MUNDIAL - GT OPEN -

Sexta, 05 Julho 2019 11:06 | Actualizado em Sábado, 20 Abril 2024 12:45

The Hungaroring awaits the GT Cup Open Europe contenders

The hilly track near Budapest to provide perfect ground for exciting show, as battles for the titles start to get defined

Leutwiler (Porsche), Mauro-Toni (VSR Lambo) and Solieri (Antonelli Lambo) very close both in overall and Am standings

The Curti brothers (Tsunami Porsche) and Basso (Sports&You Mercedes) on top of Pro-Am class

For the third round of its maiden season, the GT Cup Open Europe goes East, to the Hungaroring. The 4.381-km Formula 1 track located in the hilly outskirts of Budapest, is an ideal scenery for GT racing, and this year the GT Cup will take the baton from the International GT Open, which has been a regular visitor to the Magyar track.

After four great races at Paul Ricard and Spa-Francorchamps, the GT Cup Open Europe, the new GT Sport series aimed specifically at pro-am racers and at cars one ladder below GT3, is ready to bring a great show also to the Hungaroring, whose natural characteristic to make overtakes difficult always provide terrific battles.

Contenders will do so with an eye to the standings, as the Hungaroring will mark the end of the first half of the season and things will start to heat up for the title battles.

The Hungaroring awaits the GT Cup Open Europe contenders 
 
The hilly track near Budapest to provide perfect ground for exciting show, as battles for the titles start to get defined
 
Leutwiler (Porsche), Mauro-Toni (VSR Lambo) and Solieri (Antonelli Lambo) very close both in overall and Am standings
 
The Curti brothers (Tsunami Porsche) and Basso (Sports&You Mercedes) on top of Pro-Am class 
 
 
 

 
For the third round of its maiden season, the GT Cup Open Europe goes East, to the Hungaroring. The 4.381-km Formula 1 track located in the hilly outskirts of Budapest, is an ideal scenery for GT racing, and this year the GT Cup will take the baton from the International GT Open, which has been a regular visitor to the Magyar track. 
After four great races at Paul Ricard and Spa-Francorchamps, the GT Cup Open Europe, the new GT Sport series aimed specifically at pro-am racers and at cars one ladder below GT3, is ready to bring a great show also to the Hungaroring, whose natural characteristic to make overtakes difficult always provide terrific battles. 
Contenders will do so with an eye to the standings, as the Hungaroring will mark the end of the first half of the season and things will start to heat up for the title battles. So far, we have had three different overall race winners, all racing solo. Hans-Peter Koller, with the VSR Lamborghini Huracan, took victory in the inaugural race before seeing his Spa weekend ruined by a practice accident, with his car ending upsidedown. His Swiss country-fellow Niki Leutwiler brought hs Porsche 911 Cup to victory in Spa’s Race 1, with Italy’s Glauco Solieri (Antonelli Motorsport Lamborghini) being the only driver to win two races so far, i.e. Race 2 at both Ricard and Spa.  
 
 

 Thanks to his consistency, Leutwiler is leading the Overall standings, by 4 points on Belgium’s John De Wilde and the Swiss can try to extend his lead, as his direct rival won’t be in Hungary, given ... holidays. Brazilians JP Mauro and Rodolfo Toni, the pair of Vincenzo Sospiri Racing, are only six points behind, having scored in all races, and will also try to make a step forward, while Glauco Solieri is fourth and will count on his strategic ability to catch another success.
Leutwiler, Mauro-Toni and Solieri will also use the opportunity to advance in the Am class, where they all are covered by only two points, in a ranking led ex-aequo by De Wilde and Leutwiler.
This is the category with most candidates to the podium: Baporo Motorsport has been very effective so far with its Porsche 911 Cup (where Jaume Font will be joined again by Joan Vinyes) and its Audi R8 LMS, where Daniel Díaz-Varela will again be alongside Manel Cerqueda. Martinet by Alméras is back to a two-Porsche 911 entry, as evergreens Pierre Martinet-Gérard Tremblay get joined by Victor Blugeon on the other car, which will be entered in Pro-Am. Last but not least, the Three Sixty Racing Team Mercees AMG sees Fernando Fortes partnered this time by new-comer Guilherme Reischl, also from Brazil.
In the Pro-Am class, only three points separate the two top bidders. Lino and Carlo Curti, the Italian brother pair of Tsunami Racing Team, lead with their Porsche over the Sports&You Mercedes of Márcio Basso. The Brazilian will be joined again by his regular team mate, Guilherme Salas, who had to miss Spa because of a clash with the Brazil Stock Car series. Lambo’s hopes in the class are with the VSR car of Koller, paired with Edoardo Liberati, while seeking for their first success of the season will be the two McLarens 570S of Teo Martín Motorsport, entrusted to the two pairs of young guns promoted by the Spanish squad: Thiago Vivacqua-Marc De Fulgencio and Faust Salom-Guillem Pujeu.
Fans at the Hungaroring and at home via TV will have the opportunity to enjoy an exciting weekend, which includes much single-seater action thanks to the Euroformula Open, the GT Sport-promoted F.3-based series that is enjoying tremendous success this year, and the ACI series that are the Italian F.4 Championship, and the Formula Regional Europe. 
 

 
 
 
GT Cup Open Round 3: Hungaroring, Hungary
 
Timetable (All times local, CET)
 
Friday 5th July 2019 09:00-10:30 Private test 13:51-14:41 Free Practice 1 17:09-17:59 Free Practice 2 Saturday 6th July 2019  10:15-11:35 Qualifying 1 (driver 1) 16:00-16:55 Race 1 (55’ - Rolling Start) Sunday 7th June 2019 09:35-09:55 Qualifying 2 (driver 2) 14:00-14:55 Race 2 (50’ - Rolling Start)
 
STANDINGS AFTER 4 ROUNDS OF 12
Overall: 1.Leutwiler, 41 points; 2. De Wilde, 37; 3. Mauro-Toni, 35 points; 4. Solieri, 30; 4. Vandierendonck-Schouten, Vivacqua-De Fulgencio, Salas-Basso, 18; etc Pro-Am: 1.L.&C.Curti, 15; 2. Basso, 12; 3. Vandierendonck-Schouten, 10; 4. Salas, 9; 5. Pisani-Speakerwas, 5; etc  Am: 1. De Wilde, Leutwiler, 28; 3. Toni-Mauro, 26; 4. Solieri, 20; 5. Font, 13; etc Teams: 1.EMG Motorsports, 32; 2. Vincenzo Sospiri Racing, 31; 3. Antonelli Motorsport, 20; 4. Leutwiler PZ Oberer Zürichsee, Sports&You, 10; etc