The mythical Nürbrugring is waiting for the International GT Open, which will celebrate there its third round of the 2013 season. The event in the Eifel has become one of the most traditional features in the GT Open calendar and this year too, exciting action is expected, given also the situation in the championship which has seen four different winners in the four races held so far.

In the overall standings, Andrea Montermini is a sole leader (72 points), as the Villorba Corse driver drove alone in Race-2 in the Algarve. He will be rejoined by team mate Luca Filippi (58 points) in Germany. The Talkanitsas father and son have 43 points, one more than Ide-Soulet (GPR Aston Martin) who will not be at the Ring because of prior commitments, while Algarve winners Miguel Ramos-Nicky Pastorelli (V8 Racing Corvette) and Matt Griffin-Duncan Cameron (AF Corse Ferrari), with 41 and 40 points respectively, are not very far!

In the GTS category, it is still Ide-Soulet leading, with Miguel Toril (Seyyfarth Mercedes) only four points behind, and Michael Lyons-Matteo Beretta (AF Ferrari) two points aback. The battle in the class will be fiercer than ever between the Ferraris of AF, Kessel, SMP and Ombra, the BhaiTech McLarens in constant growth, the Porsches of Autorlando and Rinaldi and the Seyffarth Mercedes.

With regard to entries, with 28 cars announced, the numbers remain high. Most interesting novelties are the confirmation of a second Autorlando Sport Porsche 911 R for Venezuela’s Emilio Di Guida and Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen, who won here the 24 Hours less than two weeks ago, while a second Mercedes SLS AMG should be entered by Seyffarth Motorsport (who leads German representation together with the Rinaldi Racing Porshce) and another SLS is brought by Austrian Lechner Racing, already seen in the winter Series this year. Last but not least, the Kessel Racing Ferrari F458 GT2 of Michal Broniszewski will make its first appearance this year at this occasion.

Also to be noted some driver movements, with Bert Longin and Jan Magnussen recovering their seats at V8 Racing and Kessel respectively, while Vlacheslav Maleev will race alone in one of the SMP Russian Bears Ferraris and Swiss GT star Gabriele Gardel will partner with Alan Calari on one of the Kessel cars.

Fans at the Nürburgring will enjoy a rich race program. Together with the GT open and the European F3 Open, the Maserati Trofeo MC International Series is back for the second time, while the European Trofeo Abarth 500, the STT Spez Tourenwagen Trophy and the PCHC Porsche 996 Cup complement the schedule.

TV coverage for the GT Open, further strengthened this year, will count again on pan- European live coverage by Motors TV, with major national broadcasters also offering races live in key markets such as Italy (Raisport), Germany (Sport1+), Spain (Teledeporte and Canal + Deportes, and Portugal (Teledeporte).

Source : International GT Open