Ferrari scored its first win of the GT World Challenge Europe season on an intense Sunday, with the two 296 GT3s of AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors taking first and second place in Barcelona. We heard from this weekend’s stars at the Montmeló circuit.
Alessio Rovera: “After pursuing it for so long, I will enjoy this victory, at least for a few days! It was a special, almost perfect Sunday, also with the team’s other Ferrari coming second. Everyone in the team should be proud of this one-two, the result of the development work we've been doing since the turn of the year. The victory repays us for our outstanding efforts and some unfortunate incidents that befell us in the summer. The car is lovely to drive. A circuit like Montmeló certainly brings that out, and we are also pleased with the pole position. We aim to compete at the top, and starting at the front changes your prospects entirely, putting you in an ideal situation with no traffic. Before a puncture, we had already experienced this at the start of the 24 Hours of Spa. The championship is over for this year, but this is the direction in which we must continue.”
Robert Shwartzman: “Winning today is fantastic. I lost my position during the pit stop, and it was tough to recover it, but the Mercedes and Lamborghini were penalised for their collision at the start of the race. At that point, we performed our best, staying focused, fast, and without mistakes. My teammates and I had an excellent race.”
Nicklas Nielsen: “After each Safety Car, we had a lot of pickup on the tyres, and we struggled to restore them to their ideal condition. For us, it would have been better if the entire race had run under the green flag, although it’s true that at the end, the Safety Car allowed us to catch up with the leader, so we can’t complain too much.”
Daniel Serra: “This result is an excellent way to end the season, and this one-two for the team is fantastic. The car was superb today, and we managed the tyre degradation well, so finishing first and second feels terrific.”
Antonio Fuoco: “It’s great to finish first and second in the year’s last race. The team did a fantastic job all weekend, and I must thank them for that, along with my teammates.”
Davide Rigon: “I am delighted with the result and this second place. I must admit it was one of the toughest races of my career. After the pit stop, unfortunately, we lost some positions that I couldn’t recover. However, I drove the year’s best car, which bodes well for next season. In the finale, we also thought about taking a shot at winning, but there was no point in jeopardising everything in a confrontation with our teammates.”
Lilou Wadoux: “I am delighted with my first podium in the GT World Challenge also because we didn’t have the easiest of weekends. The many Safety Cars also made the race really tricky, but in the end, I had fewer problems in my stint than my teammates, and we achieved a well-deserved podium.”