Weekend notebook: Ferrari close to the podium in the GT WC Europe

The third race of the GT World Challenge Europe – Sprint Cup on the German Hockenheim circuit saw four Ferrari 296 GT3s competing in three different classes. The Emil Frey Racing team picked up the best result, in the Pro category.

Pro Class. In the first race over the 60-minute distance, the number 69 Ferrari 296 GT3 had to settle for fourth place, after a penalty at the end of the race resulting from a contact. After Albert Costa’s excellent stint, the young Thierry Vermeulen had entered the cockpit of Emil Frey Racing’s car, first picking up fourth place and, in the closing stages, overtaking Dries Vanthoor’s BMW to finish third under the chequered flag. The penalty meant the loss of one position in the standings however, with the Swiss team therefore ending the first instalment of the German weekend at the ‘foot’ of the Top 3; on Sunday, in Race-2, the Ferrari number 69 finished sixth.

The number 14 sister car of Giacomo Altoé and Konsta Lappalainen instead had more trouble, forced to abandon the contest prematurely in Race-1, with a partial comeback in Race-2, ending in 11th place in the Pro class.

Other classes. Two fifth places in the Silver Cup were the spoils of the number 71 Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by AF Corse and entrusted to Nicola Marinangeli and Sean Hudspeth, who continued to grow at the wheel of the Maranello manufacturer’s new car. The last Ferrari competed in the Bronze Cup. AF Corse’s number 52, with Andrea Bertolini and Louis Machiels at the steering wheel, was forced to retire in Race-1 following a contact between several cars, while it finished Race-2 in sixth place.

The next round of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup is scheduled for the weekend of 17 September at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia.