Miguel Ramos and Nicky Pastorelli (V8 Racing Corvette) took their second win of the year in an extremely hot afternoon in Jerez. The first-ever GT Open race on the Andalusian track was red-flagged eight minutes from the end to allow rescue of the Drivex Porsche that had caught fire. Niccolò Schirò-Archie Hamilton managed to salvage third position, after a great performance, as the classification was frozen one lap before the dramatic incident. Andrea Montermini-Luca Filippi (Villorba Ferrari) were second.

In GTS, the Autorlando Porsche of Isaac Tutumlu and Dimitris Deverikos dominated, always running in the top 5 overall, and beat the Ombra Ferrari of Stefano Costantini-Joel Camathias, which obtained its first podium of the season, and the Kessel Ferrari of Lorenzo Bontempelli-Nicola De Marco.

At the start, Montermini takes the lead from poleman Schirò ahead of Tutumlu, Schirò, Ramos, Da Veiga, Campaniço, Castellacci, Retera, Rugolo, De Marco, Longin and Costantini. The race started without the AF Ferrari of Cameron-Griffin, too damaged in an accident in qualifying. While Montermini pulls away a little bit and Tutumlu holds in second, Schirò comes under attack for third from Ramos, who passes in lap 6. One lap later, the Portuguese is second after passing Tutumlu.

There is an interesting lively second group with a battle between De Marco and Longin for 9th, then Costantini and Zampieri, while Razia has passed Pier Guidi, who is followed by the other McLaren of Suzuki. In the meantime, Rugolo (suspension) and Toril (engine) have retired with mechanical problems.

Ramos is the top contender to stop for driver change and serve handicap (30′). After the pit stops (lap 23), Hamilton leads with 3″6 over Pastorelli, Filippi (-9″), Deverikos, Figuereido, Sijthoff, Camathias, bontempelli, Van der Drift, Pantano and Talkanitsa.

The attention is for the duel between Hamilton and Pastorelli, who are basically within 1 second, but in lap 27 the safety-car is out, as the Corvette of Camp is stuck in the middle of the track after a spin in turn 1. At the restart, the Porsche Drivex is passed by both Pastorelli and Filippi, who fly away.

In the meantime, the two McLarens get a 10-second penalty because of handicap infringement, and the Autorlando Porsche of Bleekemolen a drive-through for. Lap 32 marks the end for the Drivex Porsche, as the engine caught fire. The Brit is quickly out but the car is heavily damaged and the race is red-flagged, with the Drivex Porsche salvaging 3rd as a consolation. Alexander Talkanitsa (SuperGT) and Johnny Laursen (GTS) win in the Gentlemen’s Trophy.

Source : International GT Open