Prette-Abril champions in waiting

Louis Prette and Vincent Abril claimed the International GT Open title at the end of Race-2 at Barcelona, pending the decision of the marshals after an exciting finish.

No dramas. Louis Prette defended first position at the start but slightly lost control of his car at the first throttle-down, leaving the way for Enrique Chaves, while Angelo Negro was in eleventh, far from any trouble. Prette stuck close on Chaves's tail, without being able to attack the McLaren driver. The situation stayed the same until the start of the mandatory pit-stop window, with the two leading cars pitting with thirty-four minutes to go. The Ferrari's stop lasted eighteen seconds longer than Ramos' but Abril, who had taken over from Prette, didn't lose heart and started to lap at least one second faster than his rival. While Charlie Eastwood moved into third position, Ramos saw his lead halved and then whittled down even further, but then Abril suffered a two-second penalty for failing to serve the full handicap time during the pit stop.

Indomitable. Not even this decision discouraged the Monegasque driver, who continued to push. With ten minutes to go, Abril reduced the gap to 2.9 seconds while Ramos, who went long at the first corner and who cut the return lane on re-entering the track, was investigated by the marshals who, however, only gave the Portuguese driver a black/white warning flag. The finale was thrilling. Abril stuck close on Ramos' tail and tried to attack in the final part of the track but was too optimistic and ended up wide, even if though he was quickly back in the wake of the Portuguese driver. The pair came into contact one lap from the end, with Ramos throttling down early and defending the inside from Abril's attack. The latter touched the McLaren which spun and went off into the gravel. The Safety Car entered the track to allow the recovery of the car, but the operations didn't conclude before the chequered flag.

Post-race wait. The 488 GT3d Evo 2020 of AF Corse – APM Monaco crossed the line in first even though, due to the two-second penalty applied to their overall race time, they ended up behind Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood in the Aston Martin of TF Sport. The title, provisionally, went to the AF Corse – APM Monaco duo but we will have to wait a few hours for confirmation.