GT3 Le Mans Cup - A seven-car Ferrari battalion ready for Spa-Francorchamps

Francorchamps, 22 September 2016 - The circuit of Spa-Francorchamps will host the fifth round of the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup on Saturday 24 September. Twelve cars will line up on the Belgium starting grid representing no less than five manufacturers and fourteen nations from as far away as China to Belgium including France, Italy, Switzerland and many more. The last but one round of the season will be really competitive as the team’s and driver’s championships are still wide open, with only 15 points between the leader (TF Sport no. 34 Aston Martin) and the second placed team (SMP Racing no. 72 Ferrari 488 GT3). The driver’s championship leaders, Aleksey Basov and Victor Shaytar (77 points) will be at the wheel of the SMP Racing Ferrari. They will race in Belgium alongside six other Ferraris on the grid, including the three entries from AF Corse that stand 5^th (the no. 51 488 GT3 of Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci), 13^th (the no. 71 458 Italia GT3 of Mads Rasmussen and Filipe Barreiros) and 15^th (the no. 14 488 GT3 of Pierre-Marie and Adrien De Leener) in the championship.   Opponents. Euan Hankey and Salih Yoluc, will be once again at the wheel of the 34 car and will try to score another victory in order to keep their lead in the team title race as well as to close the gap to the Russian line up in the driver’s championship. The no. 88 Mentos Racing Porsche will see the return of Klaus Bachler, the Austrian forced to miss the race in Le Castellet due to another engagement. He will drive alongside Norway’s Egidio Perfetti who is third in the driver’s championship after scoring 3 podiums in a row at Le Mans, Red Bull Ring and Paul Ricard. The McLaren of FFF Racing Team by ACM, will be driven by Hiroshi Hamagushi and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.   Other Ferraris. There will be three more Ferraris on track at Spa-Francorchamps: the no. 26 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 of Classic and Modern Racing will have a brand new line-up with Eric Cayrolle and Arno Santamato at the wheel while the other two Ferraris will be the 458 Italia no. 8 entered by Scuderia Villorba Corse, in the hands of Steeve Hiesse and Cedric Mezard, and the no. 25 488 GT3 by FF Corse driven by Ivor Dunbar and Johnny Mowlem. Schedule. Action will start on Friday with two free practice sessions, followed by qualifying on Saturday at 11:55. The green flag will be wave the same day at 17:30 for the 2-hour race.