All is set at the circuit of Mugello that will stage the seventh and final round of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship this coming weekend. With two titles still to be awarded, the grand finale on the circuit of Tuscany announces to be quite interesting both in GT3, with six lineups within nine points, and in GT Cup where two Porsche 997 will be battling the final win out.

A round that has been awaited for the whole season that not even the best story writer could have written in a better way. In the highest class, six lineups will be involved in the final sprint four Ferraris and two Lamborghinis. The 458 Italia will compete against the Gallardo in a duel among the best drivers of the Italian series, that are ready to fight until the very last corner to get the prestigious title in a season that on average has had 35 lineups at the start with a prestigious entry list of drivers and cars.

The GT3 title will be battled out by Stefano Gattuso (Ferrari 458 Italia-Scuderia Baldini 27), who is leading the provisional classification by three points only on Schirò-Berton (Villorba Corse) also on the Red car of Maranello.

Gattuso, helped in Misano by Matteo Malucelli, will have among his rivals his former co-equiper Lorenzo Casè, who will compete in Mugello on the 458 Italia he will be sharing with Michele Rugolo. This choice of the team based near Rome is an attempt to double the chances for taking the victory, alike what done by Imperiale Racing that made the same choice official in the past few days. Mirko Bortolotti will in fact share the wheel with the South African driver Adrian Zaugg, while Alberto Viberti whill have Giovanni Venturini on his side.

Racing strategies are all to be discovered for a final that goes beyond that of the past few editions that saw the title decided in the final race on Sunday. This proves the importance of the title for teams, confirming the prestige of the Italian series.

The lineups that are hunting the final victories are rounded up by Frassineti-Beretta (Ferrari 458 Italia-Ombra Racing),  that are 5 points short of the lead and scored three wins in the season, condition that will be crucial in the case of an equalizer. Considering also the two jokers, the gap separating the six contenders goes down to only 7 points, that is nothing as fourty points are going to be awarded in Mugello.

Math did not cut out two more lineups: Mapelli-Amici (Audi R8 LMS) and Donativi-Postiglione (Porsche GT3R), both at 81 points. Audi Sport Italia and Ebimotors color bearers will have slim chances though, as they will have a lot of strong rivals.

The final round of the season will be made even more interesting by several new lineups. In GT3 Imperiale Racing will line a third ace up, the pairing Palma-Barri, to support Bortolotti and Viberti's sprint to the line, while a fourth "private” Lamborghini Gallardo will be driven by Monfardini-Frezza.

Herbert Motorsport will line up a Porsche GT3R for the Austrians Bachler-Wimmer that will compete alongside the German coupes of Biagi-Pezzucchi (Racing Studios), Camathias-Calamia and Romani-Deodati (Autorlando), while the Ferrari lot will be completed by the 458 Italia of Magli-Ferrara (Easy Race), Max Mugelli (MP1 Corse), Galassi-Rizzuto (Team Malucelli) and Gai-Di Amato (Ombra Racing). The GT3 entry list will be completed by the Audi R8 LMS of Capello-Zonzini (Audi Sport Italia) and by the BMW Z4 of Comandini-Gagliardini (ROAL Motorsport).

In GT Cup two Porsche 997 will battle the victory out. The class reserved to cars in single-branded configuration lived a very tight season with an uncertain finale, even if the 10 points margin of the brothers Luca and Nicola Pastorelli (Porsche 997) make the current classification leaders start as favourites. Krypton Motorsport lineup will have to face the very strong pairing Tommy Maino and Livio Selva (Ebimotors), also at the wheel of the Stuttgart's coupe, that obtained two wins in the latest three races. After the double DNF in Misano Zanardini-Perel (Lamborghini Gallardo) are out of the games, but Bonaldi Motorsport's lineup will get on track at Mugello to end the season on a high.

Some new entries will also be present in GT Cup, with the brothers Gregory and Arthur Romanelli on track on the Ferrari 458 Italia lined up by Easy Race alongside team mates Mancini-Carboni. The Ferrari lot will be completed by the car driven by Del Prete-Caso (Scuderia Victoria), while the Porsches 997 will be driven by Matteo Desideri (Antonelli-Motorsport), Venerosi-Baccani (Ebimotors), Matteo and Federico Zangari (Ghinzani Arco Motorsport), Bodega-Geraci (Drive Technology), Di Leo-Poppy. The GT Cup entry list will also include the two Lamborghini Gallardos of Imperiale Racing that will be driven by Comi-Durante and Carina Lima.

The programme of the final weekend of the season schedules two qualifying sessions on Saturday (from local 9 to 10), followed by race-1 at 15,20. Race-2 will start on Sunday at 12,10. Both races will be covered live with the following schedule:

Race-1 live TV coverage on AutomotoTV (SKY 148) and delayed broadcast on Raisport1 (SKY 227-DGT 57) on Saturday at 23; Race-2 live TV coverage on Raisport1 and several recorded broadcasts on AutomotoTV with schedule still to be defined. Both races will also be available through web streaming at www.acisportitalia.it/GT.


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