The Mugello Circuit is all set to kick off edition 18 of the Italian Grand Touring Championship with the opener of the Endurance series. The season eventually can start after the uncertainty connected to the long lockdown, the economic difficulties and the complicated movements of foreign drivers. The entry list is reduced due to the absence of some awaited protagonists that decided to postpone the debut to Misano when the opener of the Sprint series will take place in early August. A total of 40 drivers will be present at the first race of the Endurance Series in 14 crews of GT3 and GT4 classes and will challenge each other in the first of the four endurance races present in the 2020 calendar.

GT3
Ten crews will contest GT3 in Tuscany. The reigning champion Stefano Gai will be absent and will perhaps be present at the start of the Sprint series. The challenges seen in the past season among Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW, Lamborghini and Audi will continue during this season and this year Porsche will join too. This is a great comeback for the Stuttgart's make thanks to the 911 GT3 R fielded by Ebimotors for Paolo Venerosi, Ale Baccani and the strong Riccardo Pera. Audi Sport Italia will also have what it takes to run a season on top as it gave its R8 LMS to a stellar lineup made by the factory driver Mattia Drudi, the Sprint reigning champion Riccardo Agostini and Daniel Mancinelli.

The other makes will also challenge for the title of the highest class. Three 488 GT3 Evo will be of the games, two entered by AF Corse and one by Easy Race. The team from Piacenza will field the Sprint champion Alessio Rovera, Ferrari Driver Academy's Antonio Fuoco and Giorgio Roda, while the second will be driven by Simon Mann and Matteo Cressoni, that have already been competing in 2019. Easy Race will give its 488 to a new lineup made by Singapore's Sean Hudspeth, Mattia Michelotto - both already present last year - and the new entry Matteo Greco, who was under 25 TCR 2019 champion.

BMW Team Italia and Ceccato Motors Racing Team will try to build on the nice but unlucky 2019 season with an experienced driver and runner-up in the Endurance campaign last year Stefano Comandini. The Italian will share the wheel of the M6 GT3 with the 32 years old British driver Alexander Sims, who already took part in a couple of races in 2019 and this year will be contesting the FIA Formula E Championship with team Andretti Motorsport, and with a young promising driver from Germany: the 17 years old Marius Zug.

Three Lamborghinis will take part in the Endurance Series, two of which lined up by VSR. The 17 years old American Steven Aghakhani, Raffaele Giammaria and Leonardo Pulcini will defend the colors of the Vincenzo Sospiri team, while the second Huracan GT3 Evo will be driven by the Dutch driver Danny Kroes, the Finn Tuomas Tujula and the Dane Frederik Schandorff. Imperiale Racing will field one Huracan - but the Mirandola-based team will bring some news for the Sprint series. In the Endurance series, Vito Postiglione will share the cockpit of the Huracan with Giovanni Venturini, who will be back to the Italian series after seasons 2015 and 2016, and Kikko Galbiati, who is the vice-champion of Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe.

The GT3 entry list will be completed by the Mercedes AMG GT3 run by Antonelli Motorsport that will be driven by the PRO-AM Endurance reigning champions Francesca Linossi and Stefano Colombo, and the 17 years old rookie Lorenzo Ferrari, who came second in the F4 Championship last year

GT 4
BMW, Porsche and Mercedes AMG. These will be the three contenders of the 4 titles of the GT4 through the presence of prestigious squads like BMW Team Italia, Ebimotors and Nova Race. BMW Team Italia-Ceccato Motors Racing Team confirmed Francesco Guerra on the M4 GT4 in the Endurance series. He will be sided by two new entries, Nicola Neri and the GT4 Sprint Reigning champion Simone Riccitelli.

Ebimotors will field two Porsche Cayman GT4, one for Mattia Di Giusto, Andrea Marchi and Gianluigi Piccioli, the second for Paolo Gnemmi, the GT4 Sprint Champion Sabino De Castro and Riccardo Pera. The latter will have quite a busy weekend as he will be competing in both classes and therefore will run two stints, one in the 911 GT3 and the other in the Cayman GT4.
Mercedes AMG will be present with one car fielded by Nova Race for the vice-champions Endurance 2019, Luca Magnoni and the 28 years old Norwegian Alexander Schjerpen, but three cars could be lined up for the Sprint series.

THE PROGRAM
The first weekend of the Endurance series will kick off on Friday with two free practice sessions (at local 11:35 and 16:25), while the third session will be on Saturday at 9. The three qualifying sessions will follow from 12.40 to 13,45 (15 minutes each) to define the starting grids as the sum of the best time of each of the three drivers. The three-hours long race will start on Sunday at 14.40 with TV live coverage on Raisport (freeview 58) and streaming at www.acisport.it/CIGT, www.facebook.com/CIGranTurismo, and on the Rai websites, www.rai.it and www.raiplay.it. The race will be shown recorded also on MS Motor TV (SKY 228) at a time still to be decided.

On Twitter
@CIGranTurismo
@GTavoni
www.acisport.it/CIGT
www.facebook.com/CIGranTurismo