Analysis

Planetlemans preview: The FIA GT GT2 season

© DPPI

The opening round of the FIA GT Championship this weekend at Silverstone will see twelve GT2 cars taking the start of the new season. With nine Ferrari 430s against just three Porsche 997 GT3 RSRs the odds are against the German manufacturer, or so it seems. What are the expectations ahead of the first race of the season?

Last season was a season dominated by the AF Corse team. Vilander and Müller won the title, with team mates Ortelli and Bruni taking second place. For 2008 Vilander is joined by Bruni, making the #50 AF Corse Motorola Ferrari 430 GT2 the car to beat this season. 2008 FIA GT1 champion Thomas Biagi has left the Vitaphone Racing Team and will be racing the second AF Corse Ferrari. He is joined by another Vitaphone refugee, namely Christian Montanari. The pair might have to adjust to the slower GT2 cars, but should be able to be competing at the front of the field.

But the opposition is not giving the AF Corse team the title without a fight. ‘Newcomers’ CR Scuderia will enter two Ferrari 430 GT2s, one for the fastest man in GT2 qualifying throughout 2007, Andrew Kirkaldy, and reigning Le Mans Series champion Rob Bell. With CR Scuderia and AF Corse both with the same spec cars and same tyres, this car might be the one to beat the AF Corse drivers and the drivers would love to beat them on home soil. The second CR Scuderia car is driven by Tim Mullen and Chris Niarchos.

After losing its drivers and sponsor the future was unclear for Scuderia Ecosse, or so it seemed. But Stewart Roden bounced back big time by signing Jamie Davies and Fabio Babini to race the #62 Ferrari 430 GT2. The team will be running on Pirelli tyres and should also be able to fight for race wins, right from the start of the season.

The German opposition comes from Belgium. ProSpeed competition has entered two Porsche 997 GT3 RSRs this season and will have factory support from Porsche. As a result Emmanuel Collard and Richard Westbrook have been added to the squad and the pair should be able to give the Ferrari armada a hard time this year. After a dismal 2007 season Porsche will do everything to bounce back and beat the Ferraris, with Westbrook and Collard they at least have one of the strongest line-ups in the championship. Backing them up are two Finnish drivers. Markus Palttala is a very experienced Porsche driver and should be able to match the pace of his two team-mates in the other car. Rookie Mikael Forsten has already shown he is a quick learner and is closing in on his team-mates.

Several other Ferrari teams will do their best in the GT2 class. BMS Scuderia Italia has ditched their GT1 DBR9s and the GT2 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR and got their hands on two Ferrari 430s instead. The lead car will be driven by Matteo Malucelli and Paolo Ruberti, a strong combination that could be in for some decent results. The second car will be driven by 2007 International GT Open champion Joel Camathias and 2007 Euroseries 3000 champion Davide Rigon, and will be an outsider in the Ferrari camp.

Kessel Racing steps up from GT3 into GT2. With Henri Moser and Fabrizio del Monte they have the least experienced pairing and without the support of a second car and being new in the category this team could find it difficult to get on the same pace as the other Ferrari teams.

Just like in GT1 there is a team in GT2 fully run with drivers from Argentina. Matias Russo will race the Advanced Engineering PeCom Racing Team Ferrari and he is joined by Luis Perez Companc, known from his participation in the WRC. Despite the team being closely linked with AF Corse this might not be enough for them to get to the front.

And then there is the third and final Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, entered by British squad Trackspeed Racing. David Ashburn and Richard Williams will race the car and having no Porsche support and Pirelli tyres is going to harm their chances.

This Saturday and Sunday we will see where the teams are, but it it looks like another AF Corse lock-out of the championship will be prevented this year.