Luca Segù and the Israeli Bar Baruch (in the pictures) won race-2 of the opening round of the Italian GT Sprint Championship 2021 held in Monza. The Antonelli Motorsport pairing, at the wheel of the Mercedes AMG GT3, got on the top step of the podium leading Agostini-Ferrari (Audi R8 LMS-Audi Sport Italia) and Guidetti-De Luca (Honda NSX GT3-Nova Race). The overall classification after the first two races sees Crestani, Greco, Agostini and Ferrari sharing the lead at 22 points. In GT4 Di Giusto-Babini (Porsche Cayman-Ebimotors) claimed the victory of race-2 after that of race-1 leading teammates De Castro-Arrigosi and Neri-Fascicolo (BMW M4 GT4-Ceccato Racing Team) and therefore they hold the classification lead with full score, while in GT Cup Linossi-Vebster (Ferrari 488 Challenge-Easy Race) proceeded Dionisio-Barri (Lamborghini Huracan-Team Italy) and installed themselves on top of the standings at 27 points leading Pijl and Vairani (24).
GT3: A well-deserved win for Antonelli Motorsport, both in the overall classification and in GT3 PRO-AM, was built starting from qualifying when Segù set the pole position. The first stint was flawless and the Italian driver managed to restart well after the safety car that was deployed in the initial laps after the exit of Zug (BMW M6 GT3), who had contact with another rival. Baruch put in an effective second stint and exploiting also the duels behind him, he did not have problems driving his Mercedes AMG to the victory bouncing back from an unlucky race-1 that saw the Antonelli Motorsport car out but without any blame.
A great duel was fought for the other podium positions. Agostini (Audi R8 LMS) was second at the flag and had tough time fending off the Honda NSX of Guidetti in the closing stages. After the great opening stint of Ferrari, the Italian defended P2 in several occasions that has been under threat by the young driver of the Varese-based team who took over from De Luca. The third place is a great start to the new season for the Nova Race drivers, a result that could have been better without the bad luck of race-1, but that keeps them as the favourites to the final win.
The fourth place went to Frassineti-Ghiotto (Lamborghini Huracan-Imperiale Racing) thanks to a great final by the driver from Rome who slid in the fight for the podium eventually leading Mancinelli-Postiglione (Audi R8 LMS), that recovered well from the starting P15. Behind the Audi Sport Italia pairing, Perolini-Cecotto (Lamborghini Huracan) were second of GT3 PRO-AM, as the Venezuelan driver put in a great stint finished in P2 and a tougher second stint by Perolini who was slowed down by a contact with Hudspeth. The team LP Racing car proceeded the sister car of Imperiale Racing driven by Llarena-Cazzaniga and the three Ferrari 488 Evo of Mann S.-Vilander (AF Corse), of race-1 winners Greco-Crestani (Easy Race) and Lippi-Filippi (Ram Autoracing). The 11th place overall and first of GT3 AM went to Erwin Zanotti, who competed in the Honda NSX GT3 of Nova Race.
GT4: It has been a fantastic weekend for Mattia Di Giusto and Fabio Babini (Porsche Cayman). After the victory in race-1, the Ebimotors paring won also race-2 leading this time teammates De Castro-Arrigosi. The latter run a solid race with Arrigosi, who kept the lead for the whole first stint proceeding Di Giusto. In the finale his co-equiper could not fend off Babini, while Ferri-Gagliardini (Mercedes AMG GT4-Nova Race) ended third leading Romani-Carboni (Porsche Cayman-Autorlando). In AM, the victory went to Neri-Fascicolo (BMW M4 GT4-Ceccato Racing Team), that were third overall (in the picture). They led Magnoni-Di Fabio (Mercedes AMG GT4-Nova Race) and race-1 winners Cerati-Ghezzi (Porsche Cayman-Autorlando). The classification is currently led by Neri,Fascicolo, Cerati and Ghezzi that are all equal on points at 32.
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GT CUP: The victory of GT Cup that was taken by Pijl-Vairani (Lamborghjini Huracan ST) was decided after the chequered flag. The Bonaldi Motorsport drivers run a recovery race but were eventually penalized for an irregular drivers’ change and were relegated to P7. They left the top step of the podium to Francesca Linossi and Daniel Vebster (in the pictures) in the Ferrari 488 Challenge. The Easy Race pairing proceeded the two Lamborghini Huracan ST of Dioniso-Barri (Team Italy) and Pegoraro-Mugelli (Best Lap), while Alessandro Giardelli ended at the feet of the podium in the Porsche GT3 Cup of Dinamic Motorsport. The fifth place went to Demarchi-Risitano (Ferrari 488 Challenge-SR&R) that proceeded Tempesta-Iacone. The latter came to the fore with the first place in their class during the first stint of the driver from Abruzzo.
The next round of the Italian GT Championship will take place in Pergusa from May 21-23 in occasion of the opening race of the Endurance series.
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