14 October 2016
Scarperia, 14 October 2016 - Not much is left to the definition of the four winners of the 14th Italian GT Championship. The grand finale of the Italian series will have 43 cars at the start (a new season record) and will take place at the Mugello Circuit. Ferrari crews are fighting for three of the four titles entering the weekend leading Super GT3 and GT3 classes.
Super GT3. Four lineups are within 21 points (with an even shorter gap considering the two mandatory jokers) and the duel in the highest class of the Italian GT will be the main point of the closing two races. The challenge for the Italian title will involve classification leaders Mirko Venturi and Stefano Gai on the Black Bull Swisse Racing Ferrari 488, with 128 points, Marco Mapelli (Audi) who is 2 points behind, and the two Lamborghinis driven by Agostini-Di Folco and Bortolotti-Mul, respectively 20 and 21 points short of the top. Latest news is Antonelli Motorsport’s pairing split as Riccardo Agostini and Alberto Di Folco will compete against each other in the title fight. At Audi, Filipe Albuquerque will not be present being racing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the 25yrs old Belgian Laurens Vanthoor will share the wheel of the Audi with Marco Mapelli. There will be another Ferrari competing in this class: it’s the Easy Race’s 488 GT3 that will be driven by Niccolò Schirò.
GT3. Ferrari, Audi and Lamborghini will challenge each other also in GT3 where the title fight will be a matter among Federico Leo and Eddie Cheever III, divers of the Scuderia Baldini 27 Network Ferrari 458 Italia, Zonzini-Russo (Audi) and Vito Postiglione (Lamborghini by Imperiale Racing) but the latter has quite a big gap to the top. The two leading pairings are split by four points only, and the final victory is very likely to be decided at the last corner. The drivers of the Scuderia Baldini 27 Network will be supported by Lorenzo Casè and Lorenzo Bontempelli on the second Ferrari 458 Italia. There are two more Ferraris in the hands of Mancinelli-La Mazza (Easy Race) and Marco Galassi (Team Malucelli).
GT-Cup. In the single make configured class, Benvenuti-Demarchi (Lamborghini by Imperiale Racing) are very close to securing the title. Imperiale Racing’s drivers are 31 points clear of Mirko Zanardini and Vincenzo Sauto in the Ferrari 458 Challenge EVO entered by Duell Race. Sossio Del Prete and Dario Caso will also be at the start of GT Cup on the Ferrari 458 Italia run by Speed Motor.
Schedule. The schedule of the closing weekend of the season schedules the qualifying session of Super GT3 and GT3 on Saturday from 9,45 to 10,35. The first two races will take place in the afternoon at 13,50 CET (GT Cup) and at 15,50 (Super GT3 and GT3). GT Cup will follow on Sunday morning (at 11,40) while Super GT3 and GT3 will run their Race-2 at 16,50. All races will have a length of 48 minutes + 1 lap and will enjoy live TV coverage on Raisport1 (Super GT3-GT3) and AutomotoTV (GT Cup), with web streaming at acisportitalia.it.