Weekend notebook: second victory for the 296 GT3 in CIGT Endurance

The Mugello circuit saw a Ferrari 296 GT3 claim a second consecutive victory in the Italian GT Championship Endurance series. There were also wins in the GT3 Pro Am, in the GT3 Am and in the GT Cup, which also featured a third place. In the ADAC GT Masters, Emil Frey Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 took fifth place in the Sprint event. In Canada, the 296 GT3 of Conquest Racing finished 11th in the GTD class.

CIGT. Following the success of Scuderia Baldini’s number 27 Ferrari 296 GT3 in the first outing at Vallelunga, a car from the Maranello manufacturer also triumphed in the second round at Mugello. 

This time it was the AF Corse number 50 which took overall victory (as well as winning in the GT3 Pro Am class), with Riccardo Ponzio, Stefano Gai and Mikkel Mac bouncing back from the misfortune they suffered during the event on the circuit near Rome. The result means that the trio climb back up the overall and class standings, partly due to the new rule that awards another 12 points to the crew in the lead at the 100th minute. 

The crew of Giancarlo Fisichella, Arthur Leclerc and Tommaso Mosca, the winners in Vallelunga, took seventh place despite starting in pole position. They were set further adrift by a 10-second penalty for contact with the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 number 51, also of AF Corse, crewed by Alessandro Bracalente and Eliseo Donno, who finished the race in eighth position and fourth in the GT3 Pro Am.

In the three-hour race, which featured three safety cars and very high temperatures, victory in the GT3 Am was claimed by Leonardo Colavita, Simone Riccitelli and Christoph Ulrich in Double TT Racing’s number 75 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020. There were also notable results in the GT Cup with success for Pietro Agoglia, Filippo Croccolino and Gianmarco Marzialetti in Best Lap’s number 212 Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo in the Am class first division, with third place in the Pro Am going to Best Lap’s number 111 with Luca Demarchi, Sabatino Di Mare and Simone Patrinicola. 

The Endurance series returns at Imola from 6 to 8 September for the third round of the season.

ADAC GT Masters. The third round of the season was held at the Nürburgring and also featured the debut of the new format which sees an endurance race and a sprint taking place over the same weekend. Emil Frey Racing’s number 14 Ferrari 296 GT3 with drivers Alain Valente and Jean Claude D’Auria ended the endurance event in 15th place before going on to take fifth place in Sunday’s sprint race. 

The fourth round of the series will be held from 8 to 10 September at the Sachsenring.

IMSA. It was an unlucky outing for Conquest Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, which took place at the weekend at the Canadian Motorsport Park, the street circuit near Toronto. Manny Franco and Alberto Costa Balboa drove the Maranello manufacturer’s number 34 car to 11th place in the GTD class, ending the race with 111 laps and the best time recorded in 1’16”760.

The next round is scheduled at Road America, in Wisconsin, on 4 August.