After a successful season-opener at the Ricard, the International GT Open heads to its second 2013 round and Portimão, in the Algarve, where it hopes to find … better weather! The Autódromo do Algarve has become a traditional fix in the calendar and one among the most appreciated tracks among drivers.
Over 30 cars will be expected in Portugal for a round valid also for the Spanish / Iber GT Championship, with very interesting novelties can already be confirmed, while only two of the cars seen at the Ricard (the GPR Aston and the Ukraine Ferrari) not present, because of other commitments.
This round will mark the debut of Rinaldi Racing, the German team that will campaign for the entire season a Porsche 911 R GT3, entrusted to Russia’s Vadim Kogay and to Marco Seefried, who makes an appreciated return to the series.
More Porsches will appear as Spain’s Drivex is entering a second 911 RSR (in 2011-specs) in SuperGT and Autorlando Sport will be present with two GT3 cars, the second one entrusted to Venezuela’s Emilio Di Guida and GT star Jeroen Bleekemolen.
Esta Motorsports will be the second Russian team in the series, as it debuts with a Ferrari F458 GT3 for Aleksey Basov and GT star Alessandro Pier Guidi, while Kessel Racing enters an additional car for Thomas Flohr and former FIA GT3 Europe champion Francesco Castellacci, seen in the Winter Series.
Among other changes, Jan Seyffarth will partner with Miguel Toril on the Seyffarth Mercedes SLS AMG, while a replacement for Bert Longin (who is taken by a BRCC commitment) still needs to be announced by V8 Racing.
Local fans will have an all-Portuguese outfit to cheer for, the Novadriver squad, whose Audi R8 LMS ultra will be in the safe hands of Manuel Gião-Lourenço da Veiga and César Campaniço-Carlos Vieira. From Spain are coming the Ginetta of Luis Villalba-Francesc Gutiérrez and the Mosler of Rafael Unzurrunzaga.
Action on the Autódromo do Algarve will start on Thursday, with 2 hours of private test. One more is scheduled on Friday ahead of official free practice sessions.
As usual, the European F3 Open will partner with the GT Open throughout the season and offers this year a very strong grid, while the Super 7 by KIA will contribute to an exciting racing programme on the shores of the Atlantic.
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