Henrique Chaves and his teammate, Miguel Ramos, are the 2020 International GT Open’s Champions, after a stressful weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The first race of the weekend was a strategic affair with full swing of fortunes that gave advantage to each title contenders at different moments of the race.
In the end, the title decision was delayed to the last race of the season and the championship would be won by, basically, who crossed the finish line first.
In the qualifying their title opponents were in front, with the pole-position and with the Portuguese duo in third, but Henrique Chaves and Miguel Ramos would still have something to say in the afternoon’s race.
Henrique Chaves started well from third and in the first braking area was already putting pressure in his title rival, who couldn’t soak the pressure from the Portuguese, making a mistake that gave the lead to the twenty-three-year-old youngster.
The driver from Torres Vedras showed from the start a relentless pace, giving him a lead of more than five seconds before the Driver Change. With the Handicap, the McLaren 720S GT3 #59 would have an almost 20 seconds advantage to manage to the flag.
However, it was with Miguel Ramos at the wheel that some strange things started to happen. First, the other car of the team that was in contentious for the title ignored blue flags during almost ten minutes, delaying massively the Portuguese driver and allowing the other title contenders to close in, squandering the more than fifteen seconds lead of the McLaren #59.
The Henrique Chaves’ teammate, nevertheless, was in the control of the situation and never gave a chance to his follower. But within three minutes from the flag, he would be hit from behind, sending the Teo Martín Motorsport’s McLaren to the gravel trap.
Miguel Ramos would return to the track, but in eleventh, the title would be gone. However, afterwards, the stewards considered that the Portuguese duo opponent’s manoeuvre didn’t fit in the sporting regulations, penalized them with a classification ten places penalty. With this decision, Henrique Chaves and Miguel Ramos were again in the lead of the championship, winning the title.
“Itwas an intense race! My stint went very well and everything was going according to plan. But then, with Miguel already in the car, some strange and unsportsmanlike manoeuvres start to happen from our title rivals. It was tense moments but, in the end, justice was made and we won the Championship”, said Henrique Chaves.
The twenty-three-year-old driver, that in 2020 was in his second GT racing year, was happy when all the dust settled. “It was a compressed season that demanded that we were always at our best. I believe we were the strongest during the campaign, showing speed and consistency. We worked hard along the championship and this title is a reward for all of us. I would like to congratulate Teo Martín Motorsport and Miguel and thank my sponsors, family and friends. Now it’s time to celebrate”, said the Portuguese
