The 2013 International GT Open enters its final stretch, with only two rounds left; Monza and Barcelona, which are the only two circuits visited each year by the series since its inception. The first of these two stops is the iconic Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, where it all started, the GT Open, back in April 2006.
Tradition has been respected, and Monza has attracted an excellent entry, with 33 cars in the official list published as of this week, but the main focus will be on the title battles, which starts to heat up. On the overall standings, the V8 Racing Corvette of Miguel Ramos-Nicky Pastorelli will have to do its outmost to take advantage of a power track that suits it well and of a lower handicap to close the gap on the Villorba Ferrari of Andrea Montermini. The Italian former F.1 driver is actually in a position to secure the title already on home soil, as he currently has an advantage of 47 points on the V8 Racing pair. Like in Spa, Montermini, who already won the GT Open title in 2008, will be partnered with Davide Rigon.
In GTS, a great battle until the very end of the championship is anticipated, as gaps are extremely close. Lorenzo Bontempelli (now permanently partnered by Marco Frezza) is arriving to his home race as a new leader. The Kessel Racing driver has only a 3-point advantage over Spain’s Miguel Toril (Seyffarth Mercedes), with the BhaiTech McLaren of Giorgio Pantano-Rafael Suzuki only 4 points behind. The AF Corse pair composed of Matteo Beretta-Michael Lyons is five points from the top, while Belgians Enzo Ide-Maxime Soulet on the GPR Aston Martin and Issac Tutumlu-Dimitris Deverikos are at -8 and -12 respectively. That makes five different brands in the top 6 and in contention for the crown!
Monza, as always, will see a stepped-up entry, with the Italian teams making additional efforts. In SuperGT, Porsche is back thanks to the 911 RSR of Drivex, repaired after the Silverstone fire and now entrusted to Carlos Vieira an a driver to be designated.
AF Corse is adding a F458 GT2, for India’s Vimal Mehta and Marco Cioci, who returns to a series where he has collected many successes, while Kessel Racing, based in Switzerland but only a few km from Monza, is entering its F458 GT2 for the first time this year, with Michal Broniszewski racing alone.
In GTS, AF Corse enters a third car for a top pair composed of Italy’s Fabio Onidi and Czech driver Filip Salaquarda, who will be making their debut in the GT Open. At Kessel, Brazil’s César Ramos will this time join Johnny Laursen (Magnussen being taken by ALMS commitments) while the car of Thomas Flohr-Francesco Castellacci is making a further outing in the series. Among other confirmations, Estamotorsports is back with a F458 GT3 for Alessandro Pier Guidi and Aleksandr Skryabin, while Stefano Gattuso joins Stefano Costantini at Ombra Racing. The two Rhino’s Lambos and one of the Sports&You Mercedes are also present.
The meeting on the legendary track will also see in action the European F3 Open, the Radical European Masters, the Campionato Italiano Turismo Endurance, the F2000 Light and the Ibiza Cupra Cup.
