Le Castellet, 4 June - The International GT Open is heading South for its third round of the season: the Circuit Paul Ricard, near Le Castellet, will host in its hi-tech premises an event that has become one of the defining moments of the calendar. Based on what seen at Estoril and Spa-Francorchamps, French fans will enjoy a great GT show, with closely-fought races and no less than eight different car brands represented. It is actually a Ferrari lying on top of the overall standings at the moment. Shaun Balfe and Phil Keen are accomplishing a brilliant and consistent season at the wheel of their 458 Italia and their success has gained them unanimous praise.
488 GT3 debut. At the Paul Ricard, AF Corse will be present with one of its new 488, entrusted to Marco Cioci and Piergiuseppe Perazzini. These two are certainly not unknown in the series: they were actually team mates when they took the GTS title on a Chrysler in… 2006, the inaugural year of the series, and have been regular visitors since. Marco made his come-back at Spa-Francorchamps, Perazzini will do it now. On the anecdote side, it is interesting to report that Cioci, who is still recovering from a broken leg, has actually being operated by surgeon Perazzini…
Am class. In the Am category, the fight currently sees the Sports&You Mercedes of António Coimbra-Luis Silva leading in the standings, only one point ahead of AF Corse’s top car, entrusted this time to Stéphane Lémeret and new-comer John Dhillon, who normally stars in the British GT. Fans at the Circuit Paul Ricard will have the opportunity to enjoy, on top of Var’s beautiful coast, hills and cultural heritage, a rich race programme, which also includes the other GT-promoted series. The races (Race-1 on Saturday at 16.15 and Race-2 on Sunday at 14.15) will be available online at
gtopen.net.