aabar abu dhabi Villorba Corse 458 is the first Ferrari of the Super GT class in race 2 30.04.2012: ...of the 2012 International GT Open at Portimao Under wet and then dry conditions, Andrea Montermini and Juan Manuel Lopez

...of the 2012 International GT Open at Portimao




Under wet and then dry conditions, Andrea Montermini and Juan Manuel Lopez caught up a fourth position in the main class taking their first championship points



This afternoon (April 29), aabar abu dhabi Villorba Corse Ferrari 458 GT2 closed race-2 of International GT Open as the first car of the Prancing Horse in the Super GT class at Portimao, in Portugal.


After a very unlucky race-1 on Saturday, again drivers Andrea Montermini and Juan Manuel Lopez had to face some troubles, but as a consequence of a good recovery they were able to gain their first points of the season, being fourth in the main class and seventh overall among GT Open cars.


Today race-2 started in wet conditions, but while the track was drying Andrea Montermini could recover from the back of the grid re-gaining the top-ten after one third of the race. The fast Italian driver was able to catch up better positions and keep concentration throughout the first part of a hard race (above all in the early laps, when it was difficult to warm up the tyres), not sinking under the difficulties that affected all the GT2 from Maranello.


After half race, Montermini left the wheel to his Argentine teammate during mandatory pit-stop for driver change. Despite a later drive-through penalty for exceeding speed limit at pits, Lopez was able to keep a good pace and grabbed the first points of the season, finishing as the best Ferrari in Super GT.



“Certainly - says Raimondo Amadio, aabar abu dhabi Villorba Corse team principal -, it was better than yesterday. However, today was another difficult race, where strategy has been crucial. Also it was a race that showed how much competitive are the Porsches in certain conditions.


Anyway, we closed our weekend in a bittersweet way, bringing home the first championship points. This is important, thinking about all the troubles we suffered here. We are aware that we are coming back from Portimao with a lot of work to do and we already scheduled what to do to be ready for next round at Nurburgring, where it will not be easy but we will try to improve our performances starting from this Portuguese experience.”



International GT Open calendar: 27-29 apr. Portimao (POR); 25-27 may Nurburgring (DEU); 22-24 june Spa (BEL); 13-15 july Brands Hutch (GBR); 20-22 july Le Castellet (FRA); 7-9 sept. Budapest (HUN); 28-30 sept. Monza (ITA); 2-4 nov. Barcellona (SPA).



- Villorba Corse -  also photo