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GT Sprint: International line-up at Monza

Less than four days are left before the start of the 2013 GTSPRINT INTERNATIONAL SERIES season at the fast Monza racetrack. After the championship's collective test, many team-driver combinations have emerged as potential title threats: 2013 will be as exciting as ever.

Many international-level teams and drivers have joined the SWR-promoted series (nine countries will be represented on the grid) in one of its most anticipated seasons so far. An updated format will feature longer 60-minute races with a mandatory pit-stop between minute 25 and 35 with the possibility to keep the same driver in the car for the full distance. Qualifying was also revised with two 15-minute sessions setting the grid for each race. The GTS2 and GTS3 classes will also be battling for the overall title while the GTS Cup Trophy and GTS Open cars will run for separate titles.

Top international team AF Corse is set to line-up in full shape by fielding four Ferrari 458 Italia racers including three GTS3 models and a GTS2 car. At the Italian venue, the top car will be driven by the father-son duo of Alexander Talkanitsa and Alexander Talkanitsa Jr, coming from Belarus. German Claudio Sdanewitsch and Italian Michele Rugolo also scored good results in GT racing recently and will be aiming high on their 458 Italia GTS3 as well as the the Thailand-based duo of Pasin Lathouras and Tanakorn Ramindra. The third GTS3 car, supported by AF Corse but fielded under the Ferrari Team Ukraine banner, will be driven by Andrii Kruglyk and Ruslan Tsyplakov.

With such a tough Ferrari field to battle with, Porsche is set to be a contneder too with Autorlando Sport and Glauco Solieri fully-determined to fight for the title. The Italian ace is one of the series' veterans as he entered every single GTSPRINT race so far. While the RC Motorsport Corvette will return with Roberto Del Castello and Piero Necchi behind the wheel. Defending GTS3 champion Mario Cordoni will be back aboard his Ferrari 458 Italia (Ombra Racing Team) GTS3 alongside Massimo Mantovani. In addition to them, Dino and Co Racing Team and Scuderia Praha are also expected on-track, respectively with Patrick Tkač and Lubomír Jakubík.

The Swiss Team Maserati MC GT3 will be back in the game after the car's sensational debut win at Vallelunga last season and will definitely be a frontrunner. The driver line-up will feature former SUPERSTARS champion Max Pigoli and Andrea Dromedari. An Audi R8 is set to be lined-up by team MTM for for the young German pairing of Maximilian Mayer and Thomas Schöffler. The latter is back after a successful SUPERSTARS season with an Audi RS5.

The GTS Cup Trophy will welcome Team Petri Corse with two Porsche 997 racecars. Gianluca Carboni and Marco Cassarà have been confirmed after leaving a strong impression in testing. Their team-mates are yet to be announced. Porsche will also be represented by 2011 champions Steven Goldsetein and Antonio De la Reina, running for Heaven Motorsport.

For the fans at home (while the FREE TICKET campaign is still available at www.superstarsworld.com) SUPERSTARSWORLD will benefit from worldwide live TV coverage. Race 1 will be taking-off on Saturday, April the 6th at 16.15, while Race 2 will go underway on Sunday at 17.30.