The Sprint series of the Italian GT Championship kicking off from Vallelunga

Following the debut of the Endurance series in Monza, the circuit near Rome will stage the opening meeting of the Sprint series this coming weekend. The series will feature the usual racing format with two races of 50 minutes + 1 lap with 23 cars entered in the classes GT3, GT Light and GT4.
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The Endurance series already started from Monza in April and now the time has come for Sprint to start its 2019 campaign. The first round of this series will take place this coming weekend in Vallelunga, where 23 cars will make it to the track starting from tomorrow in the three classes GT3, GT Light and GT4 with a program featuring the usual two races of 50 minutes +1 lap.

GT3

Compared to the Endurance series, the Sprint series will see one more constructor present. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes and BMW will, in fact, be joined by Audi that will field Andrea Fontana and the factory driver from Germany Pierre Kaffer on the R8 LMS Evo run by Audi Sport Italia. The 42 years old German driver currently living in Switzerland has a prestigious CV. He has been partaking in 11 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans winning GT2 class in 2009. Kaffer won also the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 1000 km of Nurburgring and in International GT Open.

Strong with the victory in the Monza’s race of the Endurance Series, the BMW M6 GT3 of BMW Team Italia-Ceccato Motors Racing Team will be the car to beat in Vallelunga. Two of the three drivers victorious in Monza will share driving duties this time around: Stefano Comandini and the Swede Erik Johansson, that won last year in Mugello.

Audi and BMW will be challenged by Mercedes, Ferrari and Lamborghini, that will field three lineups each. Two Mercedes AMG GT3 contested the Endurance series and Antonelli Motorsport decided to add a third car for Italian TCR 2017 Champion Nicola Baldan. The Italian will be joined by another new entry: Nicola Larini will, in fact, share the cockpit with Andrea Palma, who was fourth in Monza. Alessio Rovera and Riccardo Agostini, also protagonists in the Endurance race in Monza with P5, will compete on the third car.

Three Ferrari will also be on the grid. Easy Race will field Lorenzo Casè, who is at his comeback to the Italian Championship after winning two Italian titles in 2007 and 2014. He will share the 488 Evo with Lorenzo Veglia, who secured a great P2 in Monza’s Endurance with Marco Cioci and Daniel Mancinelli. RS Racing will line up another 488 for Di Amato-Vezzoni, also strong in Monza, and AF Corse will bring on track the third Ferrari for Ferrari Driver Academy’s Antonio Fuoco. The Italian will be at his second presence in the Italian Championship alongside Singapore’s Sean Hudspeth.

Lamborghini will also be present with three Huracan GT3. Imperiale Racing confirmed the protagonists of the Endurance debut in Monza Pietro Perolini and Ben Gersekowsky, that secured a great P3 in the occasion, Postiglione-Mul, sixth in Monza at the end of an unlucky race, while LP Racing will compete with the new pairing made by Filippo Cuneo and Niccolò Magnoni.

GT LIGHT

Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari will challenge each other in the class reserved to the single-make configuration cars and to the old GT3 cars. In this category, the 911 4.0 of Duell Race will be driven by La Mazza-Nicolosi, also present at the Endurance race, and Sauto-Pisani, while Iron Linx will field one Huracan SuperTrofeo for Paolino-Jirik, that did not have much luck in Monza. Ram Autoracing will run its maiden race in the Italian GT with a Ferrari 458 GT3, entered by Iron Linx for Alberto Lippi and Giorgio Sernagiotto. The latter will be competing in WEC and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the Dallara prototype of Cetilar Racing Villorba Corse in this season.

GT4

Some new entries will make it to the track in GT4 too. Compared to Monza, two Porsche Cayman will be fielded by Ebimotors for Riccitelli-De Castro and Piccioli-Costa will debut in Vallelunga, as the Sin R1 Antonelli Motorsport car driven by Mattia Michelotto. The entry-level class will also feature the winner of Monza, Luca Magnoni, on the Ginetta G55 run by Nova Race. The team will also field another car for Marchetti-Mantori. The BMW M4 of BMW Team Italia-Ceccato Motors Racing Team will be driven by Giuseppe Fascicolo and Francesco Guerra, while Autorlando confirmed the two Porsche Cayman that competed in Endurance with Cerati-Bravetti and Ghezzi-Chiesa.

THE PROGRAM

The first weekend of the Sprint series will begin tomorrow, Friday, with two free practice sessions (at local 11,15 and 16,05). The two qualifying sessions will follow on Saturday (at 8,30 and 9,05) while race one will be at 13,50. Race-2 will end the weekend on Sunday at 13,40. Both races will be run on the length of 50 minutes + 1 lap and will be covered live on TV on Raisport, broadcast delayed on AutomotoTV and on web streaming at www.raiplay.it, www.acisport.it/CIGT and on the facebook page of the championship www.facebook.com/CIGranTurismo.

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