Beirāo and da Costa will represent the team in first race of the year in Estoril and then, Beirāo will partner with Monteiro or da Costa depending on the calendars for these two drivers during the year.

The three Portuguese drivers join Victor Bouveng, who was announced last Thursday as one of the drivers of the team for this season.

Further information about the rest of the BMW Team Teo Martín’s International GT Open lineup will be communicated in due course.

Lourenço Beirão (27 years – Lisbon) comes back to a Championship that he won in 2009 when was known as the Spanish GT Championship and now wants to shine again. Since then the Portuguese driver achieved an overall P3 in 2011 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup in Pro-Am class and he showed his talent in a fought and difficult championship as was the SEAT Leon Eurocup in 2015 and 2016.

“It will be one of the most difficult challenges in my career. Obviously is a big responsibility for me as the only full-time driver but is a privilege to have Antonio and Tiago by my side in this new adventure. I think with the BMW M6 GT3 we have all the necessary to fight on top from the first race in Estoril“.

António Félix da Costa (25 years – Lisbon) is BMW works driver and a talented all-rounder. He has been a Formula 1 test driver for Red Bull Racing and started 46 races for BMW Motorsport in the DTM with three pole positions and one victory to his name. Since 2014, he has also been a regular in Formula E, in which he drives for the BMW-supported MS Amlin Andretti team in the 2016/17 season. Félix da Costa is already familiar with the BMW M6 GT3 from his guest appearances in the ADAC GT Masters and he will complete his 2017 program racing in Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup with another BMW Team: Team ROWE.

“I hope that my BMW M6 GT3 knowledge can help the team and Lourenço to fight for the win in all rounds I will race alongside him when there’s no dates clash with my Formula E calendar and other BMW events. We need to think in Estoril race, an special one for me where I will do my best to be on top in front of our crowd“.

Tiago Monteiro (40 years – Oporto) will also bring his big experience to the team. After two years in Formula 1 with Midland and Jordan teams, the Portuguese changed its way and began his extensive career in touring cars. The 2017 will be his eleventh in the WTCC, the fifth with Honda, and he face it with the aim of winning the title after finishing third last year with two victories and seven podiums.

“It’s a very interesting project. The mentality and the way the team is getting involved in motorsport is very serious and this was a key factor to accept the invitation immediately. I would also like to thank Honda for allowing me to participate in this project. I think I can be useful in bringing experience to the team and helping Lourenço to fight for the championship“.

Teo Martín, Team Owner
“We want to get back to the top in 2017 International GT Open season in both drivers and teams standings, so we have put all our effort to bring together a great team that take our BMW M6 GT3 to fight for victory in every race. In this case we have gathered the talent and experience of three Portuguese drivers as Lourenço, Antonio and Tiago who know very well the taste of winning so I’m sure they will work very well together from the very first day and the successes will arrive very soon“.

Based in Vienna, MS Racing is a racing full service organization, created in 2008 by Matthias Stepanek. It will enter a Mercedes AMG GT3 in the Am category for two Austrian bronze drivers, Alexander Hrachowina (42) and Martin Konrad (38), who have experience in endurance races.

Team Principal Martin Stepanek commented: “Both the team and our drivers were looking at an expansion at a higher and European level. The GT Open, because of its competitiveness, great tracks, visibility and nice atmosphere, seemed to us the best option for the next step of our growth and we are very anxious to be at Estoril!”

“When I told that this could be a challenging season I didn’t have in my mind exactly this. – said Roberto Sini, Solaris Motorsport Team Principal.- We have very few time and we have to completely rebuild the car. We will begin from the nude chassis, because we had to change it after the crash, it was too damaged. It will be a strong challenge for all of us, bolt by bolt we have to assemble an entire GT3 in less than three weeks. We will do a lot of overtimes, I’m almost sure we will spend our Easter holidays at the factory, but it isn’t the first time we must fix a car in a so few time. I want to thank Prodrive and Aston Martin Racing for their support and the help they gave us immediately. And I want to thank you also GT Open’s organizators and everyone who send us a message, a thought or help us in any way. The most important thing is that the safety pack of the Aston Martin did an outstanding job, because Francesco was unhurt despite a 240 km\h crash against the wall. We want to race in Portugal and give to Mauro and Francesco a competitive Aston Martin, quick as it was during the winter tests!”

Last year, in his debut in Lamborghini, Biagi was the protagonist of the International GT Open thanks to a victory and eight podiums that allowed him to win the title with Fabrizio Crestani. With the victory last year Thomas Biagi is the only driver to have won with the three racing symbol of Italy brands: Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati.

The defending champion will share the cockpit of Huracán number 1 with Giovanni Venturini, Lamborghini Factory Driver.

“I am extremely excited to face this season in the sign of continuity, both for Lamborghini for the GT Open championship expertly organized by Jesus Pareja and the men of GTsport. The novelty of the collaboration with Imperial Racing makes me highly motivated, there is a team of great men who deserve great satisfaction. Finally Giovanni (Venturini) are certain it will be a great teammate, he hits him maturity despite his youth. “

Confirmed the racing calendar, with meetings in seven countries in the circuits that have made the history of F1.

Important media coverage, with direct live TV in 72 countries and 2,500 hours of total broadcast.

Reigning champion Thomas Biagi will share driving duties of the #1 Lamborghini Huracán with Giovanni Venturini. Thomas Biagi, born in 1976, has a remarkable CV. He competed in 317 races and has 113 podiums and 35 victories under his belt. After his early career and the success in closed wheel racing, the driver from Bologna became one of the strongest GT racers. Two times FIA GT champion and Italian GT Champion in 2012, he also won the Italian Superstars Championship and the Superstars International Series in 2010. Last year, Thomas Biagi made his debut in International GT Open, running a spotless season in which he claimed a win, eight podiums and secured the title with a wide margin on the rivals.

Giovanni Venturini is a Lamborghini Factory Driver born in 1991. He has contested the Italian GT Championship 2016 with Imperiale Racing. Before his debut on GT cars back in 2014, he grew up in high profile open wheel racing series, amongst which GP3 Series, Formula Renault 3.5 Series and Formula Renault 2.0. Venturini secured 9 wins, 5 pole positions and totaled 33 podium finishes in his career.

The second Lamborghini Huracan GT3 will be driven by Vito Postiglione and Andrea Fontana.
Vito Postiglione, born in 1977, joined Imperiale Racing last year. His CV contains a long list of victories, since when he started racing on track winning at the Renault Megane Cup Italy in his maiden season, back in 1998. After that first victory, he won the Ferrari Challenge Italy in 2007, Porsche Carrera Cup Italia in 2012 and was crowned Italian GT3 Champion in 2013. Vito Postiglione has finished all the championships he took part in within the top three and last year he was third at the Italian Gran Turismo Championship and second in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Europe.

Andrea Fontana, born in 1996, has acquired a lot of experience in Porsche Carrera Cup Italia, the series that introduced him to closed wheel racing. Last year, at his second complete season as Lamborghini Super Trofeo driver, he was crowned Pro Am Champion at the Lamborghini World Finals in Valencia. He is now part of the Lamborghini Young Drivers Program.

Giorgio Ferro, Imperiale Racing Director: “We will compete in a very demanding championship like International GT Open aware of having high level drivers and an excellent racing car. Thanks to the strict link with Lamborghini Squadra Corse, as Imperiale Racing we are ready to handle all the technical and sporting details with extreme accuracy in order to achieve the best results in all the circuits of the championship.”

Giorgio Sanna, Head of Motorsport of Automobili Lamborghini: “As Lamborghini Squadra Corse we are confident in this new sporting program of the team Imperiale Racing in the International GT Open. The line-up of the two Huracan GT3 lined is very impressive. From one side, the experience of Thomas Biagi, winner of this championship in 2016, together with Giovanni Venturini, our Factory Driver. On the other side there are Vito Postiglione, always leading in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe 2016, and Andrea Fontana who showed his great potential winning the Super Trofeo World Final last year and now is part of our Young Drivers Program.”

Following the successful end to the year last season, the Japanese car manufacturer is putting all its focus into the further development of the Lexus RC F GT3. The new GT3-car is based on the RC F, the brand´s high-performance Coupé, to compete in GT3 racing across the globe. With the Swiss family-run business Emil Frey Lexus Racing, there will be a well-known component and partner from the past years working on the project. The aim is to not only develop the RC F GT3, but also to evolve and enhance the car in order to present a competitive race car for the international GT Racing stage for 2018.

The all-new prototype generation car raced at the ninth VLN Endurance Championship at the Nürburgring last year and the German team Farnbacher Racing crossed the finishing line as winners, making Lexus the very first Asian carmaker to secure an overall win in the VLN Championship.

For 2017, Emil Frey Lexus Racing is aiming to run a development and testing program, starting with the first race at the GT Open Championship at the Portuguese track in Estoril. Further race attendances will be announced in due course, however, there are no plans to attend any VLN meetings.

Emil Frey Lexus Racing will run one Lexus RC F GT3 with a new driver pairing. Lorenz Frey will remain behind the wheel of the GT3 machine. However, he will take turns at the races with fellow Swiss racing driver and the team´s new entry Philipp Frommenwiler, who was crowned Rookie of the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany in 2011 and has vast experience in long-distance races, such as 24h Nürburgring and 12h Sebring, in which he once narrowly missed the podium. The Spaniard Albert Costa Balboa, who previously ran with the team´s Jaguar program, will share the car in 2017 too.

„We are very excited to take the Lexus project to a new level and purely focus on the progress of the RC F GT3“, says Lorenz Frey, Team Principal and driver at Emil Frey Lexus Racing. „We learned a lot last year and now we can put all what we have experienced, our efforts and strength into making this race machine even better. There will be no pressure on results and we can simply take each race as a testing ground. But at the same time, it would be great to set one or two milestones.“

Emil Frey Lexus Racing´s Team Coordinator, Hannes Gautschi, is also looking with excitement ahead to start the new season with the RC F GT3 model. „Toyota Technocraft have done a great job with the development of the car over the past few months. We are now ready to race side-by-side with well-established, European brands with a strong and competitive race car. We are very pleased to be part of the global Lexus project and to be one of only two teams in Europe to get the chance and the opportunity to race with this car.“

Furthermore, the German team Farnbacher Racing will complete Lexus´ European program with running the second RC F GT3 in a European Championship. Above that, the Japanese car brand is also racing in GT3 categories all over the world. Earlier this year, Lexus already introduced the RC F GT3 at the 24 Hours of Daytona, where the car officially celebrated its debut. In Japan, Lexus will participate with two RC F GT3 in the SUPER GT Series whilst the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the USA will also see the entry of a Lexus GT3.

With the 2017 GT3 season already in full swing, Lexus´ first race in Europe will take place from 29th until 30th April in Estoril, Portugal.

Garage 59 will again enter a two car McLaren 650S GT3 Pro-Am line-up to contest the full seven-round championship sporting new liveries for the 2017 season. All drivers in the team are familiar to the series having competed with Garage 59 in 2016, and with the oversight from Team Manager Tim Mullen and a wealth of track experience from the pros, the team are confident of a solid result in their title campaign.

Drivex and its duo of Brazilian drivers, Marcelo Hahn and Allam Khodair, were pleased with their overall performance in International GT Open´s Winter Series at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Despite Barcelona was a completely new track for Hahn and Khodair, and it was their first outing as well with the Audi-built machinery in spite of their experience with other GT3-based cars, the duo passed with flying colors even when the entry list was extremely strong and competitive.

On Friday morning, electrical issues hampered Drivex´s opening day. As a result, both drivers were forced to miss Test 2 and Test 3 but mechanics´ restless work finally identified which the problem was and the Audi was back on the track in the final session. However, the best was saved for last. On Saturday, Hahn and Khodair lapped under 1:50 barrier all day long. But an outstanding lap of 1:46.876 was definitely the highlight. The pairing of Drivex finally took 7th place in the timesheets.

The Winter Series will head to Paul Ricard on 3-4 March.

Miguel Ángel de Castro: “We are pleased with our performance. Electric problems always create quite a major headache with this car but our pit crew was able to do a nice work to fix it. It is the kind of problem resulting in a nightmare for mechanics, but their effort to solve it paid off. Marcelo and Allam really liked that, how Drivex worked. I must highlight the work of Marcelo and Allam, because it was its first outing with an Audi GT3 and Barcelona was new for them too, and they clocked an impressive 1:46 lap time. Never an Audi R8 LMS ultra lapped quicker than that at Montmeló. It proves our work on set-up was excellent and the competitiveness of new upgrades installed. By far, our Audi was the oldest GT3 on the track but still managed to beat last generation cars.” 

Hahn and Khodair are a winning line-up in several domestic race championships in Brazil. Hahn made his debut in Brazil´s GT3 series in 2008 and he contested the championship uninterruptedly for six years driving different cars but always teaming up with Khodair. They both were runner-ups twice. Khodair is an expert driver with starts in such different series such as the A1 GP and the F3000 but his best record still remains in the Brazilian Stock Car.

There are four sessions scheduled on Friday and other four on Saturday.

Miguel Ángel de Castro: “I´m pleased to welcome Marcelo and Allam to Drivex. They are a very experienced line-up with GT3 machinery in Brazil and, despite this shall be their first outing with an Audi and at Barcelona track, we will work hard to provide the best support possible. We feel extremely confident and for us it´s amazing to work with Marcelo and Allam.”

Francesco Sini, at his second season with the Italian Aston Martin, is ready for this new challenge: “I’m excited to come back on the European scene! After the 2014 EuroV8 Series title conquered with Solaris Motorsport, I missed a bit the possibility to race on the most beautiful tracks in Europe. We tasted the International GT Open in the 2016 final round at Barcelona, conquering the third place on the Race 2 podium. We liked it so much we immediately started to work on a 2017 full season program!” commented Sini, who won also the 2008 Radical Master Series and the 2007 Italian Prototype Series titles. “I’m very happy to share my Aston Martin with Mauro. It’s a young but quick guy and, moreover, he already has a great experience on the international tracks. I can’t wait! I want to be back in my favourite office!”

25 years, coming from Laupen, Switzerland, Mauro Calamia started his career in motorsport with the single seaters, until to competing in the 2012 Formula Two season. From the 2014, Calamia switched for the GT races, gaining soon good results.In 2014 he won the Trofeo Maserati World Series in a fantastic season which saw the Swiss driver conquering also the Europe Trophy, Pirelli Pole Position Award and the Under 30 Trophy of the Italian brand championship. In 2016 Calamia gained the third place in the 12h Abu Dhabi: “I‘m very happy to be now part of the Solaris Motorsport family! I’m excited of this new challenge! I have to discover the car and know all the secrets, but I’m confident with Francesco we could reach important goals. From my side I will give my best to be as fast as I can. To have the choice to race with an Aston Martin Racing Team Partner makes me very proud and energizes me a lot on this new challenge!” commented the young Swiss driver. “I know I’m in the right team, with the right teammate to be competitive in this season!”

“After two years in the Italian series we felt the need to face a new challenge. We decided to race in an European contest against a lot of strong competitors. The podium gained in Barcelona motivated us to accept this new project, with a car showed itself very competitive last year.” said Roberto Sini, Solaris Motorsport Team Principal. “We have one year more experience, I’m confidente Francesco will assist the talent of Mauro in order to find the last tenths, helping all the team to grow up as quick as we can. It will not easy, the International GT Open is a well growing series with a lot of strong drivers and teams, but this is the kind of challenge we like in Solaris Motorsport!”

The International GT Open is the European series for GT3 cars promoted by Jesus Pareja’s GT Sport. The championship will start in Portugal, on the Estoril track, at the end of April, the 29-30th, and it will take place on the most beautiful and rich of history European circuits, most of them theater of F1 races. In May, the 27th and the 28th, the GT Open will race in Spa-Francorchamps, while the second week of June there will be the French round at Paul Ricard. One month later the Solaris Motorsport Aston Martin is expected in Hungary, for the Hungaroring round on the 1st and the 2nd of July. At the end of the summer break, the date is in England on the historic track of Silverstone on 2nd and 3rd of September, while the 30th of September the ‘temple of speed’ of Monza will host the Italian round. Once more, Barcelona will be the last round of the season, on the 28 and 29 of October.

The two have already raced together in the GT Asia in 2015. FFF Racing Team debuted in the GT Open last year when it ‘explored’ the championship by taking part to the Paul Ricard round, with Liuzzi and team principal Andrea Caldarelli, who took a nice podium finish in Race 1. The Asian squad is ready for a full campaign, with the support of Lamborghini Squadra Corse.  

After a successful career in Asian GT, Hiroshi Hamaguchi (40) is now enjoying racing on European tracks, where he debuted last year in the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup. The Japanese comments: “I’m enjoying every single moment of my journey across Europe, racing on some of the most iconic tracks. Half of the circuits on the International GT Open calendar will be unfamiliar, so my learning curve will continue, but I should be better than last year when I had zero mileage. It definitely won’t be easy, but I think Tonio’s presence will make a difference. It’s a true honour to race alongside somebody of Tonio’s calibre. Not many Ams get a chance to pair with an ex-F1 driver. I am one of the lucky few!”

Vito Liuzzi (36) stated: “I believe the International GT Open is a great series, and seeing how the level of entry list is rising, this year it will be a wonderful and tough series! I’m happy to be back with Hiroshi  for the first time since 2015, he is a more mature and competitive driver who grows every year and he’s a pleasure to work with. FFF Racing is improving a lot and are taking some big steps while working more closely with Lamborghini, so we are off to a great venture”.

Created in 2003 and based in Obersulm-Willsbach, not far from Stuttgart, SPS Automotive Performance is a racing and engineering company which has been in recent years a key player in GT  (Blancpain and 24 Hours series) and Porsche competitions. Team Principal Stephan Sohn commented: “We were eager to expand into other categories and a top series like the GT Open, on some of the most beautiful European tracks, seems the best option. We are really looking forward to join the series.”
 
The Mercedes AMG GT3 that will be fielded in the GT Open (and raced the Dubai 24 Hours earlier this year) will be in the safe hands of Valentin Pierburg and Tom Onslow-Cole, both aged 29. The Swiss is an endurance expert, having mostly raced in the 24 Hours Series, while Onslow-Cole switched to GTs in 2014 after being a star in the BTCC in 2007-13.

The novelty is in the driver line-up: with Phil Keen taken by other programmes, Shaun Balfe will have a new top team mate, Rob Bell. The 37-year-old Brit, a double LMS GT Champion and winner last year of the Asian LMS and the Blancpain Endurance, is certainly one of the top drivers in the GT scene. This will be his first full campaign in the GT Open, where he made appearances in 2015 (Teo Martín McLaren) and 2011 (Vittoria Competizioni Ferrari).

Shaun Balfe commented: “Being the first privateers in the 2016 International GT Open and achieving runners-up overall, was a great achievement for our team. We have been very welcomed in the series and feel proud to be a British privateer team flying the Mclaren brand whilst delivering some very heathy results amongst a competitive international field around some great venues. We are very excited about 2017 and hope to do as well despite a larger and even more competitive field. We are extremely happy to welcome Rob in the team. He is without any doubt one of the world’s top GT drivers and are thrilled to benefit from his skills and experience”.

It was the penultimate weekend of GT race action for the Kaspersky Motorsport crew, which ended with a fantastic fifth place finish for the driving duo of Alex Moiseev and Marco Cioci at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. It was a great result and a fitting reward for the team and the AF Corse team, for whom this was only the second race weekend running the new Ferrari 488GT3.

“From our first race with this car, we learned it is much more sensitive to changes than the previous one, which means we need to make smaller modifications in terms of set-up as they have a comparatively greater effect on the car’s behaviour,” explained Jacopo Fedele, the team’s chief engineer at the start of the Spanish weekend and at a venue best known for hosting the Spanish Formula 1™ Grand Prix. “With the old car, you could rely more on what the driver felt at the wheel and still be consistent, but with this one you have to spend much more time working on set-up. It is a more complex machine and one of the factors is that it is more sensitive in terms of the difference running it on old or new tyres, so that each situation requires a different set-up. In the past, we would adjust the set-up to suit two different drivers for example, but this weekend, we were working on the set-up depending on which driver is at the wheel and also whether we are running new or used tyres.” Whatever the challenges, the team seemed to be on top of them at the Catalan track, as the number 49 car was fastest in Free Practice.

The format in the GT Open championship involves a race on Saturday and Sunday and one driver taking part in a qualifying session on each of those days to establish a grid position.

On Saturday, it was Alex’s turn to go for the one-lap decider and he was 14^th overall and 13^th quickest in the Pro-Am category. Alex wasn’t very lucky in terms of traffic during the session and there was more bad luck at the start of Saturday’s race. At Turn 4, the Kaspersky Motorsport Ferrari was pitched into a spin and hit by another competitor. The collision left the car with a damaged rear wing, which necessitated a stop in the pits, while the mechanics rushed to fit a new one. That cost the team a couple of laps and then, towards the end of Alex’s stint, he pirouetted the car again, dropping right down the order. Marco Cioci drove a great final stint after the changeover, banging in a series of quick laps to move up the order, but in the end they had crossed the line to settle for 17^th place.

On Sunday morning, it was Marco’s turn to tackle qualifying and the Italian was quickest for much of the session with everyone running wet weather tyres, as the track surface was still damp from the previous night. However, the team made a tactical error, failing to switch him to slicks in the final moments of the session and those competitors who did fit dry tyres immediately found much more performance in a crazy final few minutes, relegating the Kaspersky Motorsport car to 13^th place on the grid for the final race of the weekend. Would it be lucky 13?

Race 2 featured an early Safety Car period, which bunched up everyone and Marco, clearly quicker than his 13^th place on the grid. He started scything his way through the field, all the way to fourth place, when the Aston Martin ahead of him spun, our Italian driver was in the podium zone, running third with around half an hour still to race. Then it was time for the white and green Kaspersky car to rumble down the pit lane for the driver swap and Alex was strapped in and sent on his way, still in third. Alex was unfortunate as he was demoted to fourth in a dubious move, when Miguel Ramos ran right off the track to stay ahead of the Ferrari. The race had to be neutralised again because of a big two-car crash and Alex found himself back in fourth with the task of making his Ferrari as wide as possible to try and keep series leader Fabrizio Crestani behind him.

It was one of the most thrilling battles of the race but in the end the more experienced Lamborghini man got ahead just two corners from the chequered flag. Nevertheless, fifth is a terrific result and Alex Moiseev feels the team is making good progress, which bodes well for next season: “It was great to be back in the car again after a break of over a month since the last race and I’m really pleased with the way we performed over this weekend,” said the Russian. “This afternoon, we lost some time because of traffic, although it’s always tricky when you start from the middle of the grid. After that we had good pace, but not enough to close the gap. I am quite happy with the teams progress because we stepped up a level here”. As for Marco, he was particularly impressed at how the crew in the pits managed today’s race. “The team did a brilliant job, picking the right time to bring me in to the pits for the driver change,” explained the Italian. “It was good strategy call that helped us make up time, which was a big part of where we finished today. Everyone in the team performed so well and deserved this excellent P5, not far off the podium.”

There’s just one more race for the beautiful 488GT3 this season and it takes place next weekend in Ferrari’s homeland at the Vallelunga Circuit, on the outskirts of the Eternal City. And, the day before, we’ll be making an announcement about plans for the 2017 season: we can’t say anything yet, but it’s going to take Kaspersky Motorsport to whole new level, so be sure to hit our Twitter and Facebook pages for some exciting news.

2012 British GT4 Champion and 2011 runner up in the Ginetta GT Supercup, Fannin debuted in the GT3 world at the end of 2012. In 2015, Jody was selected for the Aston Martin Racing Evolution Academy. Fannin raced the last two seasons in the British GT Championship with a Vantage GT3, conquering two podiums and one pole position.

“After my British GT Championship finished a round early, it’ll be good to get out again before the end of the year. I’m looking forward to working with Solaris Motorsport and Francesco.” commented the 23 years old Jody Fannin, who debuted in the International GT Open in 2014, bringing home 1 win and 1 second place at Silverstone at the wheel of an Aston Martin. “I haven’t been to Barcelona before, but I know the GT3 Aston and am confident that we can run at the sharp end.”

The helmet of the English driver is dedicated to his family’s origin. Based on the South African flag because of his father, it has the Union Jack below the visor due his mother. His name, written on the side of the helmet, comes from the 1979 F1 World Champion Jody Scheckter.

“I’m excited to be back in the International GT Open. Our Aston Martin was very competitive in the Italian GT Championship and I’m confident that together with Jody we can aim at important goals.” said Francesco Sini, who will appear for the third time in the GT Open, after taking part in the 2015 Paul Ricard and Monza rounds. “It will be the first time I drive with Jody, but I’m sure we will find the right feeling early. He knows very well the car and this can help us to find a good race pace quickly. I want to finish the season with the best result possible!”

“After the good season in the Italian GT Championship, we had the desire to face an international challenge. The GT Open round in Barcelona is the best stage we could choose because of the high level of the partecipants and because there will be other Aston Martins on track, two factors that will tell us how competitive we are. We will have also new Michelin tyres, instead of the usual Pirelli, and we will have to discover their behaviour.” commented Roberto Sini, who is helped in managing the team by his sons Francesco and Laura. “I’m very happy to have a young and talented driver as Jody. He’s just 23 but he already has a very good background in GT races. His knowledge of the Vantage GT3 will help us make another step forward.”

The Team had another important task to fulfil here in this series, organised by Jesús Pareja. The “Temple of Speed” was built in 1922 in only 110 days and has been the venue of the Italian Formula One Grand Prix since 1921 (79 of 87 races held). It is the third oldest track in the world after Brooklands, which doesn’t exist anymore and Indianapolis. The Team from Veneto had now to confirm Thomas Biagi and Fabrizio Crestani at the top of the overall classification.

Once accomplished this goal here in Monza, there was only the final rush to be carried out in Barcelona on 5 and 6 November. The race so close to Caselle di Selvazzano Dentro ended with two places on the podium for the men from Veneto. They now have 149 points, 29 more than their fiercest competitors Fernando Monje and Gustavo Yacamán.

The weekend in Lombardy started for the Team from Veneto on Friday, 30 September, with a promising third fastest time at the end of Free Practice, thanks to a third position in the first round and a second in the second round (262 and 626 thousandths of a second behind the Ferrari 488 GT3 driven by Fu Songyang and Andrea Caldarelli). What a great performance from the men from Bologna and Treviso, who, before the weekend in Monza, were in the lead with 117 points.

In the race on Saturday they had to start with a time-penalty of ten seconds, due to their second place in the second race at Zeltweg. Therefore, the qualifying was slightly more difficult than usual. Biagi had gained for himself and his teammate Crestani the fifth position on the starting grid. They were a mere 0”375 behind the men on pole position Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey behind the wheel of an Aston Martin GT3. On lap 17 the Lamborghini number 27 was amongst the top cars. At the end of the compulsory pit stops the car was in a fantastic second position. At that moment Fabrizio was behind the wheel of the supercar, fiercely attacking competitors. The Orange1 Team Lazarus driver had gained 20 seconds over 16 laps and tried to overtake at the Parabolica on the last lap…probably one of the most exciting scene over the weekend!

On Sunday, 2 October, the morning started with a pole position for the Team from Padua, thanks to the perfect work carried out before. What a start for Orange1 Team Lazarus in Race 2 at the end of a fierce fight amongst six drivers, won by Crestani for himself and his teammate Biagi: 213 milliseconds ahead of the McLaren 650S GT3 with Phil Keen and Shaun Balfe.

The second race of the weekend started with a time penalty of 15 seconds, which had to be served at the box. All ended with a third place, which could also have been a second, after Fabrizio had taken over the initial lead: a collision at the Lesmo corner between Thomas, third after the compulsory pit stop, and the BMW M6 GT3 driven by Gustavo Yacamán, led to a two-second penalty for the orange Huracán. Before, Yacamán had passed the Lamorghini from Padua on lap 26. At the end of the race the orange Supercar crossed the line 5”241 behind the official McLaren 650S GT3 with Alexander West and Côme Ledogar.

Thanks to this performance, the men and women managed by Tancredi Pagiaro as well as Lamborghini are now still in the lead and look ahead with a solid account of points and a certain optimism.

Thomas Biagi
“In Race 1, in the qualifying, which was extremely tight: we gained fifth place with only 375 milliseconds behind the pole position. It has to be said that we had a very conservative strategy, too. I was very satisfied when I got out of the car, by how our Lamborghini had been set up. Also because on Saturday we had to give it our all. After the start I immediately tried to keep contact to the leaders and could hold the position, keeping the ten-second penalty in mind. I drove a very clean race, before I handed the Huracán over to Fabrizio, how, as usual, did some fantastic work. That’s how we brought home a second place, very important for the Championship. For Race 2 I have to congratulate my teammate. Crestani gained a fantastic pole position and in the race, with a free track, he was great on his first stint and almost erased our time handicap. In my stint I had some difficult moments with slower cars, where I lost my race rhythm and the tyre temperature dropped. That’s how the BMW with Gustavo Yacamán could catch up. I gave way to avoid any risks. Later on the closed on me very aggressively several times and also changed his race line frequently also during braking. The final result is very positive. A place on the podium is always great. The only negative part was the decision by the race stewards to hand out a two-second penalty for the collision with the Columbian, what made us lose second place in the end. I want to thank Orange1 Team Lazarus and Lamborghini for their work, but also my fans, who came to Monza to support me.”

Fabrizio Crestani
“Before Race 1, thanks to the outcome of the qualifying with a fifth place gained by Thomas, we were optimistic to be quicker than the BMWs. This was essentially true in the race. One I overtook at the pit out and the other one on the track. Then, when I was 20 seconds behind the Aston Martin, the Team communicated that in the end we would be extremely close. I gave it my all on every lap to overtake. If there had been one more lap, I’m convinced that I could have made it to win. But considering with all the competitors directly behind us, throwing myself into the fight would not have been a sensible thing. We could have ruined everything. What can I say about Race 2 other that it was just wonderful?! There were the sponsors, the friends, the people from Daiko… so gaining pole position on the wet using slicks, shows how the driver knows how to handle the car. it was really amazing. I left Caldarelli, Cioci and Ledogar, the Blancpain winner, behind. You don’t get any points for pole position, but it was a great personal satisfaction, gained right in front of my fans. On Sunday my strategy was starting, holding the position and advancing. That’s what I did. I drove the fastest lap and was 6” ahead of the second placed as well as 20 seconds ahead of the M6 GT3s. That’s what we wanted. A perfectly set up car to get back onto the track after the compulsory pit stop ahead of our competitors. At that point we were in third position, but it was still a positive outcome, because we are leading in the Championship. This is a very useful result, because at the last round, in Barcelona, we will have a time penalty due to the three consecutive places on the podium.”

With the 2016 Blancpain GT Endurance Series at an end, the Kaspersky Motorsport team has turned its attention to another racing series, the International GT Open championship, to allow the team to get accustomed to their new 488 GT3.

The race weekend in Monza kicked off in beautifully sunny and warm weather, Alex Moiseev and Marco Cioci were paired up for two races; one on Saturday and another on Sunday. The big novelty was that, instead of the Ferrari 458 Italia that has given faithful service all season long in Kaspersky Lab colours, the Russian-Italian duo gave a baptism of fire to the new racer & the car on which they will build Kaspersky Motorsport’s Blancpain 2017 campaign, the Ferrari 488 GT3.

Although the cars may seem similar, they are very different beasts as our Chief Engineer Jacopo Fedele explained before the weekend’s race programme got underway. “The 488 GT3 is a new generation of GT3 car, with more or less the same power level as the old one because of the Balance of Performance rule, but there’s more grip, more aerodynamics, more lateral G,” he revealed. “You can brake later, carry greater entry speed into the corners and your exit speed will also be faster. Inside the car, you can immediately notice a different steering wheel, lots of different buttons and controls on the dashboard. You can control different levels of traction control and adjust the ABS system. The only thing it has in common with the old car is the engine is in the same place!”

It has been a steep learning curve for the Kaspersky Motorsport team as they’ve familiarised themselves with the car’s dynamics. Additionally, there have been new electronic parts to get accustomed to as well. “The new car has a different Electronic Control Unit that can control many more functions than on the old one, so the work the mechanics do now is a little bit more scientific,” added Fedele.

At least the Monza track, the Temple of Speed as it’s called, is a known quantity for the team and for both drivers, who have raced and tested here already this year. So Alex and Marco had a baseline to work from, as they adapted to faster cornering speeds and different braking points than in the past.

The work began on Friday with two free practice sessions to fine-tune Quali and race set-up. The results were definitely encouraging as the team was fourth quickest in both sessions. This was later confirmed when Alex did a great job in Qualifying 1, setting the ninth fastest time overall.

Conditions were perfect for the first 38 lap race on Saturday at the atmospheric “Pista Magica” (magic track). The chequered flag fell at the end of an hour’s racing and the Kaspersky Motorsport team #49 car crossed the line in seventh place. A day later and the 32 lap second race was a real thriller. Having qualified third in Qualifying 2, Marco was first in the car and he fought his way into second and then took the lead after the lead car crashed out. After the driver swap, Alex held the lead almost right to the end, but he dropped to second and in the closing stages he was caught by some quicker cars, but still drove very strongly, battling hard, to take a well deserved fifth place for the Kaspersky Motorsport crew.

“After a solid performance in Saturday’s race, the second one of the weekend went even better,” said Alex Moiseev after Sunday’s race. “I’m very happy for the whole team, as this is a great morale boost for all of us. We have experienced some bad luck in some past races, but no one at Kaspersky Motorsport let their head drop, we just kept fighting and this result shows why we never give up.”

The new 488 is a fantastic car, as you would expect from a vehicle developed by the famous Prancing Horse company and therefore, it bodes well for Kaspersky Motorsport’s 2017 programme. “I immediately got a positive feeling from this car, although it is still very new and therefore has great potential for improvement, with much more to come in terms of performance and even more importantly, reliability,” added Alex. “The whole team did an amazing job this weekend, which was great as we come towards the end of this tough season and this fifth place finish is a great reward for all their hard work. Thanks guys!”

Team-mate Marco Cioci was a big part of the result in Monza. “It was a good weekend for us and I’m very happy for the team. It was a great battle for me and for Kaspersky Motorsport and is exactly what the team needed, after all the hard work we have put in over recent events.”

The #49 Kaspersky Motorsport will be given one more outing this year, at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit on 5^th and 6^th November, which represents a chance for them to learn even more about how to set the new 488 GT3 car and the best way to drive it, in preparation for next season.

The SCG003C was driven by two gentleman drivers Beniamino Caccia and Lorenzo Bontempelli. Neither driver had driven the SCG003C before, but they are accomplished racers in their own right having competed in a variety of championships including the Italian GT, GT Open, Blancpain GT championship and the Spa 24 Hours.

Qualifying took place on Saturday, but due to some mechanical issues the SCG003C was unable to start. This meant Caccia started Race one from the back of the grid, and Bontempelli took over driving duties half way through. The team finished 13th place, third in the Am class.

On Sunday the team were able to take part in Qualifying and finished in 12th position. Bontempelli started Race two, but after 13 laps the car had to retire due to mechanical issues.

An unfortunate weekend for the team, who have recently had great success in the VLN Series and the DMV-GTC championship. A few lessons were learnt from the weekend, and the team are now working hard to address the issues surfaced during the race at a new circuit for the car.

Paolo Garella, Programme Director said: “It was great to have two gentleman drivers of this calibre and experience join us for this race, and it is just a shame we had some mechanical issues with the car. Despite this, they still had the opportunity to race the SCG003C, and provided us with invaluable feedback. We will now work hard as a team to correct the issues that occurred during the weekend, making sure we incorporate our gentleman drivers’ input as well. I am sure we will be able to offer them the same level of excitement and performance we usually experience at the ‘Ring next time.”

In Austria, the SF Racing Ferrari will be entrusted to China’s Songyang Fu (31), one of the top drivers in Asian GT racing, and Italy’s Andrea Caldarelli.

Schothorst, who won in Austria last weekend during the third round of the Renault Sport Trophy, will drive the BMW for the first time on Friday at Silverstone in the first free practice and he will try to have a quickly adaptation to the car and the team.

It won’t be his first experience with a GT3, because he has also raced previously in the Blancpain Series, the Porsche Carrera German Cup, in which he was the third best rookie in his first year, or the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. He participated in endurance races too as 24 Hours of Barcelona in 2011 (2nd place in his category and 3rd place overall) or 24 Hours of Spa in 2010.

Before making the leap to GT championships, Pieter Schothorst also competed two seasons in Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and the NEC Formula Renault 2.0.

Pieter Schothorst:
“First of all, I want to thank Teo. I’m very happy we have come to an agreement for the last four rounds of the International GT Open. I’m very keen on working with BMW Team Teo Martin and the BMW M6 GT3. I’m sure together we will form a very strong package that can fight for the wins, starting this weekend in Silverstone”.

McNeilly started his career in 2009 in Lotus Cup before moving to British GT in 2014, driving Ginettas GT4, while Stanley, who also drove F.3 and F.Ford single-seaters, is a former champion in the GT CupUK – GTC (2014) and the British GT G4 (2010).

Stanley, who also performs driver coaching duties at FF Corse, commented: “We look forward to the Silverstone event. It will be a perfect opportunity for FF Corse to test the series and showcase our Ferrari 488 to potential customers for the forthcoming rounds and next season.”