Weekend notebook: Ferrari triumphs in CIGT at Vallelunga

The first round of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship Endurance season at Vallelunga ended with an overall victory for defending champions Giancarlo Fisichella and Tommaso Mosca. They shared the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Scuderia Baldini with Arthur Leclerc, Charles’ brother. The Maranello manufacturer also triumphed in the Am class with Double TT Racing, while AF Corse secured a podium finish in the Pro-Am category. The GT Cup yielded several podiums for the Ferrari marque. 

GT3. As clear favourites ahead of the race, defending champions Giancarlo Fisichella and Tommaso Mosca did not disappoint. They shared the Lazio-based team’s Ferrari 296 GT3 number 27 with Arthur Leclerc, driving it to the top step of the podium. Victory was never in question, even during the delicate Full Course Yellow (FCY) and Safety Car phases that partly neutralised the three-hour race. The 488 GT3 Evo 2020 number 51 of AF Corse was continually among the Pro-Am class leaders, courtesy particularly of two excellent stints by the young Eliseo Donno, partnered for the occasion by Alessandro Brancalente. The car eventually finished third on the podium. The 296 GT3 number 50, driven by Riccardo Ponzio, Stefano Gai and Mikkel Mac, was 11th.

Double TT Racing won in the Am class with the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 number 75, crewed by Leonardo Colavita, Simone Riccitelli and Christoph Ulrich. 

GT Cup. Ferrari took second and third place in the Pro-Am class of the single-make series, with reigning champions Luca Demarchi, Simone Patrinicola, and Sabatino Di Mare in Best Lap’s number 111, finishing ahead of SR&R’s number 251 with Nicolas Risitano, Lyle Schofield, and Luca Attianese. Finally, the 488 Challenge Evo number 212, also of Best Lap, was runner-up in the Am class, with Giammarco Marzialetti, Pietro Agoglia, and Vito Postiglione moving into second place in the closing stages. The next Endurance series round is at Mugello in Tuscany from 12 to 14 July.