Weekend notebook: Ferrari wins at Mugello and Estoril

The Ferrari 296 GT3 scored two victories in the 24H Series at Estoril, while Fisichella and Mosca’s 488 GT3 Evo 2020 delivered a repeat win in the Endurance round of the Italian GT Championship at Mugello. Racing One was runner-up in the SP9 Pro Am class in the 6h ADAC Ruhr Pokal Rennen, round five of the Nürburgring Endurance Series. However, Emil Frey Racing’s two Maranello cars enjoyed less luck in the DTM at the Norisring.

24H Series. The Ferrari 296 GT3 bagged a brace at the Estoril circuit, the fourth and penultimate European round of the 24H Series. After setting off from pole, the new Maranello car of the German WTM by Rinaldi Racing team with Georg Weiss, Leonard Weiss, Jochen Krumbach and Torsten Kratz triumphed in the 6-hour Qualifying Race. It repeated the feat with overall victory, alongside the Am class win, in the 12-hour race at the Portuguese track.

A runner-up finish in the first race and third place in the long race for Kessel Racing’s 296 GT3 number 8, with LMDV, Alessandro Cutrera, Marco Talarico, Marco Frezza and David Fumanelli at the wheel, rounded off Ferrari’s excellent weekend.

The next appointment is on 16 September in Barcelona.

CIGT. After their debut victory at Pergusa, Giancarlo Fisichella and Tommaso Mosca of Scuderia Baldini prevailed again at Tuscany’s Mugello circuit. Starting from pole with the best time of 5’22”010, the sum of their three qualifying session times, the Italian pair comfortably led for the entire two hours in the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, crossing the finish line first and stretching their lead in the overall standings. The second Prancing Horse car, the number 51 of AF Corse, came fourth. After starting from third, Eliseo Donno challenged for third place until the last lap but failed to complete the decisive overtaking move. Stefano Gai and Jules Castro took turns at the wheel alongside the man from Salento, achieving third place in the GT3 Pro Am class.

In the GT Cup, Sabatino Di Mare, Luca Demarchi and Simone Patrinicola in the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo of Best Lap climbed the last step of the podium and came second in the Pro Am. The two SR&R cars lagged behind: the number 251, with Alessio Bacci, Francesco Atzori and Manuel Menichini, finished eighth overall and fifth in the Am class, just ahead of the number 252 crewed by Enrico Di Leo, Francesco La Mazza and the Chinese Kang Ling.

The next round of the Endurance series runs from 15 to 17 September at Monza, while the Sprint will hit the track at Mugello from 29 September to 1 October.

NLS. In the 6h ADAC Ruhr Pokal Rennen, round five of the Nürburgring Endurance Series, after its win in the SP9 Pro Am in the Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy, the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Racing One crewed by Axcil Jefferies and Christian Kohlhaas, secured second in the same class. It finished an excellent sixth overall. The championship now takes its summer break before resuming on 9 and 10 September with a double round: round six of the Adac Acas Cup and round seven of the Adac Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen.

DTM. The two Ferrari 296 GT3s of Emil Frey Racing suffered an unlucky weekend in round three of the championship at the Norisring circuit, with the returning Jack Aitken only managing a best result of 17th place in Race-1 (20th in Race-2). Young Thierry Vermeulen finished 20th and 21st, respectively. The DTM championship resumes from 4 to 6 August with round four at the Nürburgring.