Horrified at the prospect of two consecutive weekends without a race, following the enforced withdrawal of RAM Racing from the Spa FIA WEC round, Matt Griffin will now be travelling a further 100km East and crossing the border into Germany, where he will take part in the opening round of the International GT Open in a GTS class AF Corse Ferrari, alongside regular partner Duncan Cameron.
“Obviously I was disappointed not to be going to Spa this weekend, but I respect the decision of Ram Racing,” said the Irish racer. “On the other hand, I am excited to go to Nürburgring. The GT Open is a super competitive championship and I am glad to be back.”
The Griffin/Cameron partnership has thrived since the move to Amato Ferrari’s team, with the 2013 GT Open yielding three wins and the duo will be starting the season in the expectation of similar results.
“I am very confident heading into this weekend. Last year we won here overall and the aim will be to finish on the podium especially after coming off the win in ELMS at Silverstone two weeks ago. I am expecting a super strong car from AF Corse and I know that Duncan and I make a good team. In saying that, I am expecting the whole field to be super strong so we will have to be 100%.”
25 cars are scheduled to appear at the Nürburgring:
| No. | Category (Class) | Class | Team | Drivers | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Super GT (GT3) | GT3 | Scuderia Villorba Corse | Andrea Montermini Niccolò Schirò | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
| 2 | Super GT (GT2 OPEN) | GT2 OPEN | V8 Racing | Miguel Ramos Nicky Pastorelli | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R |
| 4 | Super GT (GT2 OPEN) | GT2 OPEN | V8 Racing | Diederik Sijthoff Archie Hamilton | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R |
| 5 | Super GT (GT2 FIA) | GT2 FIA | Drivex School | Fernando Monje Juan Manuel López | Porsche 997 GT3 RSR |
| 6 | Super GT (GT2 OPEN) | GT2 OPEN | Selleslagh Racing Team SRT | Diederik Sijthoff Bert Longin | Chevrolet Corvette C6/ZR1 |
| 13 | Super GT (GT3) | GT3 | Autorlando Sport | Matteo Beretta Isaac Tutumlu | Porsche 997 GT3 R |
| 54 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | AF Corse | Duncan Cameron Matt Griffin | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
| 55 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | AF Corse | Claudio Sdanewitsch Federico Leo | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
| 56 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | AF Corse | Giorgio Roda Andrea Piccini | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
| 57 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | AF Corse | Thomas Flohr Francesco Castellacci | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
| 58 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | Team Novadriver | César Campaniço Aditya Patel | Audi R8 LMS ultra |
| 59 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | Sports and You | António Coimbra Luis Silva | Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 |
| 60 | Super GT (GT3) | GT3 | SMP Racing - Russian Bears | Roman Mavlanov Daniel Zampieri | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
| 61 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | SMP Racing - Russian Bears | Viacheslav Maleev José M. Pérez Aicart | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
| 62 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | Ombra Racing | Mario Cordoni Stefano Gattuso | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
| 63 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | Ombra Racing | Stefano Costantini Alan Sicart | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
| 64 | Super GT (GT3) | GT3 | Black Bull Swiss Racing | Mirko Venturi Joël Camathias | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
| 67 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | Eurotech Engineering | Ferdinando Geri Lorenzo Bontempelli | Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 |
| 68 | Super GT (GT3) | GT3 | Eurotech Engineering | Davide Valsecchi Giovanni Venturini | Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 |
| 69 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | Team Spirit Race | Suzanne Weidt Dietmar Haggenmüller | Audi R8 LMS ultra |
| 70 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | Plachutta Racing | Mario Plachutta Thomas Jäger | Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 |
| 71 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | Krypton Motorsport | Glauco Solieri Stefano Pezzucchi | Porsche 997 GT3 R |
| 72 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | Kox Racing | Maximiliam Völker Tomáš Enge | Lamborghini Reiter Gallardo FL2 GT3 |
| 76 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | Kox Racing | Nico Pronk Peter Kox | Lamborghini Reiter Gallardo FL2 GT3 |
| 99 | GTS (GT3) | GT3 | V8 Racing | Dylan Derdaele Dennis Retera | Chevrolet Corvette Z06 |
The weekend kicks off with Race 1 qualifying on Saturday morning at 11.20 CET, followed by the 70 minute Race 1 at 16.00 CET. Sunday continues with Race 2 qualifying at 09.00 CET and the 60 minute Race 2 at 13.00 CET.
Motors TV will have delayed coverage of Race 1 and live coverage of Race 2 on Sunday from 09.50. Live timing can be accessed at www.gtopen.net
