The crew composed of Stefano Comandini, Marco Cassarà, and Alfred Nilsson, driving the BMW M4 GT3, secured victory in the 3rd round of the Italian Gran Turismo Endurance Championship. In the 2-hour race, the representatives of BMW Italia-Ceccato Racing Team, also leading in the GT3 PRO-AM class, finished ahead of the two Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 cars driven by Castro-Pulcini-Gai (AF Corse) and Fisichella-Mosca.

With the 12 points earned, the Scuderia Baldini colour-bearers have strengthened their championship lead with 52 points. Comandini-Cassarà-Nilsson could only reach this same point total in the event of a victory in the final round at Vallelunga and Fisichella-Mosca finishing with zero points. In such a scenario, the title would be awarded jointly to both teams.

In the GT Cup Pro-Am class, the victory went to Demarchi-Patrinicola-Di Mare (Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo-Best Lap), while in the GT Cup AM class, Caiola-Fabi-Ianniello (Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo-DL Racing) emerged as the winners.

RACE CLASSIFICATION

GT3: After the unfortunate retirement in the last race at Mugello, Comandini-Cassarà-Nilsson found a comforting victory at Monza, which was achieved at the beginning of the second stint after an excellent start by Comandini, who immediately followed pole-sitter Mosca. The absence of a time handicap allowed Cassarà, who took over from the Roman driver, to take the lead, and the Full Course Yellow with the subsequent entry of the safety car did not change their leadership, which was further consolidated by Nilsson in the third stint. There was nothing the two Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo cars could do as they finished behind, those of Castro-Pulcini-Gai (AF Corse) and the overall leaders Fisichella-Mosca. The Scuderia Baldini crew immediately took the lead with a very fast Mosca, but the first twist came right after the driver change, with Fisichella forced to slow down due to an extinguishing agent entering the exhaust after a fire scare in the pit lane.

The Full Course Yellow and the safety car, which were required due to a car blocking the track, did not allow Fisichella himself and, in the third stint, Mosca, who was also hampered by an unavoidable spin, to recover. However, the representatives of Scuderia Baldini, with 52 points, can already celebrate the title, although mathematically, in the event of their victory and the consequent zero points for the representatives of the Roman team, Comandini-Cassarà-Nilsson could tie them for the lead in the standings.

Bartholomew-Fascicolo-Raghunathan (Lamborghini Huracan GT3-Imperiale Racing) finished just off the podium, ahead of the Audi R8 LMS (Audi Sport Italia) of Attianese-Stuvik and the second Lamborghini of Gilardoni-Guzman-Middleton. They were followed by Ferri-"Naska”-Marchetti (Mercedes AMG GT3-Nova Race), who were ninth overall and first in the GT3 AM class, ahead of the second BMW of Guerra-Tavano-Tamburini.

With the victory also in the GT3 PRO-AM class, Comandini-Cassarà-Nilsson have risen to second place in the subclass standings, just two points behind the leaders Castro-Gai (42), and one point ahead of Jack Bartholomew, while Guerra-Tavano-Tamburini are trailing by 36 points.

GT Cup: For Alessio Caiola, Alessandro Fabi, and Riccardo Ianniello, it was an unforgettable weekend, concluded with a sixth-place overall finish and a victory in the GT Cup AM class, launching them to the top of the respective standings. The DL Racing crew was beaming at the end of the race, but even more so was Team Principal Diego Locanto, determined to fight until the end for the title. He commented, 'At Vallelunga, we will play everything, even though the standings are very close, and our opponents are really strong.'

The DL Racing representatives made the most of the Full Course Yellow and the subsequent safety car in the early part of the race, taking the lead in the one-make configuration class and skillfully holding onto it until the checkered flag, which saw them triumph ahead of the Porsche 992 Cup of Leutwiler-Costantini-Menzel, in their first race in the national series, and the Ferrari 488 Challenge (SR&R) of Atzori-Menichini-Di Leo.

At the final race in Vallelunga, Atzori and Menichini will arrive with just a seven-point gap to the Lamborghini crew, but ahead of them, with only one point separating them in the standings, is Filippo Lazzaroni (Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo-Bonaldi Motorsport), who finished sixth at the Monza finish line alongside Andres Mendez.

Therefore, the title race will be fought between these three crews, after an incident in the very early stages removed any hope from another contender, Francesco La Mazza (Ferrari 488 Challenge-Easy Race). The withdrawal of the driver from Catania prevented us from seeing multiple champion Thomas Biagi on the track, who was supposed to take over the car in the second stint and assist the Sicilian driver in the 2023 title race.

At the foot of the podium in the Monza race were Marzialetti-Postiglione-Scarpetta (Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo-Best Lap), ahead of Di Benedetto-Nicolosi-Pezzucchi (Porsche 992 Cup-KMS).

In the GT Cup PRO-AM class, Demarchi-Patrinicola-Di Mare (Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo) emerged victorious, leading for the entire two hours of the race thanks to a great start by Patrinicola. Di Mare and, in the final stages, Demarchi completed the masterpiece that allowed them to claim their second victory of the season ahead of Galbiati-Piria (Porsche 992 Cup-EF Racing), a crew that has now risen to second place in the overall standings.

The GT3 PRO-AM title will also be decided in the final race at Vallelunga, where the Best Lap representatives will arrive with a 20-point lead over Galbiati-Piria and 28 points ahead of Fischbaum-Pavlovic (Lamborghini Huracan ST-Bonaldi Motorsport), who were absent in Monza. However, the regulations' score-dropping system considerably narrows the gap between these three crews.

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CAIOLA-FABI-IANNIELLO (LAMBORGHINI HURACAN ST-DL RACING), WINNERS IN GT CUP AM

DEMARCHI-PATRINICOLA-DI MARE (FERRARI 488 CHALLENGE EVO-BEST LAP), WINNERS IN GT3 PRO-AM