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    13 SepGT WORLD CHALLENGE ASIA, INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN

    Weekend preview: Ferrari at Spielberg and Shanghai

    Maranello 13 September 2024

    This racing weekend, all eyes are on the Spielberg circuit in Austria, where the third-to-last round of the International GT Open will take place, with several Ferraris competing for the various titles up for grabs. At Shanghai, the final round of the GT World Challenge Asia will see four Maranello cars take to the track.

    International GT Open. After the summer break, the championship returns to the Spielberg track, where valuable points will be on offer for the standings across the various classes. Among the 35 entrants, no fewer than Ferraris will be aiming for success and strong performances. In the Pro class, following their win in the Paul Ricard round, Nicola Marinangeli and Vincent Abril, in the number 51 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Spirit of Race, are now 16 points behind the leader.

    In the highly competitive Pro-Am class, the standings leader Marco Pulcini will be joined by Eddie Cheever III in the number 27 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Spirit of Race. The Brazilian duo of AF Corse, Marcelo Hahn and Allam Khodair, are in third, having secured victory in their number 16 Ferrari at the Paul Ricard circuit in July.

    The Maranello brand will field four other cars: AF Corse will see Alessandro Cozzi and Giorgio Sernagiotto in the number 25, and Laurent De Meeus and Jamie Stanley in the number 55. In the number 88 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Spirit of Race will be Gino Forgione and Michele Rugolo. Finally, the German team racing one will be chasing a second victory, relying on home driver Ernst Kirchmayr, paired with the newly crowned Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe champion, Giacomo Altoè, returning to the series in which he triumphed in 2019.

    Two Prancing Horse drivers will compete in the Am class. Alongside the Polish drivers of Olimp Racing, Stanislaw Jedlinski and Krystian Korzeniowski in the number 5, Ziad Ghandour will make his debut, concluding the season in the number 61 Ferrari of AF Corse.

    After free practice sessions on Friday the 13th, qualifying sessions are scheduled for Saturday the 14th, at 9.50 a.m., with Race-1 starting at 4 p.m. over a 70-minute distance. The second qualifying session will be held on Sunday the 15th, at 9.15 a.m., followed by Race-2, a 60-minute event, at 3 p.m.

    GT World Challenge Asia. The championship returns to China for the first time since 2019 for the final round of the year, with two 60-minute races. Harmony Racing will represent the Prancing Horse brand with two Ferrari 296 GT3s: the number 77 will feature Chen Weian and Liang Jiatong at the steering wheel in the Silver class, and the number 99 with Liu Hangcheng and Luo Kailuo in the Silver-Am class. Also competing in this class will be the number 296 Ferrari of Absolute Corse, driven by Andre Canard and Finn Gehrsitz. On the track in the Silver class will be the number 75 Ferrari of Garage75, driven by David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo. Following two qualifying sessions on Saturday (10.10 a.m. and 10.32 a.m.), the two races will start at 2.20 p.m. on Saturday and 11.20 a.m. on Sunday.

    All times are local.