Imola, twenty-seven cars on track for the second round of the Italian GT Championship Sprint series

A season-record at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit of Imola that will have a special guest like former motorbike world champion Loris Capirossi. The two races will be covered live by Raisport and AutomotoTV
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It is a nice alternation between Endurance and Sprint in this opening of the Italian GT Championship 2019. After the two long races in Monza and Misano and the first weekend of short races in Vallelunga, the circuit Enzo e Dino Ferrari of Imola will stage the second act of the Sprint Series this coming weekend. Twenty-seven cars will make it to the start, which is a new season record, and a lot of new entries will join all classes, namely, GT3, GT Light and GT4. Former motorbike world champion Loris Capirossi will be a guest in the paddock for the whole weekend. He will be present as Friend of the brand BMW and be with the fans on several occasions.

GT3 (please click on the link for the provisional classification)

In the highest class, will the duel involve again the Lamborghini Huracan of Postiglione-Mul (Imperiale Racing) and the Mercedes AMG of Agostini-Rovera (Antonelli Motorsport) as in the opener at Vallelunga? This is the question for all the fans at the Santerno circuit and those that will follow the event live on TV. Predictions are difficult especially considering that a lot of drivers capable of fighting for the win will be at the start of the two races. Among these, Andrea Fontana and Mattia Drudi, the latter at the comeback in the Italian series as official Audi Sport driver on the R8 LMS of the team led by Emilio Radaelli, but eyes will also be on the BMW M6 of Comandini-Johansson (BMW Team Italia) and on the Ferrari 488 of Veglia-Casè (Easy Race), Di Amato-Vezzoni (RS Racing) and the two Red cars fielded by AF Corse, that comes from the splendid win in GTE PRO at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for Fuoco-Hudspeth and Mann-Cressoni. Agostini-Rovera, will be supported by Antonelli Motorsport with two further Mercedes AMG for Nicola Baldan and Andrea Larini, while Imperiale Racing will side the Huracan driven by Postiglione-Mul with a sister car driven by Perolini-Gersekowski. The entry list of GT3 is completed by LP Racing and its Lamborghini Huracan driven by Filippo Cuneo and Niccolò Magnoni.

GT LIGHT (please click on the link for the provisional classification)

Five cars will be present in the category reserved to the cars in single-make configuration and to older GT3 cars. Alberto Lippi and Giorgio Sernagiotto are the men to beat, the latter comes from a good performance at the recent 24 Hours of Le Mans, that hold the first place of the classification after the two wins in Vallelunga. The lead of RAM Autoracing/Iron Lynx’s Ferrari 458 Italia will be challenged by Vincenzo Sauto, who came second twice in Vallelunga and that will share the wheel of the Porsche 991 4.0 of Duell Motorsport with the Venezuelan driver Gaetano Ardagna Perez in Imola and the pairing Paolino-Jirik (Lamborghini Huracan-Hiron Lynx), that came third in the two races in Vallelunga. La Mazza-Nicolosi (Porsche 991 4.0-Duell Motorsport) and Mattia Michelotto on the Lamborghini Huracan run by Antonelli Motorsport will be special underdogs in Imola.

GT4 (please click on the link for the provisional classification)

Porsche against BMW, Ginetta and Maserati. This is the battle in the entry-level category after the opener that registered the win of current classification leaders Riccitelli-De Castro (Porsche Cayman 718). Among the strongest rivals, Ebimotors will field Fascicolo-Guerra (BMW M4-BMW Team Italia), that came second and third in Vallelunga and Luca Magnoni (Ginetta G55-Nova Race), but Piccioli-Costa, on the second Cayman run by Ebimotors, Cerqui-Rodrigues and Leonardo Becagli (Maserati Gran Turismo MC-V-Action), as well as Ghezzi-Camathias and Cerati-Chiesa on Porsche Cayman run by Autorlando will certainly aim for the podium. The entry list of GT4 is completed by Marchetti-Mantori (Ginetta G55-Nova Race) and by the Polish drivers Piotr and Antoni Chodzen, father and son, at the debut on the Maserati Gran Turismo MC run by SVC Sport Management.

THE PROGRAM (please click on the link for the complete program)

The second weekend of the Sprint season will kick off on Friday, June 21st with two free practice sessions of 50 minutes each at 10:10 and 14:10. The two qualifying sessions will follow on Saturday at 9:00 and 9:35. Race 1 will last 50 minutes + 1 lap and will be shown live by Raisport in the afternoon at 13:05, while race-2 (also 50 minutes + 1 lap) will get underway on Sunday at 11:40 and will be covered live by AutomotoTV (SKY 228), while Raisport will show it recorded at 17:50 and in web streaming at www.raiplay.it, www.acisport.it/CIGT and www.facebook.com/CIGranTurismo.

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