It was a weekend of excellent performances at Vallelunga for the large group of Ferraris appearing in round three of the Italian GT Endurance Championship. These performances were embellished by a hat-trick in the Pro-Am class, along with a bit of bad luck, which compromised the placing of some Prancing Horse crews.
GT3. The weekend at the Latium circuit opened with Ferraris the fastest in free practice and qualifying, claiming overall pole position with Fisichella-Gai-Zampieri. However, the Scuderia Baldini drivers suffered a 40-second time handicap during the pit stop, which dropped them to fourth overall and second in class. This put them second in the overall standings. They sit three points off the lead ahead of the Monza round at the end of October.
The Ferraris in the Pro-Am class coloured the Vallelunga podium red. The AF Corse crew, Schreiner-Roda-Fuoco, came second overall and first in class. Fuoco made a remarkable recovery at the finish, beating the Ferrari of Daniele Di Amato and Alessandro Vezzoni (RS-Racing) second in the Pro-Am class, who both performed brilliantly and now sit third in the overall class standings.
Another Ferrari took the third step of the podium in the Pro-Am class, the #21 car of Simon Mann and Toni Vilander (AF Corse), who finished fifth overall, with the reigning Sprint Cup champion now in second place in the class standings.
In seventh place overall – and fourth in the Pro-Am class – came Stephen Earle and Niccolò Schirò (Kessel Racing), with the American driver maintaining the class lead.
Another Ferrari completed the overall top ten, the #3 of Daniel Mancinelli-Matteo Greco-Max Hoffer (Easy Race) that, due to a contact in the final stages, lost a few positions at the finish line.
GT Cup. Bad luck also hit the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo crewed by Demarchi-Risitano-Barbolini (SR&S), who were forced to retire with a puncture while leading the race. SR&R enjoyed partial consolation courtesy of a superb performance and second place in class by Becagli-“Aramis”-Laureti in the 458 Challenge.
Next round. The fourth and final round of the Italian GT Endurance Championship is scheduled for the weekend of 31 October at Monza.