Motopark with three cars, Neumann-Rumpfkeil to defend Am crown
Reigning International GT Open champions Heiko Neumann and Timo Rumpfkeil will defend their title in 2024 aboard one of the Mercedes AMG GT3 of Team Motopark.
Motopark is expected to be represented in all three classes of the GT Open, with the other pairs to be announced shortly.
Heiko Neumann commented: “I am very much looking forward to the 2024 season of International GT Open. 2023 was my first season of racing on international tracks and I had to learn almost of all of them as they were new to me. it was a great experience, we had a lot of success and ultimately claimed the title in the AM category. Now it feels great to come back to circuits with the experience and confidence of 2023.“
Timo Rumpfkeil added: “2023 was a great first season for us in International GT Open. As a team we learned lot and we progressed a lot. I am confident that we have done our homework and we are heading to a successful 2024 season 2024. We will further grow our GT department and will run 3 cars all season in the International GT Open.”
Two-car AMG effort from SPS
SPS automotive performance is once again represented in the 2024 International GT Open with two Mercedes-AMG GT3s.
Mikaeel Pitamber and Dominik Baumann will pilot the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3, as they did last year. Dexter Müller and Yannick Mettler will once again compete in the sister #54 car .
Mikaeel Pitamber and Dominik Baumann finished the 2023 season on a high by winning the finale in Barcelona, while Dexter Müller and Yannick Mettler only narrowly missed out on the podium in the PROAM classification. With this promising quartet, SPS automotive performance will be aiming for the championship title in the international GT series in 2024.
Pitamber made his debut with the team in the International GT Open last year. The South African impressed straight away with impressive performances including two race wins. His team-mate for the entire season will be Dominik Baumann. The 31-year-old Austrian returned to SPS automotive performance at short notice for the 2023 season finale and was successful right away alongside Pitamber. The powerful duo will be on the chase for championship points in the PRO class throughout the year with these excellent prerequisites.
The second Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting number 54 will compete in the PROAM category under the CBRX x SPS entry. Dexter Müller and Yannick Mettler celebrated a class win and several podium finishes last year and were regularly in the points in the highly competitive PROAM class. After finishing fifth in the championship, the Swiss team is now aiming for a place in the top three of the standings.
Mikaeel Pitamber: “I’m very excited about my second season in the International GT Open. The learning curve was very steep last year. Winning two races as a rookie was great and motivates me even more. Having such an experienced team-mate like Dominik by my side will be very helpful. I hope that I can learn a lot from him and that we can build on our successes from last year.”
Yannick Mettler: “I’m really looking forward to competing in the GT Open with Dexter and SPS again. We are now a well-rehearsed team, which has advantages in many respects. This year, we want to attack at the front again, even though the competition will be very strong as always.”
Stephan Sohn, team principal at SPS automotive performance: “We are very happy to be able to field two cars with identical driver pairings in the International GT Open again. In both the PRO and PROAM classes, we have a good chance of having a say in victory. Mikaeel learnt a lot last year and has an experienced team-mate at his side in Dominik. Now, of course, we want to pick up where we left off last year. With Dexter and Yannick, we also have a well-rehearsed team that can compete at the front in their class. Under the right conditions, both line-ups have what it takes to fight for the championship.”
Marcelo Hahn and Allam Khodair return with an AF Corse Ferrari 296
Brazilian pairing Marcelo Hahn and Allam Khodair will return to GT Open four years after their last appearance. The duo will campaign the entire season at the wheel of a Ferrari 296 GT3 of AF Corse in the traditional livery of Blue Motorsport and sporting #16.
This will be the third different GT3 model that Hahn and Khodair race in the GT Open, where they started their journey in 2017 with a Mercedes AMG of Spanish squad Drivex, clinching their first Pro-Am win at Paul Ricard. The following year, they finished third in the class adding three more wins, of which one, at the Hungaroring, was a memorable overall win. In 2019 started the era with the McLaren 720S, prepared by Teo Martín Motorsport, repeating third in Pro-Am, with two more victories, while the Pro-Am title came in 2020 with two more wins.
Marcelo Hahn commented: “I started my GT3 career with a Ferrari (an F430 in the now defunct GT Brazil in 2008) and getting back behind the wheel of a Ferrari is something that excites me greatly for this season. I return with much more experience and with the desire to pursue the second title in this fantastic competition. We have collected many victories, won the championship and have excellent memories of everything we experienced in Europe. Now, we aim to achieve all of that again. With a new car and a new team, we want to write a new and victorious story.”
Allam Khodair added: “I’m already looking forward to getting back on the tracks where we achieved great results, like Monza, Barcelona, Hungaroring and many other. I can only express gratitude to Marcelo for another season alongside him. We’ve been racing together for 16 years now, making us the longest-standing duo of drivers in Brazilian motorsport and perhaps even worldwide. And each year brings a new challenge. We’re back to fight for the championship again and we’ll go for it from the very first race.”
Ugo Maceratini, team manager of AF Corse stated: “I have always admired Marcelo and Allam since their early years here in GT Open. They are very competitive, and it will be a pleasure to have renowned drivers like them on our team. Our goal is the title, and for that, we want to have a consistent championship, planned step by step”.
Pellin Racing to debut with Ferrari 488
One of the new entries this year in this year’s GT Open will be Pellin Racing, the well-known Italian team founded in the early ‘90s by Giuseppe Pellin, which has been one of the strongest forces in Ferrari Challenge competitions.
Now led by the following generation, the family team based in Cremona will enter a Ferrari 488 GT3 in the Winter Test and four rounds of the series: Portimão, Spa, Ricard and Barcelona.
At the wheel will be the American gentleman driver Thor Haugen, who comes from the Ferrari Challenge North America, and Italy’s Dario Capitanio, who has single-seater, GT and LMP experience and is a former Renault Sport Trophy champion.
Olimp Racing returns
Polish squad Olimp Racing is set to add a full season campaign in GT Open for a fourth year in a row, again with two cars of different brands, and with the same driver pairs.
In Pro-Am, Marcin Jedliński and Karol Basz will be at the wheel of the Audi R8 LMS. They finished runner-up last year after taking the title in 2022 and have collected seven race wins.
In Am, Stanislaw Jedliński and Krystian Korzeniowski will drive the Ferrari 296 that debuted mid-year last season. The duo has three race wins to their credit and their best final position in the Am standings was third in 2021.
Car Collection to debut in the GT Open with two Porsche 911 GT3 R
The 2024 International GT Open will see a stellar new entry, as German squad Car Collection Motorsport will make its debut in the series fielding two Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) as part of its 2024 multi-series programme.
Based in Walluf, Hesse, the Car Collection racing arm of the eponymous automotive group founded by Peter Schmidt, was created in 2002 and has been very successful in a number of series, from VLN/NLS to GT World Challenge Europe, ADAC GT Masters and 24 Hours Series. For its first GT Open campaign, Car collection will entrust its cars to line-ups combining youth and experience.
One (car #12) will be in the hands of ‘Hash’ (51), the American driver that debuted in GT3 with the team last year, and Alex Fontana (31). The Swiss-Greek driver, a Euroformula Open champion in 2011, has collected four Silver Cup titles in Blancpain / GTWCE competitions, adding an Endurance Pro-Am Cup in 2023 driving precisely for Car Collection.
The other car (#15) will be entrusted to Sweden’s Gustav Bergström, who is only 21 but has already shone in various Porsche Carrera Cups, GT4 and rallycross, paired with Porsche driver Nico Menzel (26), who was second in Pro-Am at the 2023 Spa 24 Hours with Car Collection and has numerous race wins in VLN / NLS, including two class wins at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Peter Schmidt, Team Principal: “We are always on the lookout for new fields of activity. The GT Open has developed very well in recent years. The format and the tracks are great and the competition is very high-class. We are therefore delighted to be competing here for the first time in the 2024 season and obviously want to be as successful as possible.”
“Hash”: “2024 will be my first complete season in Motorsport, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. With Alex we share the same passion and work attitude, and despite GT Open will as always produce a highly level grid, together with Car Collection we will do our best to progress race by race.”
Alex Fontana: “I’m really looking forward to begin this new season: for me it will be the first time I’ll have the chance to drive the same car and with the same team two years in a row, and CC is a group of people I really like. Furthermore, driving the full series with Hash, coming out from my racing academy, makes me really proud and I’m eager to build up our competitiveness together race by race.”
Gustav Bergström : “I am super excited for the 2024 season with Car Collection in GT Open! Very happy to share the car with Nico going to try and learn as much as I can from him and the team!”
Nico Menzel : “I’m really looking forward to the GT Open season with Gustav in the Car Collection Porsche GT3R. Last year, the team and I worked together for the first time at the 24-hour race in Spa and were immediately very successful. With Gustav at my side and the entire squad behind us, we will be in a strong position to attack at the front.”
GetSpeed AMG pairing revealed
A second driver pairing for Team GetSpeed in the International GT Open has been confirmed as Anthony Bartone joins forces with Fabian Schiller. The 23-year-old American entering a second year with the crack German team.
“Anthony will complete the entire program with us in 2024, consisting of GT World Challenge Europe and GT Open,” says team boss Adam Osieka. “At the GT Open he will start alongside Fabian, from whom he can still learn a lot. Anthony has already proven that he is fast. Now we’ll see how far he can climb the table with Fabian.”
Bartone and Schiller drove together at the Hankook 24h Dubai and in the Asian Le Mans Series at Sepang, Dubai and Yas Marina.
Bartone competed in the GT Open last year. Together with Aaron Walker, he achieved fourth place in the Pro class at the season finale. The duo was also able to collect points in both races at the Red Bull Ring. Schiller was also active in the GT Open in 2023. In six races he celebrated two victories and a total of five podium finishes.
The 2024 GT Open season begins in Portimão from April 26th to 28th. The series will then make its first appearance in Germany at the Hockenheimring from May 10th to 12th. Further events will take place at Spa-Francorchamps, the Hungaroring, Paul Ricard, the Red Bull Ring and Barcelona before the season finale takes place in Monza from October 18th to 20th.
