The Villois Racing Aston Martin of Matteo Malucelli and Alvaro Barba took a second win in the GT Open 2012, after imposing itself in Race 1 at the Paul Ricard, a track perfectly suited for its power qualities. The Italian-Spanish pair beat in the closing laps the AF Corse Ferrari of Gimmi Bruni-Federico Leo, and takes now the lead in the championship standings, ahead of Holzer-Tandy (Manthey Porsche), today 5th. The V8 Racing Corvette of Giammaria-Ramos took third, ahead of Montermini- Lopez (Villorba Ferrari).
In GTS, Autorlando Sport posted a sensational one-two, with Matteo Beretta- Marcello Puglisi, on the second car, winning over Archie Hamilton-Marco Mapelli, now in the lead of the standings by one point ahead Daniel Zampieri-Michael Dalle Stelle (Kessel Ferrari), who today climbed third on the podium.
Matteo Malucelli had taken the pole in qualifying 1 ahead of Bruni, Montermini and Ramos, but he couldn’t keep the advantage for much time after the start, as Bruni took the lead, preceding the Aston, Montermini, Ramos, Peter and Holzer, while in GTS Beretta is in the lead ahed of the other Porsche of poleman Hamilton, Bontempelli and Dalle Stelle.
While things stabilize for the first four positions between a 15″ window, there is big fight between Pilet, Peter and Holzer for 5th, with the Austrian passes on lap 10, while six red 458s (Cecchellero, Dalle Stelle, Bizzarri, rugolo, Alexander and Hiesse) fight for third in GTS, in a sort of mini-Ferrari Challenge within the race which includes also a contact between Cechellero and Bizzarri.
Ramos and Dalle Stelle are the first ones to stop for the driver change. After the stops, Leo leads with 7″ over Barba, while Giammaria is third after two nice overtakes on Peter and Lopez. Narac is 6th ahead of Tandy, just ahead the top two GTS, with Puglisi that has passed Cordoni, and Mapelli is third.
It’s an exciting second part of the race, with Barba catching on Leo, Broniszewski and Narac fighting fiercely for fifth and Mapelli chasing Cordoni for second in GTS. Barba will eventually take the lead on lap 28, while passes both Broniszewski to take fifth behind Giammaria and Lopez. In GTS, it’s a double win for Autorlando, while Cordoni spins, leaving third to Dalle Stelle.
Championship Standings after Race 9 of 16 Scratch: 1.Barba-Malucelli, 112; 2.Holzer-Tandy, 102; 3. Leo-Bruni, 99; 4. Pilet-Narac, 92 p.; 5. Montermini-
Lopez, 77; 5. Peter-Broniszewski, 75
GTS: 1. Mapelli-Hamilton, 55; 2. Dalle Stelle-Zampieri, 54; 3. Bizzarri, 46; 4. Rizzoli, 28; 5. Christodoulou-Hummel, 24
Teams SGT: 1. Villois Racing, 49; 2. Manthey Racing, 45; 3. AF Corse, 44; 4. IMSA Performance, 38 p. ; 5. Villorba Corse, 34
Team GTS: 1. Autorlando Sport, 74; 2. Kessel Racing, 70; 3. AF Corse, 53; 4. Lapidus Racing, 24; 5. Seyffarth Racing, 20
Manufacturers SGT: 1. Ferrari, 107; 2. Porsche, 80; 3. Aston Martin, 49; 4. Chevrolet, 24 Manufacturers GTS: 1. Ferrari, 108; 2. Porsche, 87; 3. McLaren, 24; 4. Mercedes, 20; 5. Lamborghini, 9.
Source : international GT Open