Ferrari leaves the Nürburgring, the venue for round four of the GT World Challenge Europe – Endurance Cup, contested on the 5.137-kilometre GP track with 12th and 14th places for the 296 GT3 number 71 and 51 of AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors in the Pro class. The German round, the prelude to the final championship event in Barcelona on 1 October, also ended with the with 11th and 3rd place of AF Corse’s Ferrari 296 GT3 number 52 car and ST Racing’s with Rinaldi’s number 38 in the Bronze and Pro-Am classes, respectively.
Davide Rigon, 296 GT3 #71: “It was a good start, and I am happy. I did really well at the first corner, but then at the next left, I made a mistake and was perhaps bumped, so I lost a few positions. Otherwise, it would have been a great start. I had an excellent pace during my first stint but struggled with absolute speed. It becomes tricky to overtake when we are in the group. One of the favourable points of the 296 GT3 is undoubtedly that it doesn’t stress the tyres much, so degradation is low.”
Daniel Serra, 296 GT3 #71:“We struggled to compete, so we found ourselves in traffic, unlike in other parts of the race with a ‘free’ track where our 296 GT3 performed at a higher level.”
Antonio Fuoco, 296 GT3 #71: “Race after race, the 296 GT3 continues on its growth path. Today at the Nürburgring, we did all we could to achieve the best possible finish. Our goal is to close the gap with the cars that can currently contend for the top places in the standings.”
Alessio Rovera, 296 GT3 #51: “The result here in Germany is not what we’d hoped for. After starting far back on the grid, we knew the race would be uphill. Now we look forward to the next event after the summer in Barcelona, where we aim to continue to improve.”
Robert Shwartzman, 296 GT3 #51: “Too bad about the collision Nicklas suffered at the start of the race that affected us. We had a good pace in the early stages, but then several times during my and Nielsen’s stints, we found ourselves in traffic, with some cars, even lapped cars, leaving us no room to overtake.”
Nicklas Nielsen, 296 GT3 #51: “I think I made an excellent start. Then at the first corner, someone clipped me on the rear, and it took me a few seconds to get my car going again. This definitely compromised our race. Also, in terms of absolute speed, we struggle compared to our rivals who can aim for the top positions, and we struggle when we battle with them. However, when we are out of traffic, our performance is excellent, as are our lap times. Finally, in trying to make up positions, it was also difficult to complete overtaking moves because often slower cars don’t allow them.”
Samantha Tan, 296 GT3 #38: “I’m very happy being the first podium in GTWC EU with the 296 GT3 and my teammates Jon Miller and Isaac Tutumlu! The Rinaldi Racing team gave us a great car to fight with this weekend and building off their 24H Nürburgring wins, I’m sure we’ll be visiting the top step very soon. It was a challenging weekend with changing track conditions every session. It went from lots of rain to blue skies and sun all in the course of an hour. It’s typical Eifel weather, but it made it more difficult to nail down a perfect setup and have consistent data comparisons. That being said, we still tackled everything head on and are proud of have brought home a podium finish”.
Isaac Tutumlu Lopez, 296 GT3 #38: “I am very happy with the result after not being able to finish in Spa. This is a good comeback for the team, and the performance of the car was amazing. During my driving time I was very comfortable with the car and it was very fast, so I want to thank Ferrari and Rinaldi for the great car. I am really looking forward to the Race in Barcelona because we are now close to third and second position in the championship so we will go there to fight for the best”.