Two very tight races closed the second round of the Italian GT Championship that took place at the Misano World Circuit. The closing race days saw the victory going to the Super GT3 of Frassineti-Beretta (Lamborghini Huracan-Ombra Racing) that proceeded the Ferrari 488 of Malucelli-Cheever (Scuderia Baldini 27) and the sister car driven by Agostini-Zampieri (Antonelli Motorsport), while Super GT Cup, reserved to the Lamborghini Huracans, saw Liang Jia-Ortiz on the top step of the podium leading Vainio-Tujula and Cazzaniga-D’Amico, all among the fields of Vincenzo Sospiri Racing. In GT3, the victory went to Benucci-Niboli (Ferrari 458 Italia-MP1 Corse) from Venerosi-Baccani (Porsche GT3R-Ebimotors) and La Mazza-Magli (Ferrari 458 Italia-Easy Race), while Baccarelli-Ferrara (Ferrari 458 Italia-Caal Racing) repeated the victory of Race-1 in GT Cup leading Pisani-Palazzo (Porsche 997-Siliprandi Racing) and “Togo” (Porsche 997). In GTS, Luca Magnoni (Ginetta G55-Nova Race) proceeded the Porsche Cayman of Sabino De Castro (Ebimotors) and Nicola Neri (Kinetic Racing).
SUPER GT3: A fair and deserved victory was obtained by Frassineti-Beretta in race-2 after the fifth place on Saturday, results that relaunch the classification of the Ombra Racing pairing, that is currently leading SUPER GT3 PRO. Poleman Frassineti did not have problems to keep the lead all the way to the pit stop. In the heat of the opening stages, Treluyer was hit by Pastorelli, spun and had to rejoin from the back. Behind Frassineti, Gai, Malucelli and Agostini, but at lap seven the Black Bull Swisse Racing driver had to stop due to the fire coming off his Ferrari 488. Behind the leader, Agostini was good to get past Malucelli, as Cerqui, Leo, Veglia, Melo and Gentili followed, while Pastorelli had a contact with Ishikawa and was handed a drive through. Driver changes confirmed Beretta’s lead, ahead of Cheever, Zampieri, Baruch, Comandini, Valente, Schirò, Ghirelli and Cassarà. The final stages did not award further emotions, exception made for Schirò and Ghirelli’s overtaking on Valente, and Frassineti-Beretta took the first victory of the season, that earned them the classification lead, at the flag. Gai follows them eight points shy.
GT3: A comeback to the Italian series could have not been celebrated in a better way by MP1 Corse. The Italian outfit celebrated also ending race-2 on the top step of the podium with Nicola Benucci and Simone Niboli, at the wheel of the 458 Italia set up by Rocco Verduci. Baccani took the lead in the first stint, but Ebimotors’ driver went flawlessly wide in a corner and lost a couple of places to La Mazza and Niboli, managing anyway to get them back shortly after. Veronesi took over from Baccani at the pit stop and rejoined in P3, with Benucci taking the lead: at lap 21 the Italian driver got past La Mazza’s co-equiper Magli, installing himself on top and keeping the lead all the way to the flag. After the race, La Mazza-Magli were given a 45s time penalty due to irregular driver change, and were relegated to P3, handing the second step of the podium and the classification lead to Baccani-Venerosi. Del Castello-Colajanni (Corvette Z06R) were fourth.
SUPER GT CUP: Another podium was covered with Vincenzo Sospiri Racing’s color in race-2 at the Misano World Circuit. The top step of the podium went to Liang Jia-Ortiz at the end of a very exciting race. At the start, Basz took the lead followed by Desideri, D’Amico, Demarchi, Tujula and Ortiz while Bonacini was tapped into a spin by Perullo. Demarchi took P3 at lap ten and started chasing Desideri, but at lap 14, with pit window opened, Imperiale Racing’s driver had an excursion hitting the barriers violently, which required a safety car period. At the restart, Takashi, who took over from Basz, confirmed his lead with small gaps from the rivals Necchi, Liang Jia, Trentin, Vainio, Cazzaniga, Durante and Perolini. In the final stages Vainio and Cazzaniga, found their way past Trentin, but the final twist arrived when race direction handed a 25s penalty to Takashi and Necchi for not respecting the safety car period. They therefore lost the first two positions. At lap 26 Necchi got past Takashi, but crossing the finish line as first did not convert into a victory due to the penalty. The victory went therefore to Liang Jia-Ortiz, that led Vainio-Tujula and Cazzaniga-D’Amico, the latter two still lead the provisional classification having three points more than the race winners. The fourth place went to Trentin-Perullo, that were followed by Necchi-Desideri, Takashi-Basz, Durante-Bonacini and Perolini-Sartori.
GT CUP: After the victory in Race-1, Sunday’s race also saw Leonardo Baccarelli and Luigi Ferrara on the top step of the podium. The Caal Racing drivers secured a double win which allowed them to complete a big leap forward in the classification for the experienced driver from Umbria and for the strong driver from Puglia. The race was stripped from one of the certain protagonists since the beginning as La Mazza-Nicolosi, were stopped by a technical problem. Palazzo got the lead at the start, as “Togo” and Baccarelli chased him, but he kept the lead until the driver change despite a flawless spin. When all cars got back on track, Pisani led “Togo” and Ferrara, as the latter started a great comeback after serving the 25s penalty. At lap 22 the Italian had the upper hand on “Togo” and started tracking down Pisani, that he managed to overtake at the next lap. Positions did not change until the chequered flag and Baccarelli-Ferrara took the win leading Pisani-Palazzo and “Togo”.
GTS: A very tight race has taken place in the entry level class of the championship. The race was decided at the flag, with just over a second splitting the first time winner this season Luca Magnoni, and Sabino De Castro. At the start, Ebimotors driver took the lead ahead of Neri and Magnoni, while Carboni got stuck in the traffic early on. The Italian driver started a good comeback race anyway and he got the lead of the race at lap six. When all cars were back on track after the pit stop, Carboni’s co-equiper Salini was on top, leading Magnoni and De Castro, but with four laps to go the French driver had to stop due to a puncture. The lead was inherited by team mate Magnoni who led De Castro and Neri.
