© Planetlemans - Marcel ten Caat
With all the announcements coming from the Le Mans Series, the American Le Mans Series and the various SRO championships one seems to forget that Europe has another major GT2/GT3 series, the International GT Open. And that series had quite some interesting updates as well.
After changes on the provisional calendar meant that the Imola and Portimão swapped places and the proposed Donington round was replaced with a weekend at Brands Hatch GT Sport announced two pre-season collective test sessions. On March 2-3 the teams will have the opportunity to test their cars on the Barcelona circuit, with the second two-day session taking place on March 25-26 at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.
GT Sport meanwhile expects enough cars to run separate Super GT (GT2) and GTS (GT3) races on Sunday at most race weekends. In recent weeks several British, French and German teams have shown their interest in competing in the International GT Open series, mostly due to the fact that little is known about the 2010 FIA GT2 European Championship.
One of the first new arrivals for the 2010 season is CRS Racing. Having announced a two-car entry for the Le Mans Series the British squad will also field two cars in GT Open. One Ferrari F430 GT2 will be entered for team owner Chris Niarchos (CAN) and Tim Mullen (GBR), while the second car will be driven by Klaas Hummel (NED) and Chris Goodwin (GBR).
2009 GTS champions, Philipp Peter (AUT) and Michal Broniszewski (POL) will move up into a Kessel Racing Ferrari F430 GT2. The Swiss team is also looking at running a second GT2 car in the championship, as well as its GT3 Ferrari 430s.
Another International GT Open regular is Villois Racing. The Italian team will return to the series to defend its GTS Team Championship with a pair of Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3 cars. Team owner Chicco Villois was unable to confirm any drivers for his cars yet, but did reveal that his team is also looking into the options of running an Aston Martin Vantage GT2. Talks with potential drivers and sponsors for all of his cars are still underway.
The most recent addition to the International GT Open field was British GT team RPM. It will enter its Ford GT for Alex Mortimer (GBR) and Peter Bamford (GBR). “I wanted to stage another full time campaign in Europe” said team owner Robin Mortimer, “and the GT Open is a perfect opportunity and I am sure we have a strong package”. With Alex Mortimer, who won the title in British GT and who won races in FIA GT3, Peter Bamford, a race winner in GT Open, and the Matech-built Ford GT he is right about having a strong package.
All the season dates:
2-3 March // Circuit de Catalunya, Montmelò (Spain) - Testing
25-26 March // Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) – Testing
16-18 April // Autódromo Internacional do Algrave, Portimão (Portugal)
30 April – 2 May // Nürburgring GP Circuit (Germany)
21-23 May // Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari, Imola (Italy)
25-27 June // Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium)
9-11 July // Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (France)
3-5 September // Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit (England)
1-3 October // Autodromo Nazionale di Monza (Italy)
29-31 October // Circuit de Catalunya, Montmelò (Spain)
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