From the Adriatic to the Mediterranean: the GT Cup Europe is ready to hit the track again, after Misano and a hiatus of six weeks, and is heading to Southern France for the traditional summer round at Circuit Paul Ricard. The fast 5.842-km track near the medieval village of Le Castellet is always one that produces exciting racing. Contenders also love this event for the good weather, the warm atmosphere of the holiday season and the many pleasures that Provence and the Mediterranean Coast offer at this period of the year. Also, as per tradition, the Summer rooftop Party that Circuit Paul Ricard organizes on Saturday night adds a special note to the event.
The round ahead of the summer break, which has attracted 19 entries, also marks the start of the second half of the season, with things starting to become serious in all classes.
In the Overall standings, things are more open than ever. After the Misano round, what was a fierce duel at the top has become a hot three-way battle. The Hans Wijs Motorsport pair composed of Jurriaan de Back and Paul Meijer is still leading, with a four-point gap on their most direct rivals since the start of the season, Pietro Delli Guanti and Matteo Luvisi, the young Italian pair of FAEMS Team by Ebimotors, but there is now a third contender, only eight points behind the top. With their double success at Misano, Ludovico Longoni and Simone Iaquinta, in the ZRS Motorsport Porsche, have positioned themselves as candidates for the title. The three pairs have the same number of race wins, two each, and it will be interesting to see how things fold out in France.
Not to be ruled out is also José Barros, the young and fast Portuguese driver of AF Motorsport, who lies fourth in the standings, while also very competitive are the two other pairs included in the Silver class, Diego Stifter-Lodovico Laurini (BiRace Motorsport), and Matteo Martinelli-Giacomo Pedrini, in the other car of FAEMS Team by Ebimotors.
The Pro-Am class also sees a narrower situation at the top of the standings, where Spaniards Alejandro Barambio and Borja García (GT Corse) are still leading, thanks to their three wins, but have seen their advantage reduced to three points with respect to Fgani Salubre and Lars Zaenen, the Filipino-Belgian duo of HWM, winners on two occasions.
Shining in the class are also the two regular pairs composed of Davide Scannicchio-Fabio Babini, in one of Tsunami RT cars, and Bernardo Pinheiro-Flavio Sampaio, defending the colours of LMR Motorsport.
The Ricard round will see the appearance of two new pairs. Ebimotors is fielding a third car, under its own name, for Italian expert GT racer Andrea Galli, already seen in the GT Cup at Monza last year, and the reigning co-champion, Ian Rodríguez, who makes a welcome return to the series where he was crowned last year.
On its side, French racer Stéphane Perrin is eager to contest the GT Cup Europe for the first time, and does it on home soil, at the wheel of a 992 shared with Enzo Joulie.
Entry numbers and excitement seem to be very evenly spread across the classes this year. The Am class too has a tight situation at the top of the standings, with the first five covered by only nine points and the front-runners leading by only five points. These continue to be Hans Wijs and Rick van Zijverden, in the third car of HWM, the only team represented in each class. Second and authors of a strong come-back after a slow start of the season are Leandro Martins and Dieter Svepes, the LMR Motorsport pair defending their double class title. A close third, six points behind the top, are “the Fernandos” from Spain, Navarrete and Pedrera, in one of the Tsunami RT cars.
Evgenii Leonov returned to racing at Spa, and the flag-bearer of Volcano Motorsport was immediately competitive; he is now fourth in the standings, tied with Cássio H. de Mello and Giacomo Giubergia in one of the cars of GDL Racing, which also fields a machine for the Brazilian “Nelsons”, Monteiro and Marconedes.