A second place in Race 1 was enough to close the championship with a race to go. At the Barcelona circuit, Spain, the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Orange 1 Team Lazarus was crowned champion of the 2016 International GT Open, with a crew formed by the GT multiple champion, Thomas Biagi, and the GT3 Junior Driver of Lamborghini Squadra Corse, Fabrizio Crestani.
In the prestigious European championship for GT cars, the victory was completely Italian and was achieved thanks to an impressive sequence of positive results throughout the season: two third places during the opening round at Estoril, a victory at Paul Ricard and a second place at Silverstone. Then a second place at the Red Bull Ring and a second and a third place at Monza; until getting to this last round in Barcelona, during which the racing weekend started in the best way for the Italian team.
During Saturday morning’s qualifying, the GT3 Junior Driver, Fabrizio Crestani, took a sensational pole position (1’45”376, almost eight tenths faster than the Aston Martin in second position), the third of the season, which allowed the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of the team Orange 1 to start from the front row. Crestani maintained the lead for the whole duration of his stint, thus setting a very fast race pace (he also set the best race lap time: 1’47”790), then Thomas Biagi managed the lead professionally and finished in second position. This result enabled the Italian pairing to conquer the title of the 2016 International GT Open before Race 2, scheduled on the following day, with a total of 167 points over the 129 points scored by the BMW M6 GT3 of Yacaman-Monje.
“We are proud to have won the 2016 Interational GT Open at the debut with the Huracán GT3 – says Giorgio Sanna, head of Motorsport at Automobili Lamborghini – The preparation of Orange 1 Team Lazarus, the mix of experience and speed offered by the drivers Thomas and Fabrizio best represent the views of Lamborghini Squadra Corse in teamwork”.
With the victory in the International GT Open, the titles won by the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 at its debut in the season 2016 are two. Less than a month ago, at the Shanghai circuit, the team FFF Racing by ACM conquered the title in the GT Asia Series with the two Italian young drivers, Andrea Amici and Edoardo Liberati, members of the GT3 Junior Program of Lamborghini Squadra Corse.
