GT Open, Zeltweg - Report
Red Mist For Villorba At The Red Bull Ring

Qualifying

Philipp Peter took pole position for Race 1 at his home circuit on the Saturday morning, despite his fastest time being cancelled for not respecting the track limits.

The Kessel Racing local hero also had the second-best time of the session (1.31.605), therefore retaining the pole, and was clearly very happy; “The car works perfectly, we made some set-up adjustments that proved effective”.

He would share the first row with the GT3 Ferrari of his teammate Stefano Gattuso, who was the fastest among the GTS cars. The second row comprised Argentine Cochito López, in the Vittoria Ferrari F430 currently second in the overall standings, and the JMB Ferrari 458 of Joel Camathias, third in the championship. They preceded the points leader Emanuele Moncini (Ferrari Villorba) and the 458 GT3 AF Corse of Stefano Bizzarri, second in GTS. The best Porsche (with Barba) was only seventh, with the Autorlando Porsche of Babini-Roda only taking part in Race 2, owing to Luca Roda also racing in the Blancpain Endurance Series at Magny-Cours the same weekend. The new Mosler GT3 of Unzurrunzaga unfortunately had to withdraw from the meeting, having broken its engine.

Andrea Montermini took pole for Race 2 in pole position after posting the a 1.31.454 in at the wheel of the Villorba Corse Ferrari 458. He shared the front row with the fastest GTS car, the Autorlando Porsche of Fabio Babini, who would be joined by Roda.

Row 2 saw Luca Rangoni (AF Corse Ferrari F430) and Lorenzo Bontempelli (Kessel Ferrari 458 GT3) lined up together, while Soheil Ayari (JMB Ferrari) and Marco Frezza (Vittoria Ferrari F430) formed the third row.

Race 1

Álvaro Barba and Andrea Ceccato took their second win of the season with the Autorlando Porsche in a lively and closely-fought first race at the Red Bull Ring, on a hot and stormy afternoon, which also saw the rain on and off.

They headed the EdilCris Ferrari 458 of Miguel Ramos-Matteo Cressoni and the JMB Racing Ferrari 458 of Soheil Ayari and his new team-mate Joel Camathias. The Frenchman - despite a 30-second handicap, resulting from his double win at Brands Hatch - finished on the podium and became the new leader in the standings, benefitting from the “zero points” day of Moncini-Montermini (Villorba Ferrari) and Frezza-López (Vittoria Ferrari) who had arrived in Austria as points-leaders.

In GTS, Stefano Bizzarri and Andrea Rizzoli (AF Corse Ferrari) finally took their maiden win, after having collected four second-places, beating the Villois Aston Martin of Lancieri-Malucelli and the Kessel Ferrari of Caccia-Mantovani.

The race had an unlucky (local) hero, as Philipp Peter - who started from pole and led the first part of the race with authority - received a drive-through for having being pushed on the grid. The cause, a faulting ignition system, also resulted in a second drive-through, as the car had to be pushed again after the driver change. The start had also seen Moncini touching and sending Gattuso into a spin, with the Villorba car having to retire.

Peter led the first part of the race ahead of Camathias, followed by a very lively group which included Bizzarri, Lopez, Ramos, Barba, Talkanitsa, Lancieri, Puglisi and Gené. Little by little, it was Barba who emerged as the main contender and he took the lead when Peter stopped to serve his drive-through.

The Spaniard constantly had Camathias on his back, with the Swiss taking the lead on lap 16, shortly before the driver change; and then Barba also found himself challenged by a charging Peter.

After the driver change, Ceccato had little difficulty dealing with first Broniszewski, then Cressoni. Frezza retired with a blocked gearbox, while Ayari emerged to take third at the close. Fourth was Rangoni, ahead of GTS-winner Rizzoli, then Broniszewski, Talkanitsa, the Aston of Malucelli and the Kessel of Caccia;  who survived a suicidal attack by the Mercedes of De Marco to salvage third spot in GTS.

Race 2

Stefano Gattuso and Lorenzo Bontempelli continued their tradition of winning a race at each round, but this time the Kessel Racing pair not only won the GTS class but also the overall race.

They benefitted from the sanction inflicted on Montermini-Moncini (Villorba Ferrari), who crossed the line first but received a 30s penalty for an incident between Moncini and Alessandro Garofano two laps from the end, when the AF Corse Ferrari F430 was leading the race. Philipp Peter-Michal Broniszewski (Kessel Ferrari GT2) finished second ahead of Gianluca Roda-Fabio Babini (Autorlando Porsche), on a day that saw the GT3 cars very competitive.

Bontempelli-Gattuso strengthened their lead in the GTS standings while taking second in the overall ranking, six points behind Soheil Ayari (JMB Ferrari), who finished fifth.

The race started without the SunRed, while the Villois Aston only completed one lap (engine). From pole, Montermini kept the advantage, ahead of Rangoni and Babini in full battle, Bontempelli, Ayari, Rugolo, and then a lively group composed of Frezza, Ceccato, Cressoni and Rizzoli.

Montermini continued in the lead but his advantage up to the driver change never exceeded 2.5 seconds. The pit stop marked the end of the race for the Autorlando Porsche of Barba-Ceccato (broken radiator) and, after the handicaps, Garofano took the lead eight seconds ahead of Moncini, Roda, Gattuso, Lopez, Peter, Talkanitsa and Camathias, with battles at all stages. Camathias managed to pass Talkanitsa after a fierce duel, while Gattuso passed Roda for P1 in GTS on Lap 23. Gruber and Crespi collided for the second race running.

But the hottest fight was at the top, with Moncini closing on Garofano in the final laps. But Garofano looked to be in control and the AF Corse F430 appeared to be heading for its first win of season, despite a couple of attacks from Moncini. On the penultimate lap, however, Moncini tried to go past on the inside, touching his rival and sending him into a spin. Inevitably, the Villorba Ferrari’s win disappeared after the resulting investigation.