The AF Corse crew in the top class triumphed at the wheel of the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo, while the VSR driver repeated the victory of race-1 in the class reserved for single-make cars. Sandrucci-Kelstrup (GT3 PRO-AM), Fascicolo-Ciglia (GT3 AM) and Ignazio Zanon (GT Cup-AM) emerge as winners in the sub-classes.
The victory in race 2 of the GT3 class of the first round of the 2023 Italian GT Championship went to the crew made up of South African Stuart White and Swiss Jean Luc D'Auria (Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo). The AF Corse's representatives were ahead of Petrov-Cazzaniga (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo-VSR) and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes AMG GT3-Antonelli Motorsport) at the chequered flag. In the GT Cup class, the Belgian Gilles Stadsbader (Lamborghini Huracan ST-VSR) repeated the victory of race 1 ahead of Di Giusto-Pera (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup-Ombra Racing) and Matteo and Giacomo Pollini (Lamborghini Huracan ST-Giacomo Race).
Sandrucci-Kelstrup (Mercedes AMG GT3-Antonelli Motorsport) won GT3 PRO-AM, Fascicolo-Ciglia (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo-Imperiale Racing) GT3 AM and Ignazio Zanon (Lamborghini Huracan ST-VSR) GT Cup AM.
GT3: A well-deserved victory for the AF Corse team, built up from the official practice sessions with D'Auria's pole position. The Swiss driver led for almost the entire first part of the race and only in the final part of his stint did he have to cede provisional leadership to Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Upon returning to the track after the driver change, White, taking advantage of the time handicaps of his opponents, found himself in the lead of the race, but he was able to fend off a spirited Petrov, who took over from Cazzaniga, who had, in turn, an excellent first stint, and finish ahead of the VSR team.
The third place, on the other hand, was decided at the last corner, when an unleashed Andrea Kimi Antonelli snatched the last step of the podium from Klingmann (BMW M4 GT3) by just 39 thousandths. The driver of BMW Italia-Ceccato Racing Team, took over from Spengler, who did well in his stint to climb from sixth to third place, was unable to contain the return of the 16-year-old Bolognese driver, who slipped from first to fifth position due to the 20s time handicap served in the pitstop for the victory in race-1 (15 sec) and for participating alone in the two races (5 sec). But just before that, another duel had characterized Antonelli's comeback, the one for fourth place with the Belgian driver Moulin, who had moments of great competitiveness on the track with overtaking and counter-overtaking that further fueled the final stages.
Behind the BMW team, the second VSR crew, Liberati-Michelotto, finished ahead of teammates Moulin-Llarena and Sandrucci-Kelstrup (Mercedes AMG GT3-Antonelli Motorsport), who were first in the GT3 PRO-AM. The second place in the sub-class went to Gvazava-Denes (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo-Imperiale Racing), eighth overall, ahead of Nurmi-Castro (Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo-AF Corse), third in GT3 PRO-AM, and Mazzola-Coluccio (Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo). The Best Lap crew could have achieved even more if brake problems encountered in race-1 had not continued, however, after Coluccio's first stint at the back, Mazzola excelled in his stint, grabbing tenth overall and fourth in PRO-AM, followed by Gnos-Greco (Honda NSX GT3 Evo-Nova Race) and De Luca-Tamburini (BMW M4 GT3-BMW Italia/Ceccato Racing Team).
In GT3, the victory went to Fascicolo-Ciglia (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo-Imperiale Racing), while Magnoni-Bodellini (Honda NSX GT3 Evo-Nova Race) had to retire seven laps before the end due to a broken axle shaft.
In GT Cup, the Belgian driver Gilles Stadsbader was the dominant force of the weekend, also winning race 2. However, in the second race, he had to fight hard to keep his position at the top of the podium. The beginning of the race was characterized by a safety car period after an incident involving Segù and Pastorelli. After the restart, the poleman Pera maintained his lead until the drivers’ change.
In the second stint, another safety car period bunched up the pack and nullified the advantage of Di Giusto, who had to fight hard after the restart to keep Stadsbader at bay. Six laps before the end, Di Giusto, penalized by a steering problem, had to give up the lead to the Belgian driver, who went on to win ahead of the Ombra Racing team and the Pollini cousins, who finished third after Patrinicola-Demarchi (Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo-Best Lap) retired due to a puncture.
Colavita-Rugolo, driving the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo of Double TT Racing, finished fourth, followed by Ignazio Zanon (Lamborghini Huracan ST-VSR), who won the GT Cup AM category, and Menichini-Bontempelli (Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo-SR&R) and Ghezzi-Zanardini (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup-Autorlando), who rounded off the AM podium.
The top ten was completed by three more AM teams: Nicoli-Scarpetta (Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo-Best Lap), Ettore Carminati (Lamborghini Huracan ST-CRM Motorsport) and Papi-Prandi (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup-Ebimotors).
Next race: the second round of the Italian GT Sprint Championship will take place in Monza from June 23 to 25, but in the meantime, the Endurance series will begin with its first weekend scheduled for May 19-21 in Pergusa (EN).
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THE START OF RACE-2 GT3
THE WINNER OF RACE-2 GT CUP GILLES STADSBADER (LAMBORGHINI HURACAN ST-VSR)
