International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France

19th - 21st July 2024

Event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello

On this weekend of July 19-21 and before the summer break, the competitors of the International GT Open were at the Circuit Paul Ricard this weekend for the fifth round of their season.

Free practice

Despite a few drops of rain in the morning when I arrived at the circuit, Friday's free practice took place, as planned, in very hot weather.

33 competitors presented themselves at the end of the pit lane for these two sessions. 3 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, 8 Ferrari 296 GT3 plus a Ferrari 488 GT3, 11 Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO, 3 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), 5 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO and 2 McLaren 720s GT3 Evo.

Alessio Deledda / Jordan Pepper (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 #10 - Oregon Team) will set the best time of the morning session ahead of Anthony Bartone - Fabian Schiller (Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO #9 - GetSpeed) and Marco Pulcini / Riccardo Agostini (Ferrari 296 GT3 #27 - Spirit of Race).

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 001

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 002

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 003

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 004

The afternoon session will be dominated by Simon Reicher - Christopher Haase (Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #1 - Eastalent Racing) best absolute time in 2:01.982. they will be followed by Amaury Bonduel - Leonardo Pulcini (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 #63 - Oregon Team) and their teammates Alessio Deledda / Jordan Pepper.

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 005

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 006

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 007

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 008

A bronze test was also organized this Friday at the end of the day which saw Marcelo Hahn - Allam Khodair (Ferrari 296 GT3 #16 - AF Corse) climb to the top of the timesheet.

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 009

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 010

Q1 & R1

Qualifying for race 1 took place on Saturday morning over a duration of 30 minutes.

Fabian Schiller will win the battle for pole in race 1 with a time of 2:01.344 after an intense fight with Vincent Abril (Ferrari 296 GT3 #51 - Spirit of Race) with a small margin (+0s076) over the Frenchman.

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 011

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 012

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 013

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 014

It is at the end of the day, at exactly 5:45 p.m., that the green lights for the start of Race 1 will be lit.

It was a fantastic Race 1 in torrid weather. After a great final charge Simon Reicher - Christopher Haase won their third victory of the year, the Eastalent Racing duo beating Fabian Schiller - Anthony Bartone at the last minute. Diego Menchaca - Marcos Siebert (Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO #17 - Team Motopark) taking the third step of the podium.

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 015

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 016

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 017

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 018

Valentin Pierburg - Aaron Walker (Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO #6 - GetSpeed) will take their first victory of the season in Pro-Am, ahead of Marcelo Hahn - Allam Khodair and father and son Stewart - Lewis Proctors (McLaren 720S GT3 #66 - Greystone GT).

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 019

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 020

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 021

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 022

In Am, Roberto Lacorte (Ferrari 296 GT3 #47 - AF Corse) made his debut in the series in the best way, taking victory, ahead of championship leader Giuseppe Cipriani (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO #8 - Il Barone Rampante) and Stanislaw Jedlinski - Krystian Korzeniowski (Ferrari 296 GT3 #5 - Olimp Racing).

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 023

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 024

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 025

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 026

Q2 @ R2

For his return to GT Open, Riccardo Agostini took pole for Race 2, in a much cooler morning.

The session was in fact interrupted by the red flag ten minutes from the end, while Filip Salaquarda (Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #75 - ISR Racing) spun and hit the barriers on the double right of the Beausset.

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 027

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 028

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 029

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 030

Nicola Marinangeli - Vincent Abril (Ferrari 296 GT3 #51 - Spirit of Race) achieved a long-awaited and deserved victory in a Race 2 with a completely different physiognomy than that of Race 1, while cooler temperatures and storms soaked the track.

The race started behind the safety car and had to be stopped by a red flag approximately 20 minutes before the pit stop window due to weather conditions.

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 031

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 032

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 033

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 034

The Italian-French crew won on the last lap after an intense duel with the Simon Reicher-Christopher Haase duo, who could not repeat their success from the day before. Alessio Deledda - Jordan Pepper took third place.

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 035

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 036

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 037

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 038

The fight was intense until the last corner in Pro-Am as well, Marcelo Hahn - Allam Khodair winning their category ahead of Marco Pulcini - Riccardo Agostini (Ferrari 296 GT3 #27 - Spirit of Race) and Dexter Müller - Yannick Mettler (Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO #54 - CBRX by SPS).

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 039

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 040

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 041

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 042

New success in AM for Roberto Lacorte.

Kiki Sak Nana - Adam Osieka (Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO #786 - GetSpeed) taking second place ahead of Stanislaw Jedlinski - Krystian Korzeniowski.

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 043

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 044

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 045

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 046

Despite the unpredictable weather, the Paul Ricard meeting was pleasant to follow from the side of the track, except for the episode which led to the red flag during race 2.

Additional races

In addition to the two races of the International GT Open, 10 other confrontations were on the program, the GT Cup Europe as well as Euroformula Open, which unfortunately only had 7 competitors, Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine and Italian F4 Championship shared the track of the Paul Ricard circuit.

I offer you the podiums of each additional race

GT Cup Europe

PROAM

Luca Ludwig - Iván Velasco (Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo #80 - Mertel Motorsport)

Alex Reimann (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup #47 - EST1 Racing)

Xander Przybylak - Lars Zaenen (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup #53 - Q1-trackracing)

Leandro Martins - Dieter Svepes (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup #911 - RACAR Motorsport)

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 047

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 048

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 049

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 050

PROAM

Stienes Longin - Nicolas Saelens (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup #11 - Q1-trackracing)

Xander Przybylak - Lars Zaenen (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup #53 - Q1-trackracing)

Alex Reimann (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup #47 - EST1 Racing)

Fernando Navarrete Rodrigo - Alvaro Lobera (Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo #81 - Mertel Motorsport)

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 051

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 052

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 053

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 054

Euroformula Open

Jakob Bergmeister (Dallara F320 Spiess #26 - Team Motopark)

Levente Revesz (Dallara F320 Spiess #11 - Team Motopark)

Brad Benavides (Dallara F320 Spiess #71 - Team Motopark)

Levente Revesz (Dallara F320 Spiess #11 - Team Motopark)

Francesco Simonazzi (Dallara F320 Spiess #84 - BVM Racing)

Levente Revesz (Dallara F320 Spiess #11 - Team Motopark)

Brad Benavides (Dallara F320 Spiess #71 - Team Motopark)

Fernando Barrichello (Dallara F320 Spiess #41 - Team Motopark)

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 055

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 056

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 057

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 058

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 059

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 060

Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine

Rafael Camara (Formula Alpine #5 - PREMA RACING)

Michael Belov (Formula Alpine #4 - TRIDENT)

Brando Badoer (Formula Alpine #15 - VAN AMERSFOORT RACING)

1st Rooky

Ivan Domingues (Formula Alpine #89 - VAN AMERSFOORT RACING)

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 061

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 062

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 063

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 064

Alessandro Giusti (Formula Alpine #10 - ART GRAND PRIX)

Ugo Ugochukwu (Formula Alpine #3 - PREMA RACING)

1st Rooky

Noah Stremsted (Formula Alpine #57 - RPM)

Kanato Le (Formula Alpine #9 - G4 RACING)

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 065

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 066

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 067

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 068

Italian F4 Championship

Akshay Bohra (Tatuus F.4 T421 #31 - US Racing)

Jack Beeton (Tatuus F.4 T421 #45 - US Racing)

Matheus Ferreira (Tatuus F.4 T421 #10 - US Racing)

1st Rooky

Alex Powell (Tatuus F.4 T421 #80 - Prema Racing)

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 069

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 070

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 071

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 072

Freddie Slater (Tatuus F.4 T421 #27 - Prema Racing)

Jack Beeton (Tatuus F.4 T421 #45 - US Racing)

Akshay Bohra (Tatuus F.4 T421 #31 - US Racing)

1st Rooky

Kean Nakamura-Berta (Tatuus F.4 T421 #51 - Prema Racing)

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 073

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 074

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 075

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 076

Kean Nakamura-Berta (Tatuus F.4 T421 #51 - Prema Racing) R

Gustav Jonsson (Tatuus F.4 T421 #36 - Van Amersfoort Racing BV)

Tomass (Tatuus F.4 T421 #33 - Prema Racing) R

Reno Francot (Tatuus F.4 T421 #23 - Jenzer Motorsport)

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 077

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 078

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 079

International GT Open - Round 5 - Circuit Paul Ricard - France (event report and photos by Raymond Bonnello) - picture number 080

See you in Barcelona at the end of September for my next excursion to the IGTO.

Based on International GT Open press report.