Barcelona attracts 37-car grid and could yield first verdicts
20.09.2024
Only a fortnight after the Red Bull Ring, the International GT Open is back on track for the penultimate round of the season, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The stop at the track in Montmeló is always one of the most appreciated, and one that attracts a great entry: 37 cars this year in what will be the largest grid of the season so far.
Contenders will be hopeful to be welcomed by milder and sunnier weather than in Austria and to find some time to visit the old harbor of the Catalan capital to have a look at the ‘flying boats’ and the ‘paddock’ of the America’s Cup, the legendary sailing competition hosted this time by Barcelona. Still, they will have some serious business to attend on the technical and demanding 4.657-km track, as the various championships are entering the decisive safe, with only one round to go after this one, Monza, which will close the season with the second Endurance race.
OVERALL – TIGHTER DUEL BETWEEN REICHER-HAASE AND DELEDDA
Not much has changed at the top of the overall standings after the wet weekend in Styria, as the two main title bidders brought home one win each. Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase, in their Audi of Austrian outfit Eastalent Racing, are still in the lead, although their advantage has come down to 3 points (89 vs 86) on Alessio Deledda, driving the Oregon Team Lamborghini together with Jordan Pepper. In the number of race wins, the respective count is four and two, with the games still completely open.
The fight for third at the moment is also pretty close, with no less than four pairs tied at 68 points. Those are the Ferrari of Nicola Marinangeli-Vincent Abril (Spirit of Race) and the three Mercedes of Anthony Bartone-Fabian Schiller (GetSpeed), Diego Menchaca-Marcos Siebert (Motopark) and Mikaeel Pitamber-Dominik Baumann (SPS).
In the Pro field, all 12 cars are potential race winners. Al Faisal Al Zubair-Mikaël Grenier (Get Speed Mercedes) are back for their last selected appearance and aim at a third win this year. Another Mercedes to be watched is the Motopark car of LukasDunner paired this time with Julian Hanses, while Oregon Team fields two more Lambos for Rolf Ineichen-Leonardo Pulcini and Marzio Moretti-Artëm Petrov.
Car Collection went close to giving Porsche a first win in Austria with Gustaf Bergström-Nico Menzel and will try it again in Spain, while James Kell-Dean Macdonald already took a podium finish in their debut with the Greystone GT McLaren.
PRO-AM – LAST CHANCE TO KEEP TITLE FIGHT ALIVE
By far the best-attended class (20 cars in Spain), the Pro-Am class is highly competitive, more than what is reflected in the standings, where reigning co-champion Marco Pulcini has built a good gap (29 points) thanks to five wins and the efficiency of the Spirit of Race Ferrari shared with Eddie Cheever.
Their main opponents, the Polish pair formed by Marcin Jedlinski-Karol Basz in the Olimp Racing Audi will try keep the title fight until the last race, while the battle for third sees the Mercedes of Morten Strömsted-Thomas Ikin (Motopark) and Valentin Pierburg-Aaron Walker (GetSpeed), and the Ferrari of Brazilian stars Marcelo Hahn-Allam Khodair (AF Corse) covered by only three points.
In the Mercedes camp, Ameerh Naran-Tom Jackson (GetSpeed) and Piotr Wira-Daan Arrow (Good Speed Racing Team) are both back for one more race along with regulars Dexter Müller-Yannick Mettler (CBRX by SPS), and Mikaël Blanchemain-Jim Pla (Scuderia Villorba Corse).
On its side, the Prancing Horse can count on the 296 cars of Gino Forgione-Michele Rugolo (Spirit of Race) and AF Corse’s Alessandro Cozzi-Giorgio Sernagiotto and Laurent de Meeus-Jamie Stanley. Also back for a third appearance is the 488 of Pellin Racing with Thor Haugen-Paolo Ruberti.
Car Collection enters as usual two additional Porsches in the class, for Hash-Alex Fontana and Bashar Mardini-Tijmen van der Helm, while two more Audis are fielded by Tresor Attempto, for drivers to be confirmed, and Filip Salaquarda-Libor Milota (ISR Racing).
Championship regulars Andrey Borodin-Ollie Webb and Lewis Proctor-Stewart Proctor will be defending the colours of Greystone GT and McLaren, while the sole Lamborghini Huracan in the class will be the Leipert Motorsport car of Mark Wallenwein-Maciej Blazek.
AM – CIPRIANI CLOSE TO BE CROWNED
The class for Bronze drivers is the one where the situation is clearest. Giuseppe Cipriani, in the Lambo of Il Barone Rampante, is now very close to securing the title, and he could in this round be accompanied by a second driver.
The fight for runner-up, instead, is completely open and sees two Mercedes, the Motopark car of reigning champions Heiko Neumann-Timo Rumpfkeil and the GetSpeed car of Kiki San Nana-Adam Osieka tied in points.
Two Ferraris complete the field, with regulars Stanislaw Jedlinski-Krystian Korzeniowski (Olimp Racing) joined again by Ziad Ghandour (AF Corse), who made a winning debut at the Red Bull Ring.
