaren) as third bidderSilva-Coimbra (GT-Am) and Teo Martín Motorsport (Teams) close to crowning25 cars entered, 10 brands represented: Kessel, Attempto, Akka ASP, Antonelli,Solaris, and J.Correia among teams joining the field for stellar event
The moment of truth has come: the International GT Open 2016 is heading towards its laststop and the decisive battle for the title. As the tradition wants it, the Circuit deBarcelona-Catalunya will be hosting the season-closer, which will be, once again, a feastfor racing fans. As usual, the autumn round in Catalonia has attracted a stellar entry, with25 cars (representing 10 different car brands) in the entry list, the best of the year. Ontop, fans will enjoy a terrific race program, which includes also the Euroformula Open, thetitle-decider of the F. V8 3.5, the Championnat de France de F.4 and the very last races ofthe SEAT León Eurocup.
3-WAY BATTLE FOR THE TITLEThe screenplay is certainly not new for the GT Open: it will be again a three-way battle upto the last meter for the overall title. This time, the contenders will be a Lamborghini, aBMW and a McLaren. On top of the standings, Thomas Biagi and Fabrizio Crestani, with theLambo Huracán of Orange1 Team Lazarus, have a 29-point advantage. With still 44 pointsat stake (and none of the title bidders having to drop results), the games are still wideopen.
The Italian pair composed of the former FIA GT1 World Champion and the former GP2driver has conducted a very consistent and clever season, clinching one win and visitingthe podium in seven other occasions. The two approach the decisive round with serenity,as underlined by 28-year-old Crestani: “We’ll try to stay focused, take no risks, make nomistakes, and put on a solid performance. This is the approach we have had at every race,and it has worked well for us. We’ll need to be tactical, especially in Race-1 where we’llhave a 25-second handicap to manage, and watch closely what our direct rivals do. Thegood thing is that both Thomas and I love the Barcelona track, which, theoretically,should suit well our Lambo.”The other most serious challenger is the pair composed of Gustavo Yacamán and FernandoMonje, with the BMW M6 of Teo Martín’s team. The Colombian and the Spaniard areexperiencing a very strong end of the season, culminated with a win at the Red Bull Ring.For the Spanish squad and Fernando Monje, there will be the advantage of racing at home.“We’ll go for it since the start of the weekend”, says the Barcelona-born, “We know thatwe’ll have to attack to reduce the gap, so the strategy is clear and I really hope that wewe’ll have an entertaining fight and fans will have a good time. We know the track well,we are at home and we know we can be extremely competitive. For the rest, the pressurewill be mostly on the provisional leaders, not on us.”
While 40 points is a significant gap, Shaun Balfe is also still in the title race, after a solidseason started with a Ferrari and continued with a brand new McLaren 650S. The Brit(whose usual team mate, Phil Keen, has missed one event and therefore has not the sameamount of points in the standings) is aware of the challenge ahead: “It would take amiracle to win the title, but we will not give up. Our realistic focus has got to be forsecond place in the Championship. We have led it, then dropped to third, but with twopros like Biagi and Crestani leading in their Lamborghini, just beating the semi-worksBMW would be an achievement for us.”
In the GT-Am category, champagne is ready in the fridge for Luis Silva and AntónioCoimbra as the Portuguese pair of the Sports&You Mercedes has virtually already won thetitle. And in the Teams’ competition, BMW Team Teo Martín only needs one point tosecure the honours.
A TERRIFIC ENTRY TO CLOSE THE SEASONThe Barcelona round is always synonymous with an exceptional field. No exception to therule this year too, with many returns and new entries from all over Europe.Among regular GT Open contenders, a few things are worth to be noted. While the Garage59 McLaren of Michael Benham-Duncan Tappy is back after being forced to miss the Monzaround because of an accident in testing, TF Sport is entering a second Aston MartinVantage for British GT specialists Mark Farmer and Jon Barnes. With the AF CorseKaspersky Ferrari of Alex Moiseev-Marco Cioci and the SF Racing Ferrari of Fu SongyangAndreaCaldarelli both doing their third outing of the season, Drivex is back with its AudiR8 LMS ultra, entrusted to the Argentinean duo composed of Juan Cruz Álvarez andEsteban Gini. Antonelli Motorsport, which appeared at Monza for the first time, is also onand doubling its presence: alongside the Huracán SuperTrofeo for Kikko Galbiati-ManuelDeodati will be an Huracán GT3 for former GT Open champion Daniel Zampieri and MarcoAntonelli himself.
New entries include, in truth, a lot of familiar names. Kessel Racing is back for the grandfinale. The Swiss team that dominated the GTS category a few years ago will field twoFerraris 458 for Niki Cadei-Alexis De Bernardis and Stephen Earle-David Perel.Under its new name of Akka ASP Team, Jérôme Policand is also back, with two MercedesAMG; he will drive one of them together with Jean-Luc Beaubelique, with the otherentrusted to Maurice and Benjamin Ricci. Attempto Racing from Germany is anotherregular visitor to the Barcelona round. This time, Arkin Aka’s squad is entering a LamboHuracán GT3 for Emil Lindholm-Christian Krognes, while two Porsches 911R will beentrusted to Jürgen Häring-Dietmar Ulrich and a stellar duo composed of Kévin Estre andPeter Terting.From Portugal come an ex-RJN Nissan GT-R that José Correia and Ricardo Gomes haveraced in various competitions in Portugal, including hill-climbing. Finally, SolarisMotorsport is also making a come-back to the series, now with their Aston Martin Vantagewith which they have shone in Italian GT. As usually, Francesco Sini is at the wheel,associated with Jody Fannin, who won at Silverstone in the GT Open two years ago withsimilar machinery.No doubt that all is set for an extraordinary closing of the 2016 season!All the action can be followed from fans at home thanks to live coverage by majornational broadcasters in key countries such as UK (BT Sport), Italy (Fox Sports 2), Spain(Teledeporte and Canal + Deportes), Portugal (Sport TV), Russia (Poverkhnost Sport) andCentral Europe (Digisport), among others. In addition, pan-European coverage is ensuredby Motors TV (43 countries).
