Reigning champions Motopark announce Ramírez-Baumann as first pair
The 2025 overall Drivers’ and Teams’ champions, Team Motopark, have confirmed Marcelo Ramírez and reigning Pro-Am champion Dominic Baumann in the #28 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
It is the first out of the team’s three entries for this year’s entire GT Open season, with the possibility of additional cars at selected events.
Baumann, the 33-year-old Austrian, won last year’s Pro-Am championship with Valentin Pierburg with just a 10-point margin over Steve Jans and Aaron Walker, the latter of whom returned to 2 Seas’ Silver-Am line-up in the British GT Championship.
Along with Ramírez, the 28-year-old Mexican, both drivers will recall their valuable experience with other Mercedes-AMG customer teams as Baumann sets his sights on a second GT Open Pro-Am title.
Mansell joins Götz at Motopark
Former single-seater star Christian Mansell will join 2021 DTM champion Maximilian Götz in the second car announced by reigning champions Motopark.
Mansell, the 21-year-old Maitland-born racer, is returning to racing after a hiatus last year.
His single-seater CV led him to progress to FIA Formula 2, after competing in other single-seater championships like GB3, F3, and achieving a third-place finish in the Euroformula Open, a series promoted by GT Sport, in 2022.
Götz, an established Mercedes-AMG factory driver, will share driving duties in the green-and-black #71 machine, visually distinguished from the other #28 black-and-blue car of Ramírez/Baumann.
The former Blancpain GT Sprint champion and Spa 24 Hours winner played a key role for Motopark last year en route to the team’s success with two titles.
As key protagonists this year, Motopark are aiming for consecutive championship glory by the end of this year’s eight race meetings.
Motopark’s final full-season line-up will be unveiled in due course, with the season-opener imminent on 17-19 April at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
Olimp Racing enters pairing of Ferraris for sixth season
Polish team Olimp Racing will enter two Ferrari 296 GT3s for the 2026 International GT Open season.
2026 will be their sixth full-season campaign in the championship, fielding one Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo in Pro-Am and a non-Evo version in Am.
They have chosen to maintain continuity in their driver lineup, featuring the 2022 Pro-Am champions and two-time runners-up Marcin Jedliński and Karol Basz in the #777 Ferrari, which utilises an Evolution kit encompassing numerous updates to the 296 package.
Meanwhile, Stanislaw Jedliński and Krystian Korzeniowski continue their fight in the other car in the Am category.
Dinamic GT finalises full-season Porsche campaign with Sager & Engelhart
Dinamic GT has finalised their intentions to contest the full 2026 season campaign for the first time with a Pro-Am class-entered Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo.
Team regular Philipp Sager, along with former ADAC GT and Blancpain Endurance champion and 2019 GTD class Daytona 24 Hours winner Christian Engelhart, make up the team’s driver line-up.
Giuliano Bottazzi, team principal, said: “We are happy to be able to announce a full programme in the International GT Open.
“It will be our first full season in a top series we have visited a number of times in the past, always with great pleasure and good results.
“The possibility has materialised now, and we are delighted to join with a pair that can be very competitive in the Pro-Am class, as both Philipp and Christian are top drivers in their respective categories, Bronze and Gold.
“The level is going to be very high this season, but we are extremely motivated to do well.”
Sager, the Austrian, is a familiar face in GT3 racing and raced in Creventic’s Middle East Trophy at the beginning of the year.
His first appearance with the team took place in 2021 during the 2019 Porsche Supercup, and he has since committed to Dinamic GT’s GT3 program, primarily in GT World Challenge.
He will combine his efforts in GT Open this year with his second Le Mans Cup season with the GT3 team, Spirit of LeMan.
The Parma-based Dinamic GT team has only competed in GT Open through selected appearances to this point.
In their maiden full-season effort, they look to add to their one race win from 2022 and a podium finish last year.
Baron Motorsport fields Am Ferrari with Lewandowski duo
Baron Motorsport has confirmed their Ferrari 296 GT3 in the upcoming 2026 GT Open campaign with father-son duo Andrzej and Adrian Lewandowski.
The Polish pairing will contest the Am category with a team with considerable experience with Ferrari machinery in GT Open.
It will mark a switch of manufacturers for both drivers who have regularly competed in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe series.
Andrzej, the father and more experienced driver, is making his first GT Open appearance since 2023 and has an established career with three Am class championship titles in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe.
Additionally, he won the Pro-Am category at the 2019 World Finals and earned a Silver medal in the GT discipline during the FIA Games held that year.
Adrian is 31 years old, while his father is 56, and has shared driving duties with Andrzej on numerous occasions, and finished third in the Am category in the 2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo.
AF Corse confirms formidable Ferrari quintet across all classes
Ferrari’s most synonymous GT racing partner team, AF Corse, has confirmed a quintet of Ferrari 296 GT3 Evos for the 2026 GT Open campaign.
It will be the first season appearance for the newly updated Evo version of Maralleno’s latest GT3 car as the runner-up team from last year targets Team Motopark’s crown.
All five AF Corse Ferraris will compete in the full season, utilising a strong selection of driver line-ups, as more entries could be expected at selected race meetings.
Last year’s overall vice-champion Tommasco Mosca will chase glory in the Pro class with teammate Rafael Durán in the #51 car.
Young Ukrainian Yaroslav Veselaho will make his GT Open debut in the other Pro class-entered #96 car with Ferrari official driver Thomas Neubauer as his teammate.
Neubauer will be substituted at two rounds due to clashing commitments by fellow Ferrari-contracted driver and reigning 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Yifei Ye.
In the Pro-Am class, AF Corse also fields two entries. Laurent de Meeus and Vincent Abril return in the #55 car, whilst in the #81, Japanese Ferrari Challenge star Norikazu Shibata will undertake his GT Open debut with 2023 GT Open champion Charlie Fagg.
Finally, the #16 car sporting Blue Motorsport colours will defend AF Corse’s Am title honour with Marcelo Hahn and compatriot Galid Osman.
Images courtesy of GT Open
