Manthey Racing and Porsche made a stunning return to the International GT Open, as Marco Holzer and Nick Tandy won, at the wheel of the new 911 RSR, the opening round of the 2012 season in the Algarve, a race made hectic by a change of tires, from rain to slicks, in the middle of it. Philipp Peter and Michal Broniszewski (Kessel Ferrari) were an excellent second, while the AF Corse Ferrari 458 GT3 of Stefano Bizzarri-Niki Cadei took the last spot on the overall podium on top of victory in the GTS category, where they preceded the Porsche Autorlando of Marco Mapelli-Archie Hamilton and the Kessel Ferrari of Daniel Zampieri-Michael Dalle Stelle.
Following a strong shower before the start, it’s wet track and rain tires for everybody, and start behind the safety-car. When the race takes off, poleman Vilander keeps the advantage and tries to fly away, while Peter and Giammaria put on a wonderful fight for second, with the Italian taking the advantage. Holzer is fourth and closes on the two Ferraris as soon as the sunshine comes out. Lopez, Barba and De Castro are in the top 7 in initial phases, but lose ground and get passed by the Audi of Campaniço and the Ferrari GT3 of Zampieri, who leads the GTS category ahead of Bizzarri. First to retire is the Lambo of Pronk, after hitting the wall.
With the track completely dry, start the pit stops for the change of tires, in parallel with the stops for driver change. As known, the rules do not allow to do the two in one stop, something that two cars, the Porsche Manthey and the Lambo Goodsense of Teixeira-Pereira omit to do, receiving a drive-through.
The Porsche-Manthey, which had returned to the track with Tandy at the wheel and a comfortable (42″) gap on Broniszewzski, would keep the lead until the end despite the drive through, crossing the line with a 7-second advantage. “Given the problems we had with tire consumption, we were lucky to have the rain at the beginning”, said Marco Holzer after the end.
Third position overall will be for GTS winners, Bizzarri-Cadei (AF Corse) took third, ahead of the IMSA Porsche of Pilet, Ramos, the Goodsense Lambo of Pereira and the Villois Aston of Malucelli. It was an unlucky second half of the race for some of the top Ferraris, as AF’s car of Leo, then third, stopped along the track with a mechanical problem and the Villorba car of Montermini got a broken wheel as a consequence of being it by the spinning Ford of Lapa when lapping it.
GT Open Standings after Round 1
Overall: 1.Holzer-Tandy, 22 points; 2. Peter-Broniszewski, Cadei-Bizzarri, 18; 4. Pilet-Narac, 12; 5. Hamilton-Mapelli, 11 GTS: 1. Cadei-Bizzarri, 10; 2. Hamilton-Mapelli, 8; 3. Zampieri-Dalle Stelle, 6; 4. Bontempelli-Cordoni, 4; 5. Mantovani-Cecchellero, 3
Teams Overall: 1. Manthey Racing, 10; 2. Kessel Racing, 8; 3. IMSA Performance, 6; 4. Black Team, 4; 5. Villois Racing, 3 Teams GTS: 1. AF Corse, 10; Kessel Racing, 9; 3. Autorlando Sport, 8; 4. Ombra Racing, 4.
Source : International GT Open