After a successful season’s start, the GT Open set for a return to Hockenheim

Following the very successful opening of the 2024 season at Portimão, with great racing and 34 cars on track, the International GT Open is already gearing up for more action. Round 2 takes place this weekend (10-12 May) at the Hockenheimring. It will be a welcome return for the series to Germany, one of the cradles of motor racing, and one of the historic tracks at the heart of the continent.

The GT Open last visited the fast 4.574 km track in the woods of Baden-Württemberg in 2019.

The two first races of the year in Portugal saw a double win of the GetSpeed Mercedes, but games look much more open than that, and the Ferrari, Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, and McLaren entries are ready to challenge the early victors. At the moment, Faisal Al Zubair- Mikaël Grenier are leading the standings ahead of Anthony Bartone-Fabian Schiller. In Germany, 32 cars are entered.

PRO: THE MERCEDES UNDER CHALLENGE - In Pro, The Mercedes AMG, racing not far from Stuttgart, will be extremely well represented by GetSpeed’s title bidders, Anthony Bartone- Fabian Schiller, who took Race 1 in the Algarve, the SPS automotive performance car of Mikaeel Pitambe-Dominik Baumann and Motopark’s Diego Menchaca-Marcos Siebert and Lukas Dunner-Charles Bateman, with the first three pair having already visited the podium this year.

The AMGs share birthplace with the 911s and the Porsche of Car Collection, entrusted to Gustav Bergström-Nico Menzel, who had an excellent debut in the series and will also be eager to shine at home.

Seeking for a better weekend than in Portugal will be the Eastalent RT Audi of Simon Reicher- Christopher Haase, as well as the thre Oregon Team Lamborghinis (Leonardo Pulcini-Rolf Ineichen, Alessio Deledda-Jordan Pepper and Artëm Petrov-Marzio Moretti), as well as the Spirit of Race Ferrari of Nicola Marinangeli- Vincent Abril.

PRO-AM: EVERYBODY AGAINST EVERYBODY - The most numerous and competitive class will again provide a great show, with 17 contenders. The Spirit of Race, with Marco Pulcini-Eddie Cheever, and AF Corse Ferraris, with Alessandro Cozzi-Giorgio Sernagiotto, took wins in the Algarve and will again be among the favourites, with the two sister squads fielding also Brazilian stars Marcelo Hahn-Allam Khodair, Laurent De Meeus-Jamie Stanley, Gino Forgione- Michele Rugolo and Jean Claude Saada-Conrad Grunewald, while racing one will be on home race mode with Ernst Kirchmayr-Luca Ludwig.

In the Mercedes camp, GetSpeed fields Valentin Pierburg-Aaron Walker, with SPS entering Swiss duo Dexter Müller-Yannick Mettler, and Motopark Morten Strömsted-Thomas Ikin, who had an excellent debut a fortnight ago. On its side, Scuderia Villorba Corse will aim at the podium again, with Michaël Blanchemain associated this time with LMP driver and former Euroformula Vice Champion Vlad Lomko.

Audi also shone in Portugal, with Marcin Jedlinski-Karol Basz (Olimp Racing) twice on the podium and Basz signing the first overall pole of the year, and the newcomer ISR Racing pair of Filip Salaquarda-Libor Milota.

Porsche and McLaren are also represented in the class by two cars, respectively with the two Car Collection 911s of Bashar Mardini and ‘Hash’-Alex Fontana, and the 720s of Greystone GT entrusted to Andrey Borodin-Oliver Webb and the father and son pair of Stewart and Lewis Proctor.

The new entry in the class and at Hockenheim will be the Lamborghini Huracán of Leipert Racing, which is back to the series. At the wheel, the pair formed by former GT Cup Europe champion Macej Blazek from Poland and Germany’s Mark Wallenwein, who has made a name for himself mainly in rallying. They will take part in four rounds this year.

AM: TOUGH BATTLE - The class with the least cars is certainly not the least-fought: the four contenders know each other and share honours since years: Giuseppe Cipriani (Il Barone Rampante Lamborghini) leads the standings after sharing victories in Portimão with reigning champions Heiko Neumann-Timo Rumpfkeil (Motopark Mercedes), with Kiki San Nana-Adam Osieka (GetSpeed Mercedes) and Stanislaw Jedlinski-Krystian Korzeniowski (Olimp RacingFerrari) always very close.

All the GT Open action can be followed by fans at home thanks to live coverage by major broadcasters and online channels in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Moreover, races are also livestreamed on www.gtopen.net and the GT Open channel on YouTube, accessible from all over the world and from all devices, with commentary in English by Chris Stevens and Ewan Dunlop.