A busy weekend in Europe, set to be hot, both figuratively and literally, given the weather forecast. Germany’s Hockenheim circuit hosts round three of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup season, while the Paul Ricard welcomes the fifth round of the International GT Open and the third of the GT Cup Europe.
GTWC Europe. The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup returns with the third round of the season this weekend at Hockenheim in Germany. The track will host 33 cars split into various classes, with a programme featuring two 60-minute races.
Emil Frey Racing fields two Ferrari 296 GT3s in the Pro class: number 14, driven by Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen, who lie third in the standings, just half a point ahead of Thierry Vermeulen and Giacomo Altoè in number 69.
In the Gold class, Racing Team Turkey’s number 51, driven by Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood, is fresh from a first podium finish at the Misano track. In the Silver class, after his accident on the Italian track, Thomas Fleming is back and will join Eliseo Donno in the AF Corse 296 GT3 number 71. A second car from the Piacenza-based team will compete in the same class: the number 52, driven by Jef Machiels and Sean Hudspeth, who secured their first podium of the season at the Romagna track.
In the Bronze class, Sky Tempesta Racing leads the standings with the number 93 Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by Jonathan Hui and Eddie Cheever, after winning Race-2 at the last round in Italy.
After Friday’s free practice and pre-qualifying sessions, Qualifying 1 on Saturday will run from 9:50 to 10:00 a.m., with Race-1 from 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. On Sunday, Qualifying 2 will run from 9.50 to 10.00 a.m., and Race-2 is from 2.15 to 3.15 p.m.
International GT Open. Thirty-five cars will line up for the fifth round of the International GT Open at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France. Spirit of Race’s Ferrari 296 GT3 number 51, driven by Nicola Marinangeli and Vincent Abril, will compete in the Pro class. Two Maranello cars will race in the Am, with Olimp Racing fielding Stanislaw Jedlinski and Krystian Korzeniowski in the number 5, and AF Corse with the number 47 driven by Roberto Lacorte.
The Pro-Am class is the largest, which also sees the leader of the ranking Marco Pulcini at the start, with Riccardo Agostini in this event, at the wheel of the Ferrari 296 GT3 number 27 of Spirit of Race, which is also deploying the number 88 crewed by Gino Forgione and Michele Rugolo. Completing the Ferrari line-up are racing one’s number 11, driven by Ernst Kirchmayr and David Fumanelli, and the three AF Corse cars: number 16 with Marcelo Hahn and Allam Khodair, number 25 with Alessandro Cozzi and Giorgio Sernagiotto and number 55 with Laurent De Meeus and Jamie Stanley. Pellin Racing fields the only Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 on the entry list, with drivers Thor Haugen and Paolo Ruberti.
The Paul Ricard weekend will begin with a two-hour private test session on Thursday afternoon. Race-1, lasting 70 minutes, will kick off at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday to take advantage of cooler temperatures. Race-2, lasting 60 minutes, will start at 1:35 p.m. on Sunday.
GT Cup Europe. The GT Cup Europe returns to the track at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France for the season’s fourth event. The Pro-Am class promises a heated contest. Iván Velasco and Luca Ludwig, in the MERTEL Motorsport Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo number 80, top the standings with 60 points, just one point ahead of their closest rivals. The German team fields two other cars in the same class: number 84 with Arturo Melgar and Stefano Bozzoni, and number 85 with Jorge Cabezas and Anny Frosio. Lorenzo Ferdinando Innocenti and Andrea Belicchi, fourth in the standings, also compete in the Pro-Am class, driving the number 16 of Rossocorsa Racing.
MERTEL Motorsport has four more cars in the Am class: number 81 with Fernando Navarrete Rodrigo and Alvaro Lobera, number 82 with “Leo Chen” and “Mark Speakerwas”, number 83 with Laura Van den Hengel and Alba Vazquez Redondo, and number 86 with Martinus Richter.
Street-Art Racing’s number 007, in the Am class, with Jahid Fazal-Karim and Pascal Bachmann, completes the Ferrari line-up.
After Friday’s free practice, the GT Cup Europe schedule on Saturday includes Qualifying 1 from 9:45 to 10:05 a.m. and Race-1 from 3:15 p.m. On Sunday, Qualifying 2 is from 9 to 9:20 a.m., and Race-2 is from 3:10 to 4:00 p.m.
All times are local.