This weekend, the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli will host the finale of the very first season of the GT Sports Club. With several candidates for the title, the gentlemen racers will add more excitement to what already promises to be a great meeting, as the fabulous automobiles of the Ultracar Sports Club will also be present in Italy.
With only two points separating Max Bianchi (#23 Kessel Racing Ferrari) and Cédric Mézard (#8 Scuderia Villorba Corse Ferrari), the fight for the first GT Sports Club title is wide open, especially since Mario Cordoni and Martin Lanting (both driving an AF Corse Ferrari) still have a shot at the championship as well.
The first three meetings of the season saw three different winners of the main race, which shows the competitiveness of this series, which is squarely aimed at the Bronze drivers wanting to race hard and fair with fast GT3 machines. Max Bianchi took the win in Barcelona, Stefano Pezzucchi (Krypton Motorsport Porsche) dominated the Paul Ricard event and Mario Cordoni did the same in the sunshine of the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. With a gap of twenty points between Cordoni and Bianchi – there are 33 points up for grabs in Misano – it is fair to say that Cordoni will have to repeat his Portuguese performance to take the crown.
That is far from the case for Cédric Mézard. The King of Consistency is the only driver to have scored points at every race this season, but the Frenchman has not yet been on the top step of the podium. A first win would help him a great deal towards clinching the overall title.
But it is Max Bianchi who is in the best position at the start of this final meeting. The Kessel Racing driver, last year’s European and World champion in the Ferrari Challenge Coppa Shell, knows the pressure of getting into the final round of the championship leading the standings. The fact that he could take the title in front of his home crowd would make it even sweeter.
In the Iron Cup, reserved for drivers over 60, Martin Lanting is one step away from the title. With 26 points in hand he only needs to finish in front of Louis-Philippe Soenen and Michael Luzich (both also at the wheel of an AF Corse Ferrari) in the qualifying race to take the title even before the final main race of the season starts. The fact that Lanting has won all but one of the races in Iron Cup this year should give you an indication on how much the Monegasque driver is dominating the category.
In between their races – scheduled at 17.50 on Saturday and 10.10 on Sunday – the drivers will have ample time to admire some of the most exclusive cars in the world. For the second time this season the Ultracar Sports Club gathers both in the paddock and on the track, the natural habitat for this kind of machine. Count on the presence of an Aston Martin Vulcan, Lamborghini Veneno, McLaren P1, Pagani Huayra and probably some other magnificent Ultracars,which will grace the Misano track and paddock.