The International GT Open officially heads into the second half of the 2026 season this weekend at the iconic Circuit Paul Ricard near Le Castellet, which has hosted a variety of sports car racing action in recent years.
A grid of 30 GT3 cars will wrestle around the 5.842 km configuration for another sprint race meeting after the Hungaroring two weeks ago.
However, Paul Ricard is quite different from the tight and twisty Hungaroring.
It features open run-off areas that can cause significant tyre abrasion if those track limits are breached, and a mistake at the high-speed right-hander, Coube de Signes, can quickly send a car heading towards the deceptively distant Armco barriers.
At least one continuation from Hungary is the ongoing European heatwave, bringing a warm atmosphere to this mid-July trip to Southern France.
Elite Motorsport secured their third victory of the season last time out, meaning that Tom Emson and Tom Lebbon retained their championship lead in the #17 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.
Their tally of 87 points puts them ahead of #71 Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo drivers Christian Mansell and Maximilian Götz, who cut down their margin by three points in Hungary.
What remains is their determination to continue the chase for the lead, now 74 points behind, but even more pressing is the presence of their nearest rivals.
Greystone GT’s #33 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo pairing of Zac Meakin and Dean Macdonald is on 71 points since finishing third and second in Hungary.
Twenty-one-year-old McLaren factory driver Joseph Loake will replace Dean Macdonald, who is contesting the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint meeting at Misano.
Meakin continues his forward chase, as a handful of points gained will make all the difference in the championship fight if the #71 Mercedes duo run into trouble.
Even though Alex Fontana and Pietro Armanni won their second race of the season in Hungary, their #911 ZRS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo endured a difficult second race as they currently sit 55 points in the standings.
Scuderia Villorba Corse is fifth in the championship on 33 points in the hands of #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 teammates Rodrigo Testa and Leonardo Moncini, who scored a double-points haul at Hungary and look to build on their progress.
Marcelo Ramírez and Dominik Baumann are looking for redemption after a puncture halted their hopes for a first win of the season in the #28 Team Motopark Mercedes.
Tomasco Mosca enjoyed the Race 2 pole position and victory last year with Carl Bennett, but will also be at GTWC Europe in Misano. So respected Ferrari specialist David Perel joins Rafael Durán in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, with whom Perel shared a Spa 24 Hours Silver class victory last month.
In the #96 AF Corse Ferrari, Yaroslav Veselaho is with two-time Italian GT champion Lorenzo Ferrari.
Al Manar by Dragon’s #707 Ferrari returns with Faisal Al Zubair, joined by Ben Tuck, who returns from last week’s FIA WEC 6 Hours of São Paulo event.
Another returnee is Rinaldi Racing, which is making one of two planned appearances in this GT Open campaign in their #15 Ferrari shared by American duo Dylan Medler and Alessandro Balzan, rounding out 10 entries in the Pro category.
The Pro-Am category is also a close four-way fight at the top of the championship, with Alexander Fach leading on 56 points and four class victories, joined by Alexander Schwarzer in the #11 Fach Auto Tech Porsche.
Olimp Racing are their closest threat,t with Karol Basz and Marcin Jedliński just 15 points back on a tally of 41 in the #777 Ferrari.
Charles Bateman is third on 39 points as Jonny Adam makes his second season appearance with him in Blackthorn’s #97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo.
ISR Racing’s #75 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO 2 of Libor Milota and Filip Salaquarda took their first Pro-Am win of the year in Hungary, and so the work continues into Paul Ricard at 36 championship points.
Yannick Mettler and Dexter Müller took two more podium finishes and are clear contenders for the Pro-Am win in the #54 CBRX by SPS Mercedes.
It is a home race meeting for Saintéloc Racing, so French duo Michaël Blanchemain and Jim Pla have their targets set on achieving a coveted victory in front of their home crowd from the #26 Audi.
Norik Racing’s #81 Ferrari has Norikazu Shibata and Charlie Fagg at the wheel, with regulars Lauren De Meeus and Vincent Abril in the #55 AF Corse Ferrari.
Track Focused’s #88 McLaren was initially set to be shared by Darren and James Kell, but James will take part in the clashing GT World Challenge event at Misano. There is no confirmation yet on who will share the GT3 Evo with Darren.
Greystone GT’s other McLaren, the #24, will be driven by Oliver Webb and Andrey Borodin.
BMW is represented by PTT Racing’s #7 M4 GT3 EVO car of Hubert Demetko and Fabian Dybionka, whilst Pedersen Racing returns with Lars Pedersen and Mikkel Pedersen in their second outing this season in the #117 Porsche, rounding out 13 cars in Pro-Am.
Seven AM cars are entered for Paul Ricard, and Adrian Lewandowski leads on 54 points; after driving solo in Hungary, he is reunited with his father, Andrzej, in the #6 Baron Motorsport Ferrari.
Joel Monegro Reyes lost his lead to Adrian last time out, so he is primed to regain that lead from only two points behind in the #12 Fach Auto Tech Porsche.
AF Corse’s Brazilian pairing Marcelo Hahn and Galid Osman are third in the Am standings on 49 points, aiming for their third win of the year in the #16 Ferrari.
GoodSpeed’s #14 Aston Martin of Piotr Wira and Tomasz Magdziarz are hoping to snap back to competitive form since Magdziarz’s crash last time out, with another Polish team, Olimp Racing, keeping them company in the #5 Ferrari of Stanislaw Jedlinski and Krystian Korzeniowski.
Mexican racer Alfredo Hernández runs solo in the #77 Grupo Prom Racing Team Mercedes, as does Seweryn Mazur in the #79 Sendom Racing Lamborghini.
Qualifying 1 takes place on Saturday, 18 July, at 11:35 CEST/local time, before the first 70-minute race later that day from 17:35, to avoid the early-afternoon heat peak.
The race meeting continues on Sunday with Qualifying 2 at 08:30, which sets the grid for the 60-minute race at 13:45.
Images courtesy of GT Open
