Six weeks after Hockenheim, the GT Cup Europe is back in action this weekend at the iconic Circuit Paul Ricard in Southern France, for its traditional summer round ahead of the holiday break that marks the beginning of the second half of the season. There is great expectation ahead of the Ricard, as the stop in the Var region is always one of the most pleasant, and as action resumes after a six-week hiatus. It does on a fast and technical track, which is among the most challenging, especially when hot temperatures are an added variable.
French fans will have the opportunity to enjoy the great racing and close fights that are synonymous with the series. Twenty-one cars will compose the field in France. Unfortunately, the six Ferraris of Mertel Motorsport have withdrawn following the trouble, not related to the racing activity, that has hit the parent company of the German squad. Time was too short for its drivers to find alternative solutions for Ricard, but all are working to rejoin after the summer.
A THREE-WAY BATTLE AT THE TOP OF THE OVERALL STANDINGS
The fight is fierce at the top of the overall standings, although Luca Franca and Ian Rodríguez, at the wheel of the Porsche 992 Cup of the debuting FAEMS Team, thanks to an excellent weekend in Germany, have taken some breathing space at the top of the overall standings. They now have a 17-point advantage on the other Italian Porsche, the ZRS Motorsport car of Ludovico Longoni and Pietro Armanni, who have one win to their credit, one more than the leaders.
Third in contention, 24 points from the top but on an ‘in crescendo’ trend are Belgium’s Lar Zaenen and Portugal’s Gonçalo Fernandes, in the 992 of four-times Team Champion Q1 Trackracing.
The Silver class also includes a solo driver, Evgenii Leonov, in the Porsche of Volcano Motorsport.
PRO-AM CLASS: DUTCH-ITALIAN DUEL AT THE TOP
Games are completely open in the Pro-Am class, where the gap at the top is only one point and where some very strong contenders are present. In the lead, with three race wins, are Laura van den Hengel and Paul Meijer, the Dutch pair of the Burgers Motorsport by HWM Porsche, which allies speed and consistency.
So are their closest chasers, Davide Scannicchio and Fabio Babini, in the Tsunami RT Porsche, who have won two races.
LMR Motorsport’s pair from Brazil, Diego Nunes-Peter Ferter, have now climbed to the third step of the standings, having won one race, while candidates to victory include also Nicolas Saelens and Stienes Longin, so far not too lucky in the Q1 Trackracing car, and the other Porsche of SP Racing with Luca Attianese-Riccardo Romagnoli.
Last but not least, there will be a very interesting new entry in the class. A McLaren Artura is making a second appearance in the series this year. This time, it’s Greystone GT, well known for its involvement in the GT Open, fielding an Artura Trophy racer, for Ryan James from the US and GT star Ollie Webb.
THE REIGNING CHAMPIONS AT THE TOP IN THE AM CLASS
The Am class will again be the best-attended (11 cars) and is quite closely fought. At the top, reigning champions Leandro Martins and Dieter Svepes, of LMR Motorsport, are holding the fort, with a 9-point gap on Brazil’s Caio H.de Mello, the first driver of GDL Racing.
The Sanmarinese team also has in its ranks the car in third position, driven by Argentine Fran Viel Bugliotti, who is the man with the most wins in the class, two, and lies 15 points behind the lead. The squad of Gianluca De Lorenzi also fields the car of Guglielmo Giubergia.
Flemish team Q1 Trackracing is also represented in the Am class, with the 992 entrusted to its boss Nicolas Vandierendonck and Nathan Brauns, while Romanian outfit RO1 Racing is back after missing Hockenheim with its 992 for Camil Perian and Florin Tincescu.
Italian Porsche customer teams are a strong presence in the series. Ebimotors fields two cars for Gianluca Giorgi-Luigi Peroni, and Sebastian Fortuna-Cosimo Papi, while the second car of SP Racing is entrusted to Stefano Zerbi-‘Mark Speakerwas’. Tsunami RT is also fielding a second car for the occasion, for Fernando Navarrete and Todd Souza.
Lamborghini, on its side, will be represented by the Huracán fielded by Villorba Scuderia Corse, this time with a new driver pair from England, Benjamin Cooke and Jamie William Falvey.
At the Ricard, the race programme includes, as always, the other GT Sport-promoted series, the International GT Open and the Euroformula Open (with the new Dallara 324 powered by Tom’s), as well as the FRECA and the E4 series.