17 July 2016
Scarperia, 17 July 2016 – Two wins and seven podium finishes: this is what Ferrari bring home from the Mugello round of the Italian GT Championship. Both wins came on Saturday, the first of two racing days.
GT3. In GT3 class Federico Leo and Eddie Cheever III, finally got their first win. A victory they have built since qualifying, when the two drivers secured the quickest times in both sessions. Scuderia Baldini 27 Network pairing has always kept the class lead, with Cheever III driving through the first stint, the period in which rival Vito Postiglione (Lamborghini) had to retire due to the failure of the axle shaft, and Mathias Russo (Audi) completed a good overtaking on Alessandro Baccani (Porsche) for P2. Leo took over from Cheever III and confirmed the pairing's lead leading over Luca and Nicola Pastorelli (Porsche) and Zonzini, but the Audi driver got P2 back at lap 22. The race positions did not change and the Scuderia Baldini 27 Network took a nice victory relaunching the crew in the standings. On Sunday Cheever III and Leo had to face the time penalty after the win in Race-1 and were third behind Luca and Nicola Pastorelli and the sister Ferrari 458 Italia of Team Malucelli driven by Simone Tempesta and Marco Galassi.
Super GT3. In Super GT3 class there were no wins for Ferrari customer teams: in Race-1 the winner were Alberto Di Folco and Riccardo Agostini on the Antonelli Motorsport Lamborghini while the best Ferrari was the 488 of Easy Race crossing the start-finish line in third with Daniel Mancinelli and the talented American driver Gregory Romanelli. On Sunday the Imperiale Racing Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti and Jerome Mul took the win and the best Ferrari was again third. This time it was the Black Bull Swisse Team 488 of Mirko Venturi and Stefano Gai to climb on the podium.
GT Cup. The Ferrari Challenge drivers shined during the Tuscany weekend in GT Cup class. Ferrari has been unbeatable in the class of the single make cars. The podium was all for the Maranello's cars as Erich Prinoth and Matteo “Babalus” Santoponte took the victory in their debut race in the Italian Championship for team MP Racing, after a first stint dominated by the 458 Challenge EVO driven by Luigi Ferrara and Leonardo Baccarelli (another current Challenge driver). Behind the driver from Bari, David Gostner (pairing with father Thomas on another MP Racing 458 Challenge EVO) , Zanardini (sharing his 458 Challenge EVO with Vincenzo Sauto), Prinoth, Durante (Porsche with Carboni) and Demarchi (Lamborghini with Benvenuti) followed in the order. However, after the drivers change, Carboni, Thomas Gostner, "Babalus" and Sauto were behind Baccarelli (who took over from Ferrara). At lap 17 Carboni got past Baccarelli on top, and then was followed suit by "Babalus", while the driver from Umbria managed to fend off the attack moved by Gostner. At lap 22 "Babalus" got the lead of the race, while Gostner took P3 behind Carboni. These positions were confirmed at the flag. After the race, Durante-Carboni were handed a 30s time penalty for an irregularity under yellow flags, and team mates David and Thomas Gostner inherited P2 behind Prinoth-“Babalus”, while Ferrara and Baccarelli were promoted to third. On Sunday Carboni won the race in front of “Babalus”-Prinoth.