Weekend preview: GT Winter Series showdown in Barcelona

The sixth and final round of the GT Winter Series is set to take place at the Barcelona circuit, with three Ferraris lining up in the GT3 class, while eight 488 Challenge Evo cars will compete in a class dedicated to the Prancing Horse single-marque series.

GT Winter Series. The 2024 edition of the GT Winter Series wraps up with two 30-minute and one 55-minute race over the weekend. This marks the conclusion of a season that has seen drivers competing at some of the main circuits across the Iberian peninsula since January.

At the starting line, three Maranello cars line up in the GT3 class. The number 23 Pellin Racing-run Ferrari 488 GT3 will be driven by Thor Haugen and Dario Capitanio, the number 74 296 GT3 of Rossocorsa Racing will see Italians Stefano Marazzi and Samuele Buttarelli alternate at the wheel, while the number 115 296 GT3 of Rinaldi Racing will be crewed by Pierre Ehret and Christian Hook.

The Spanish round will also feature a special class, Cup 1, dedicated to Prancing Horse cars with a single-marque series setup. There are eight Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars entered in the race: the number 27 of AF Corse-XP Racing will feature Max Herve George; in AF Corse’s number 71 will be Raed Sahely, while Arturo Melgar and Tommaso Lovati will take turns in the number 81 belonging to Mertel Motorsport. Also racing in the number 151 AF Corse car will be John Dillon and Matt Griffin, while in the number 220, entered by the same Italian team, will be Talal Shair.

Meanwhile, the number 333 of the AF Corse-XP Racing team is set to field Byron Baciocchi; in the number 830 will be Mertel Motorsport, Mark Speakerwas and Maurizio Ceresoli and lastly, in the number 88 of JVO Racing will be Frank Kewitz and Kevin Mirocha.

The programme. On Saturday, 9 March, after the free practice and qualifying sessions which get underway at 11.45 a.m., Race-1 gets the green light at 4.05 p.m. On Sunday 10, the second 30-minute race will kick off at 11.50 a.m., while the 55-minute race is scheduled to start at 5.05 p.m.

(Photos: GT Winter Series)