A splendid double showing for Ferrari at the end of Race-2 of the Blancpain GT World Challenge held today at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, thanks to the 488 GT3 courtesy of Rinaldi Racing, steered by Rinat Salikhov and David Perel, who topped Pro-Am class and HB Racing with Florian Scholze and Wolfgang Triller winners in the Am category.
Sustained pace. The Ferrari crews started out from the top positions of their classes today, yet situated amid the overall pack. Perel held second position among the Pro-Am competitors, eighteenth overall, followed by Bertolini, while Triller defended his leadership among the Am crews from twenty-sixth place. The race pace, intense and unrelenting in spite of the soaring temperatures, was only interrupted by one period of Full Course Yellow and a subsequent Safety Car incursion some 38’ from the end. Once the official car had re-entered the pits, the leadership of the Pro-Am class became the prerogative for David Perel as AKKA Asp’s Mercedes had been summoned in for a drive-through after contact with a rival. Ferrari held the lead until the time of the mandatory pit stop which the Prancing Horse machine delayed until the final possible limit. Triller, in command among the Am class, pitted some 26 minutes from the end, while Perel, first among Pro-Am, went in for the service 23 minutes ahead of the chequered flag, imitated shortly thereafter by Bertolini.
Winning finale. Over the final stages Rinat Salikhov showed masterful handling of the advantage inherited from his crew-mate at the wheel of Rinaldi Racing’s 488 GT3 all the way to the finish line, while Louis Machiels had difficulty lapping at the pace of the Russian driver, watching positions drop away as he slipped down the order to fourth in the class, twenty-second overall. In the Am class, Florian Scholze went through the chequered flag in first place, ahead of Getspeed Performance’s Mercedes to snatch the second victory of the weekend on the Romagna circuit.
Round 6. The next date in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe calendar is scheduled for Zandvoort from 12th to 14th July.