Benja Hites and Leo Pulcini are the 2022 Champions of the International GT Open after a thrilling final race in Barcelona, which saw the two title contenders fighting in the group right behind the front-runners. Eventually, a fifth place, right behind their last rivals, Nick Moss- Joe Osborne, in the Optimum Motorsport McLaren, was enough for the Chilean-Italian pair to secure the title, by only 3 net points. “It has been a stressful finale, but we made it. We want to thank Oregon Team and Lamborghini for the tremendous work and support”, said the new champions.
It was a perfect day for Oregon Team (already crowned as the Team champion) as Kevin Gilardoni-Glenn Van Berlo took the race win, their third of the year, securing a final P3 in the standings. Second in the race were Steve Jens-Sébastien Baud (GetSpeed Mercedes), with the Dinamic Motorsport of Riccardo Cazzaniga and Klaus Bachler in third.
In Pro-Am, the debuting Herberth Motorsport Porsche of Ralf Bohn-Robert Renaur won the race, while a fifth was enough for Marcin Jedlinski and Karel Basz to take a well-deserved title, with the Audi of Olimp Racing.
In Am, Alex Hrachowina and Martin Konrad finished their campaign in a triumphant mode, clinching an eighth success.
Bachler and Basz took a perfect start from row 1, with Van Berlo in third ahead of Renauer, Valente, Fumanelli and Jens. Hites was 11th at the end of first lap and Moss 18th after cutting the first chicane. The Chilean qualified 9th and the Brit 16th after losing almost half of the session because an electronic problem stopped his car along the track. He would also get a 5-position penalty on the grid as the mechanics intervened on-site.
There were few changes in the initial laps, as Bachler led ahead of Basz, Van Berlo, Renauer, Valente, Fumanelli, Jens and Hofer, all covered by only 6 seconds. Hites was 12th and Moss 17th. On lap 5, the safety car was out as Villanueva spun in turn 10 and got stuck in the gravel.
The restart, after 2 laps, brought no news up to the driver change window opening on lap 14. Drama struck there though as both title contenders, Hites and Moss, went to the pits at the same time and the McLaren managed to leapfrog the Lambo (it had 10 seconds less of handicap) thanks also to the accidental presence of one of the Kessel Ferraris. Osborne was in front of Pulcini as they rejoined the track, fighting closely until traffic allowed the Brit to pull away.
On lap 22, Gilardoni leads ahead of Bohn, Baud, Cazzaniga, with Osborne in fifth ahead of Scholze, Juffali and Pulcini, who was narrowly champion as it stood at the flag.
In the final laps, Osborne closed on Cazzaniga, finishing fourth right ahead of Pulcini, who took the crown. Bohn dropped to 7th but retained the Pro-Am win ahead of Scholze and Juffali, while Hrachowina repeated victory in Am ahead of Cipriani and Nana.
FINAL STANDINGS AFTER RACE 13 OF 13
Overall: 1. Hites-Pulcini, 128 (131) points; 2. Moss-Osborne, 125; 3. Van Berlo-Gilardoni, 119 points; 4. Baud-Jens, 64; 5. Basz-M.Jedlinski, 60; 6. Juffali-Christodoulou, 51; etc
Pro-Am: 1.Basz-M.Jedlinski, 67 p.; 2. Juffali-Christodoulou, 57; 3. Müller-Mettler, 57; 4. Fumanelli-Cuhadaroglu, 54; 5.Valente, 48; 6. Kranz-Shoffner, 45; etc
Am: 1. Hrachowina-Konrad, 108 (114) points; 2. Nana, 82; 3. Osieka, 73; 4. DeMeeus, 50; 5. Stanley, 42; 6. S.Jedlinski-Korzeniowski, 40; etc.
Teams: 1. Oregon Team, 127 points; 2. Optimum Motorsport, 78; 3. GetSpeed Performance, 47; 4. Dinamic Motorsport, 29; 5. Kessel Racing, 29; 6. Olimp Racing, 26; etc
