GT3 Europe

26 cars expected for Zolder GT3 Europe finale

© Brecht Decancq – Planetlemans

The 2010 FIA GT3 European Championship finale will take place at the Zolder circuit in Belgium this weekend. The Drivers Championship might have been decided in Portimao a fortnight ago, the Teams Championship is still open with Callaway Competition, ProSpeed Competition and Need for Speed by Schubert Motorsport battling it out at the 4.184 km long circuit some 80 km west of Brussels.

Even though Christian Hohenadel and Daniel Keilwitz secured the title in Portugal the German pair will do their best in order to get yet another top finish and hand Callaway Competition the Teams Championship. But the Corvette drivers will face competition from Paul van Splunteren and Marco Holzer in the number 61 ProSpeed Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R and their team mates Markus Palttala and Petri Lappalainen, as a top effort from the two ProSpeed Competition cars on their home race could mean Rudi Penders’ team will clinch the title.

While the focus will be on the ProSpeed Competition Porsches and the Callaway Competition Corvette the absolute dark horse in the title battle is the Need for Speed by Schubert Motorsport team with their two BMW Z4 GT3’s. At Portimao the cars ran a real good race, but at Zolder they would probably need two top results with their rivals not scoring.

A team to keep an eye on at Zolder will be United Autosports. In round 10 Zak Brown and Matthew Bell scored a well-deserved third place finish and the team is obviously hungry to at least equal that result in the final race weekend of the 2010 FIA GT3 season. After Zolder the team will set sail to China where an entry into the 1000 KM of Zhuhai, round three of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup is planned.

All in all 26 GT3 cars are expected to race at Zolder next weekend. Duncan Cameron Racing joins the series with a Ferrari 430 Scuderia for Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin. Argo Racing was set to return to the championship with a Lamborghini Gallardo for Albert von Thurn und Taxis and Philip Geipel, but on Tuesday this entry was no longer on the list. Instead the Zolder round will see two guest entries; an Audi R8 LMS for Belgian squad WRT and an Ascari KZ1R for Team Rhinos Leipert.

S-Berg Racing, Toni Seiler Racing, Trackspeed and Argo Racing are all absent.

Provisional Entry List for the final round at Zolder:

1 – Hexis AMR – Aston Martin DBRS9 – Manu Rodrigues – Fred Makowiecki
2 – Hexis AMR – Aston Martin DBRS9 – Luc Paillard – Thomas Accary
3 – Team Rosberg – Audi R8 LMS – Stephane Lemeret – Kenneth Heyer
4 – Team Rosberg – Audi R8 LMS – Gregoire Demoustier – Michael Ammermüller
5 – Sainteloc-Phoenix Racing – Audi R8 LMS – Pierre Hirschi – Gregory Guilvert
6 – Sainteloc-Phoenix Racing – Audi R8 LMS – Jerome Demay – Bruce Lorgere-Roux
11* – Muehlner Motorsport – Porsche 911 GT3 R – Gilles Vannelet – TBA
12* – Muehlner Motorsport – Porsche 911 GT3 R – TBA – TBA
14 – Fischer Racing – Ford GT – Mikko Eskelinen – Christoffer Nygaard
16 – Graff Racing – Corvette Z06R GT3 – Joakim Lambotte –Mike Parisy
17 – Graff Racing – Corvette Z06R GT3 – Arnaud Vincent – Arnaud Peyroles
22 – United Autosports – Audi R8 LMS – Michael Guasch – Mark Patterson
23 – United Autosports – Audi R8 LMS – Zak Brown – Matthew Bell
27 – W-Racing Team – Audi R8 LMS – Enzo Ide – Greg Franchi
28 – Duncan Cameron Racing – Ferrari 430 Scuderia – Duncan Cameron – Matt Griffin
30 – Team Rhinos Leipert – Ascari KZ1R GT3 – Rustem Teregulov – Andrei Romanov
60 – ProSpeed Competition – Porsche 911 GT3 R – Petri Lappalainen – Markus Palttala
61 – ProSpeed Competition – Porsche 911 GT3 R – Paul van Splunteren – Marco Holzer
76 – Need for Speed by Schubert Motorsport – BMW Z4 GT3 – Patrick Söderlund – Edward Sandström
77 – Need for Speed by Schubert Motorsport – BMW Z4 GT3 – Csaba Walter – Claudia Hürtgen
87* – Chad Racing – Ferrari 430 Scuderia – Iain Dockerill – Tom Ferrier
88* – Chad Racing – Ferrari 430 Scuderia – Paul Warren – Chris Hyman
98 – Marc VDS Racing Team – Ford GT – Eric De Doncker – Mathias Beche
99 – Marc VDS Racing Team – Ford GT – Gael Lesoudier – Maxime Martin
100 – Callaway Competition – Corvette Z06R GT3 – Marius Ritskes – Bernhard van Oranje
101 – Callaway Competition – Corvette Z06R GT3 – Daniel Keilwitz – Christian Hohenadel

* = participation subject to the approval of the Panel of the Stewards