Ramos and Parente are 2015 International GT Open champions

Miguel Ramos and Alvaro Parente are 2015 International GT Open champions. The pair of Portuguese drivers in Teo Martin Motorsport’s McLaren 650S GT3 secured the title in season’s final weekend at Barcelona. They finished third in Saturday’s Race 1 and collected enough points for championship celebration before Sunday’s final race.

“It’s great to win the title, it’s a perfect reward to the excellent work put by everybody in the team throughout the season”, commented Álvaro Parente, while an emotional Miguel Ramos admitted: “I am very happy, after having sought for the GT Open title for a number of years. After finishing second the last two years, the third time was the good one.”

Winners of the first race were Andrew Watson and Fernando Monje in another McLaren of Teo Martin Motorsport. Michele Rugolo and Pasin Lathouras in AF Corse’s Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 fought fiercely to defend their chances in the title bid but a small off-track in the closing lap put them on second. Parente started the race from pole, but after all pit stops and driver changes, Pasin Lathouras in #51 AF Corse Ferrari was leading. Fifteen minutes from the end, Lathouras’ advantage on Watson is down to 11 seconds, with Ramos 23 seconds behind. Shortly after, Lathouras went slightly off in the gravel, losing time and leaving the door open to Watson, who flew to the checkered flag, while Ramos took the third and the title.

Winners of the second race were Raffaele Giammaria and Ezequiel Pérez-Companc in #90 AF Corse Ferrari. With a perfect race and a storming finale by Companc, the Italo-Argentine pair conquered their fifth success, ending as the pair with most wins. They beat the Balfe Motorsport Ferrari of Phil Keen-Shaun Balfe and the Teo Martín Motorsport McLaren of new champions Miguel Ramos-Álvaro Parente.