The International GT Open season finished in front of 25,000 spectators on the Barcelona circuit with suspense on till the end!
Indeed, before the last two races, Nicky Pastorelli and Miguel Ramos (Corvette V8 Racing) were in the lead of the drivers' standings. After the first race on the Spanish circuit, Andrea Montermini and Niccolo Schiro (Ferrari 458 Villorba Corse) passed in front and, on Sunday, after the very last race of the season, Daniel Zampieri and Roman Mavlanov, at the wheel of the Ferrari 458 of team SMP Racing partnered by Motul, finally bagged the title! To do so they merely had to bag third in race two.
Right from the start there was a fierce battle between the Ferraris of Villorba Corse and SMP Racing, while Cox Racing's Lamborghini Gallardo remained in ambush. In the lead, Schiro under pressure finished by cutting a corner and incurred a penalty in the form of a drive-through. SMP Racing's car was the first to pit for the drivers change, Mavlanov passing the steering wheel to Zampieri. SMP's second Ferrari (in GTS category), driven by Maleev, then found itself in the lead, ahead of Ramos and Zampieri. Maleev nearly left the track in lap 29 but kept his place and crossed the arrival line first. Zampieri, third, brought the championship win to team SMP Racing! Motul also supported TDS Racing, which finished ninth.
Standings
01// Zampieri/Mavlanov, SMP Racing, 212 pts - MOTUL
02// Ramos/Pastorelli, V8 Racing, 202 pts
03//Schiro/Montemini, Villorba Corse, 200 pts