Weekend preview: title in play at Monza

An intense weekend is in store for the Ferraris in round three of the Italian GT Endurance Championship at Monza. We may even discover the destiny of the title, with the Prancing Horse in the hunt for the overall victory. Spain has a double track date: the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint in Valencia and the 24H Series in Barcelona.

Italian GT Championship. Excitement is mounting ahead of the penultimate round of the Endurance series at Monza, which could see the overall title awarded this weekend, making it the first title of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella and Tommaso Mosca, in the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 number 27 of Scuderia Baldini, are the favourites. The Italian pairing tops the overall standings and can mathematically seal the title by finishing first or second in Sunday’s race. Twenty points adrift in the standings, AF Corse’s Jules Castro and Stefano Gai, will attempt to reopen the contest. Leonardo Pulcini will be alongside them in the number Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 number 51.  

The situation is more uncertain in the GT Cup, open to single-marque cars, with five Ferraris lining up at the start. Current leaders in the Pro-Am class standings, Luca Demarchi, Simone Patrinicola and Sabatino Di Mare (Best Lap) in the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo number 111, will attempt a decisive push.

Meanwhile, in the GT Cup Am, Francesco Atzori and Manuel Menichini, alongside Enrico Di Leo at the wheel of SR&R’s Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo number 251, start seven points off the top. MERTEL Motorsport will field the number 288, crewed by Stefano Bozzoni, Jorge Cabezas and Fernando Navarrete, while Francesco La Mazza and Thomas Biagi will be in the number 269 of Easy Race and finally, Gianmarco Marzialetti, Vito Postiglione and Vincenzo Scarpetta in the number 212 of Best Lap.

The sporting activities will kick off on Friday, 15 September, with the two 50-minute free practice sessions at 11.35 a.m. and 4.50 p.m., while on Saturday 16, the third free practice session is at 11.00 a.m. The three official practice sessions will follow, from 5.40 to 6.45 p.m., to decide the starting grid for the two-hour race, which begins on Sunday 17th at 3.15 p.m.

GT World Challenge Europe. The penultimate round of the GT World Challenge Europe – Sprint Cup season takes place at Valencia in Spain. Forty cars will compete at the Ricardo Tormo in a crucial event with all titles still on the line. The two Ferrari 296 GT3s of Emil Frey Racing are confirmed on the entry list, with Albert Costa and Thierry Vermeulen in number 69 and Giacomo Altoé and Konsta Lappalainen in number 14.

AF Corse will pursue its first podium of the season in the Silver Cup class with Sean Hudspeth and Nicola Marinangeli sharing the Ferrari 296 GT3 number 71, as will their number 52 teammates in the Bronze Cup, with the experienced pairing of Louis Machiels and Andrea Bertolini.

Friday, 15 September, features free practice and pre-qualifying, while on Saturday, 16, after qualifying from 9.00 to 9.25 a.m., the first race will run from 2 to 3 p.m. On Sunday 17 September, qualifying is from 9.00 to 9.25 a.m., with Race-2 kicking off at 2 p.m.

24H Series. Round six of the 24H Series, which closes the European season, will feature the Ferrari 296 GT3 of WTM by Rinaldi Racing number 22 running in the GT3 Am class. The team’s drivers are Georg Weiss, Leonard Weiss, Jochen Krumbach, Torsten Kratz and Isaac Tutumlu Lopez. A year ago, on the same circuit, the team celebrated its first series win, but with a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020. WTM by Rinaldi Racing switched to the new 296 GT3 for the 2023 championship and has already climbed the top step of the podium at Mugello. The only change since the Tuscan round is the addition of Isaac Tutumlu Lopez.

Qualifying is Friday, 15 September, with night practice from 8.45 to 10.15 p.m. The race will start at midday on Saturday, 16 September and finish at noon on Sunday, 17 September.