GT Open at Portimão

Cultism
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The Ferrari 458s of Kessel Racing and AF Corse the cars to beat - setting the 4 fastest times in FP2. [Photo: Andrew Mulholland]

The GT Open series kicks off for 2012 this weekend in Portimão. Drive Cult is here to see the season opener.

Trying to decide which international GT race series to follow is a tricky game these days. For endurance series, you have a range of acronyms: ALMS, LMS, WEC, BES. For sprint, you have the SRO-run FIA GT1, GT3 and GT4 championships, and the International GT Open.

The FIA GT1 series has re-grouped around GT3 cars for 2012, and as a result the GT Open has been in effect promoted to the premier sprint racing series for GT cars, due to it running both GT2 and GT3 cars. Founded in 2006 as a spin-off from the Spanish GT championship, the GT Open series is growing steadily and attracts more followers and bigger teams each year, and I'll be following the series this year on behalf of Drive Cult.

My attention was first drawn to GT Open in 2010, and unfortunately not as a result of the close and exciting racing.  At the GT Open race in Imola, Marcel Tiemann was guest driving in a Audi R8 LMS. Another driver crashed into his car, causing him to smash into a wall, and he was left in a very serious condition. Even now, 2 years on, Marcel has not fully recovered, and likely will never be able to compete in motorsport again.

This had a big impact on me, since it was only a month or two after the Nürburgring 24h that year where Marcel, in the Manthey GT3 R, had stunned the crowds - and the drivers in the Audis which had lined up in the first 4 places on the grid - and gone from 7th at the start to 1st, before even leaving the Grand Prix circuit to join the Nordschleife.

Accidents happen in motorsport, and it's thanks to the advancements in safety that ones of the severity and lasting impact of Marcel's are few and far between.

Fast forward two years, and Marcel's old team Manthey Racing, the kings of the Nürburgring, have entered a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 2012 into the GT Open, and this combined with the circuits on the calendar (Portimão, Nürburgring GP, Spa, Brands Hatch, Paul Ricard, Hungaoring Monza and Barcelona) made this a no-brainer for me. This explains why I find myself sitting in a hotel in Portimão on a Friday evening, sorting through photographs and putting some thoughts down on paper.

The arrival of Manthey into the series as a factory-supported team helps to cement the high class status of the series, but they are far from the only serious team here. Kessel Racing and AF Corse are both renowned Ferrari teams running GT2 spec Ferrari 458s, Goodsense's Gallardo LP600s are supported by Reiter - the factory Lamborghini team - and Imsa Performance represent another factory-supported Porsche team.

On track, the quality of the entrants is evident, too. In the fastest session on Friday, the top 10 cars were separated by just a second, with the top 6 being within 4 tenths of each other!

FP1

  1. #10 Black Team - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:57.843
  2. #4 AF Corse - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:58.581
  3. #8 Manthey Racing - Porsche GT3 RSR - 1:58.628
  4. #11 Kessel Racing - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:58:768
  5. #12 Villois Racing - Aston Martin Vantage - 1:59.611

FP2

  1. #11 Kessel Racing - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:45.322
  2. #2 aabar abu dhabi Villorba Corsa - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:45:363
  3. #4 AF Corsa - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:45.407
  4. #10 Black Team - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:45:437
  5. #82 Goodsense Racing Team - Lamborghini Gallado LP600 - 1:45.553
Kessel set the pace in FP2

Kessel set the pace in FP2

After the somewhat mixed conditions on Friday, Saturday began with sunshine and scorching temperatures. While this makes it pleasant for spectators and photographers, several teams were seen doing rain dances due to concerns over tyre degradation in the hot temperatures.

Toni Villander on way to setting pole in Q1
Toni Villander on way to setting pole in Q1

The series has a control tyre by Dunlop, and while the dry tyre is very quick, enabling some of the Ferraris to dip into 1m43s in qualifying 1, it's quite a soft compound and with a relatively green track surface after rain on Thursday and Friday, tyre management will be key in the races if it remains dry. Rain is threatened, however, and is likely to be a factor in Sunday's race, creating further challenges for the teams and drivers.

Qualifying for race 1 went as one might expect from the pace shown in practice - with 458 GTs locking out the top 3 places on the grid, with Marco Holzer in the Manthey Porsche a second back from the leader in 4th.

The second qualifying session - for Sunday's race had a couple of curve balls thrown in the form of the Villois Aston Martin, and Goodsense Lamborghini taking the front row, with the quickest Ferraris being consigned to row two. This provides hope that should the conditions continue to be dry and hot, the racing will still be close and it won't  necessarily be a runaway win for Ferrari!

Qualifying 1

  1. #4 AF Corse - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:43.766
  2. #11 Kessel Racing - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:43.824
  3. #10 Black Team - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:44.319
  4. #8 Manthey Racing - Porsche GT3 RSR - 1:44.818
  5. #2 aabar abu dhabi Villorba Corse - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:44.860
  6. #6 Drivex School - Porsche GT3 RSR - 1:44.926
  7. #12 Vollois Racing - Aston Martin Vantage - 1:45.020
  8. #5 AT Racing Team - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:45.231
  9. #81 Team Novadriver - Audi R8 LMS Ultra - 1:45.231
  10. #82 Goodsense Racing Team - Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 - 1:45.424

Qualifying 2

  1. #12 Villois Racing - Aston Martin Vantage - 1:44.563
  2. #76 Goodsense Racing Team - Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 - 1:44.602
  3. #4 AF Corse -  Ferrari 458 GT - 1:44.676
  4. #5 AT Racing Team - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:44.717
  5. #82 Goodsense Racing Team - Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 - 1:44.735
  6. #8 Manthey Racing - Porsche GT3 RSR - 1:44.779
  7. #2 aabar abu dhabi Villorba Corse - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:44.816
  8. #54 Autorlando Sport - Porsche GT3 R - 1:45.065
  9. #11 Kessel Racing - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:45.160
  10. #10 Black Team - Ferrari 458 GT - 1:45.351

Race 1

Villander streaks away
Villander streaks away

20 minutes prior to the planned start of the race today the weather shifted, with a sudden downpour of hail followed by intense rainfall causing a delay to the start, and the organisers declared the race wet. It seems the rain dances worked, then!

I'm standing at the first corner, and manage to find some shelter from the elements in the Marshalls hut while waiting for the race to begin.

After two laps behind the safety car at the start, the sun breaks through at 10 past 3 and the race finally gets underway properly. The start is just as you might expect, with the top 3 Ferraris (#4, #11, #10) sprinting away from the pack. Only one other car is able to keep with them - the #8 yellow/green Manthey Porsche.

Within a few laps, the gap back to the 5th place car is over 20 seconds, with the leading quartet remaining as a pack. During the race as the conditions continue to improve, the leading duo opt to pit on lap 15 for tyres, and on the following lap the Manthey car takes the lead as the #10 Ferrari opts to pit.

It's only on lap 18 that the new leader pits, opting to do the driver change and tyre change at the same time. This later earns them a drive-through penalty, since despite a wet race being called, which permits tyre changes (not normally allowed at all in GT Open), the rules are that the driver change must be done independently of any other stops.

Reflecting on what might have been
Reflecting on what might have been

It seems though that fortune favours the team from Nürburg today, though, as the pole-sitting AF Corse Ferrari 458 of Villander/Leo is forced to retire on lap 24, and other potentials challengers fell by the wayside, with the feared tyre problems striking for #2 Ferrari 458 of Villorba Corse, causing them to retire 3 laps from the end. However, the closing laps are still nail-biting, as Manthey hang on to the lead post-penalty while the #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari continues to whittle down the gap, taking seconds out each lap. When the checkered flag finally falls, the gap is just 7 seconds.

Competition for the final podium spot was even more intense, with just 8 tenths separating the #56 GT3 spec AF Corse Ferrari 458 of Bizzari/Cadei and the #16 Imsa Performance Matmut Porsche RSR of Narac and Pilet as they cross the line.

So Race 1 ends with 5 Ferraris in the top 10, but Porsche leading the way.

Race 1 - Results

  1. #8 Manthey Racing - Porsche GT3 RSR
  2. #11 Kessel Racing - Ferrari 458 GT
  3. #56 AF Corse - Ferrari 458 GT3
  4. #16 Imsa Performance Matmut - Porsche GT3 RSR
  5. #10 Black Team - Ferrari 458 GT
  6. #82 Goodsense Racing Team - Lamborghini Gallardo LP600
  7. #12 Vollois Racing - Aston Martin Vantage
  8. #54 Autorlando Sport - Porsche GT3 R 
  9. #44 Kessel Racing - Ferrari 458 GT3
  10. #60 Ombra Racing - Ferrari 458 GT3
Manthey on top of the world after winning on GT Open debut
Manthey on top of the world after winning on their GT Open debut