It’s a week since the rain-shortened Nürburgring 24 Hours, and conditions are once again pretty terrible in the Eiffel mountains. Friday’s first Euro F3 Open practice session was cancelled due to fog, but it had cleared sufficiently by the time the International GT Open competitors were due out, although heavy rain persisted.
As expected, the wet conditions favoured the ABS- and traction control-equipped GT3 machinery in the GTS class. Kiril Ladygin’s Ferrari set the early pace with a 2:21, but it wasn’t long before N24 winner Jeroen Bleekemolen (making his first GT Open appearance of the season for Autorlando Porsche team), lowered the bar with a 2:19. After 25 minutes, Marco Seefried (Rinaldi Porsche) had broken into the 2:16s, while Nicky Pastorelli’s Corvette was the only Super GT runner amongst the GTS pack, clocking a 2:17. The Dutch driver stayed in touch as the lap times came down during the session, eventually finishing fifth fastest overall.
The rain stopped falling towards the end of the session, but the track didn’t completely dry out. Autorlando Sport’s Isaac Tutumlu was at the top of the timesheets with a 2:14.816 when the flag fell after an hour, while the SMP Ferrari of Rosell/Mavlanov was not far behind in second on 2:14.870. The other Autorlando 911 of Bleekemolen/Di Guida was third on a 2:15.1, and Jan Seyffarth’s 2:15.5 was good enough for fourth in his Mercedes SLS AMG. In the second session, the rain became heavier as time passed, so the quick laps were set in early running. Ferrari was quickest this time around – Bontempelli and Di Marco clocking a 2:14.4 in their Kessel entry – with Bleekemolen second and the Andrea Montermini/Luca Filippi GTE Ferrari third.
Following a brief appearance at Portimao, Rafael Unzurrunzaga’s Mosler is once again absent from the starting grid, while the Johnny Laursen/Jan Magnussen Kessel Racing Ferrari is also missing here at the Ring. And in another late change to the entry, 2010 Le Mans GT1 class winner Gabriele Gardel has popped up in one of the Kessel Racing 458s, as a stand-in for Michele Rugolo alongside Claudio Sdanewitsch. “I hadn’t driven the GT3 Ferrari before,” said the experienced Swiss after a couple of wet laps. “The balance stability under braking and progressive power delivery are all very impressive.” This is a one-off entry for now, but he’s not ruling out more appearances in GT Open later in the season.
Briton Archie Hamilton, basking in the glow of his recently announced LMP2 drive at Le Mans, was 19th in the first free practice after taking a cautious approach. “We didn’t want to risk the car with standing water on track, so I just went out for a few laps at the end to get a feel for things” he said. On Thursday, Hamilton completed a shakedown in the G-Drive Oreca he’ll drive at Le Mans in three weeks’ time. “It was just about getting used to car, and it went well – it was great to drive a prototype again after a year waiting,” he smiled.
Michael Lyons is another young UK driver plying his trade in GT Open this year, having fought at the sharp end of GT3 Europe last season. “We originally intended to do a GTE programme in this championship, but it didn’t come together,” he told us. “But I’m not that disappointed, really – the level in GT3 here is very high. We’ve got ex-Formula One guys like Giorgio Pantano and Luis Razia, and they’re not disappearing into the distance. Names like that are a good yardstick for the rest of the field.” Pantano is driving a McLaren for Italian outfit Bhai Tech, and seems to be enjoying life with a roof over his head. “The car is very nice and I’m having fun,” the former Jordan man told us. “But the team needs to learn the car. All of us – the drivers, engineers and mechanics – have come from single-seater backgrounds, so it’ll take a little time to learn.”
Further down the pitlane, Matt Griffin was sporting a haircut of the ‘fight with a lawnmower’ variety as he watched the timing screens in the AF Corse garage. “We were testing for RAM Racing in Vallelunga last week and there was a bet made about taking a certain corner flat,” the Irishman explained. “I lost, and I won’t be making any bets again!” This weekend will be Griffin and Duncan Cameron’s second GT Open outing for AF Corse, and both are happy with the move over from MTECH. “The car is quicker, but Duncan’s driving has improved, too,” he added. “We won Portimao last time out and we could have won British GT last weekend, too – we lost a lap with the safety car mix-up and were only a minute behind the leader at the end.”
The wet conditions at the Nürburgring have also put the spotlight on the relative merits of the GTE and GT3 machinery contesting GT Open. GP2 veteran and Villorba Corse Ferrari pilot Luca Filippi reckons the lack of ABS is far more significant than having no traction control. “Managing the power is not a problem,” he said, “but having ABS is a big advantage for the GT3s in the wet. It lets you attack corners very aggressively under braking when it’s raining, which is harder in a GTE with the extra. Obviously, in the dry, we’re much quicker, not really because of extra power, but more due to the extra grip from the GTE’s aero and suspension.”
Tomorrow sees a pair of qualifying sessions plus the first of the weekend’s two races, and the weather is predicted to improve as the weekend goes on – or so the notoriously unreliable Eifel weather forecast says!
Stephen Errity (@83ste)
