Maranello, 28 June

The legendary Belgian circuit of Spa-Francorchamps was the stage for this weekend’s fourth round of the International GT Open Championship – which was notable for the success of the F430 GT2s in two races that were full of spectacular overtaking moves and numerous incidents.

Victory in race 1 was handed to the Ferrari of Raffaele Giammaria and Enrico Toccacelo (Edil Cris Racing Team) courtesy of a decision by the race directors. This came after championship leader Alvaro Barba, at the wheel of the Ferrari run by AF Corse, pulled off a passing move at the last corner of the final lap by cutting the Bus Stop chicane.

For this manoeuvre the Barba-Kaffer team earned a five-second penalty, sacrificing victory to the Giammaria-Toccacelo pairing. That meant Barba-Kaffer car ended up second ahead of the Porsche 911 of Gianluca Roda and Richard Lietz.

Success in the second race went to the F430 of Chris Niarcos and Tim Mullen (CRS Racing) followed by the Porsche 911s of Raymond Narac-Patrick Pilet and Richard Lietz-Gianluca Roda.



Fifth position in Race 2 was satisfying for Giammaria and Toccacelo, the winners of the first race, who therefore earned precious points for the title race. The cars of Aguas-Garofano and Barba-Kaffer were instead forced to retire after they were both involved in a spectacular incident on the fifth lap, from which they fortunately emerged unhurt.

The team of Barba and Kaffer leaves Spa retaining the lead of the championship, 12 points clear of Roda-Lietz. The next round of the Spanish series is scheduled for the weekend of July 11 on the French circuit of Magny-Cours.