After the rounds of Mugello and Imola, the Italian GT Endurance Championship will relocate to the Piero Taruffi of Vallelunga for the third round of the season. Sixteen cars will get on track at the 4.085 meters long circuit near Rome for a 3 hours long race that is quite uncertain and will see a lot of drivers ready to challenge each other for the victory in GT3 and GT4. The classifications are open to all results in the series that is likely to be decided only at the closing race of the season.

GT3

In the highest class a total of eleven cars will make it to the track. Among these, the Ferrari 488 of Roda-Rovera-Fuoco that allowed the AF Corsa drivers to take the lead after the good win claimed in Imola. They have a short gap to the rivals though, as the Audi R8 LMS (Audi Sport Italia) driven by Agostini and Mancinelli that will be sided by Mattia Drudi, is just 3 points short of them and the BMW M6 GT3 (BMW Team Italia) of Comandini-Zugg 5. The latter will be sided by Alexander Sims in this occasion.

Kroes-Shandorff-Tujula are also eyeing the top part of the classification as they are currently fourth in the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 run by VSR, while the second car fielded by the team led by Vincenzo Sospiri will be driven by Giammaria-Nemoto-Pulcini. The Huracan of Imperiale Racing will be driven by Galbiati-Venturini-Frassineti, that will try to promptly bounce back from the bad luck they experienced in Imola. The 18 years old American Simon Mann (Ferrari 488 GT3-AF Corse) is also called to a strong race in Vallelunga and will have to exceptional co-equipers: Stefano Gai and Marco Cioci. This is going to be a nice comeback to the Italian series for both of them as they have been protagonists of the championship for several seasons. In particular, Gai is the reigning champion of Endurance, but the driver from Milan could not defend the title he claimed in the 488 of Scuderia Bandini so far due to the Covid-19.

The Ferrari quartet will be completed by Easy Race that will field the PRO-AM leaders Hudspeth-Michelotto-Greco, and RS Racing that will compete with Di Amato-Vezzoni, while the Mercedes AMG colors will be defended by Antonelli Motorsport’s Lorenzo Ferrari and Francesca Linossi, that are currently second in Pro-Am. The GT3 entry list is rounded off by Paolo Venerosi and Alessandro Baccani in the Porsche GT3 R and, considering the absence of Riccardo Pera due to the conflicting 24 Hours of Le Mans, the two drivers of Ebimotors will have Matteo Malucelli supporting their case. The veteran of the Italian series has the 2005 GT2 title on the Ferrari 550 Maranello with the Portuguese Ramos under his belt.

GT4

Two wins in Mugello and Imola make the Porsche Cayman GT4 of Ebimotors the car to beat. Due to the absence of Riccardo Pera, the third seat next to Sabino De Castro and Paolo Gnemmi will be occupied by Vito Postiglione, who will have the duty to face the challenge of the BMW M4 GT4 fielded by BMW Team Italia for Francesco Guerra, Simone Riccitelli and Nicola Neri, that are currently second in the classification. The two Mercedes AMG GT4 of Nova Race will also be present in Valleunga. Namely, one will be driven by AM classification leader Luca Magnoni and co-equiper Francesco Massimo De Luca, and one by Formenti-Minella-Manassero, that will run their second race after the debut in Imola in August. The second Porsche Cayman of Ebimotors will be driven by De Amicis-Di Giusto-Marchi.

THE PROGRAM

The third weekend of the Endurance series will get underway on Friday with two free practice sessions (at 11.25 and 15) while the third will be on Saturday at 9. The three qualifying sessions will follow (from 12.50 to 13.55) with live coverage MS Motor TV (Sky 228). The three-hours long race will get green lights on Sunday at 11:40 and will be covered live by Raisport. Qualifying and race will also be available from www.acisport.it/CIGT and from the Facebook page of the championship www.facebook.com/CiGranTurismo.

THE COMPLETE PROGRAM OF VALLELUNGA

On Twitter

@CIGranTurismo

@GTavoni

www.acisport.it/CIGT

www.facebook.com/CIGranTurismo