19 October 2016
Scarperia, 18 October 2016 – Ferrari enjoyed the best possible conclusion to the Italian GT Championship. On the track owned by Ferrari, Prancing Horse drivers and customer teams sealed the Super GT3 title with Stefano Gai and Mirko Venturi and the 488 GT3 of Black Bull Swiss Racing but also the GT3 championship with Eddie Cheever III and Federico Leo in the 458 Italia of Scuderia Baldini 27 Network.
Super GT3. Venturi and Gai set the scene for their title triumph in Race-1 when their dominant win gave them a lead over Audi rival, Marco Mapelli, assisted on this occasion by Belgium's Laurens Vanthoor. Stefano Gattuso and Alex Frassineti with the Lamborghini of Scuderia Ombra played a hand in this by slipping between the Ferrari 488 GT3 of Black Bull Swiss Racing and the German car. In Race-2 the series leaders just needed to keep a grip on the situation and indeed took the title with sixth place in a race that saw the return to victory of Alessandro Zanardi, just back from his Paralympic triumphs in Brazil, with the BMW of Team Italia.
GT3. The title pursuit of Scuderia Baldini 27 Network with Eddie Cheever III and Federico Leo was much more of a struggle. The Rome-based team had won Race-1 with its second car, the 458 Italia GT3 driven by Lorenzo Casé and Lorenzo Bontempelli, while Leo and Cheever III were third behind their title rivals, the Audi crew of Matias Enrique Russo and Emanuele Zonzini. So on Saturday night only one point separated the two rivals. However, everything went well in Race-2, with the Audi slow and Leo and Cheever happy to settle for third behind the winners Vito Postiglione and Giacomo Luigi Barri (Lamborghini by Imperiale Racing) and Casé-Bontempelli. This is a thoroughly deserved title for Cheever III and Leo after a terrible start in Monza, when their 458 GT3 Italia was totalled by an out of control Lamborghini leaving them with a “double zero” points finish.
GT Cup. However, there was nothing doing for Vincenzo Sauto and Mirko Zanardini who had a real task on their hands at Mugello in the 458 Challenge EVO of Duell Racing. The weekend had even begun well in Race-1, with second place behind the Porsche of Driver Technology driven by Davide Durante and Gianluca Carbone. However, Ivan Demis Benvenuti and Luca De Marchi (Lamborghini by Imperial Racing) won Race-2 and with it the title.