Italian GT - Six Ferraris to start at Imola

Imola, 28 April 2017 - The 2017 season of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship opens this weekend at Imola, with the powerful GT cars racing in a now proven format.   Super GT3. Twelve latest generation GT3 cars will be taking part in the highest class, which this year will award two titles. Six crews of two PRO drivers each will compete for the Italian Gran Turismo Super GT3 PRO Championship. There will be three Ferrari 488 GT3s: that of reigning champions Mirko Venturi and Stefano Gai (Black Bull Swisse Racing), plus Matteo Malucelli and Eddie Cheever III (Scuderia Baldini 27) and Niccolò Schirò paired with Jaime Melo (Easy Race). The Italian Gran Turismo Super GT3 Championship will include another six cars, among them the 488 GT3 of Japan's Motoaki Ishikawa (AF Corse), who will race alone.   GT3 and GT Cup. Following the retirement of Nicola Benucci and Simone Nipoli for a period of mourning that involved the MP1 Corse team, there will be three cars at Imola. These include the 458 Italia GT3 of Easy Race driven by Francesco La Mazza and Marco Magli. Four cars will be competing in the GT Cup including the 458 Challenge EVO of CAAL Racing with Leonardo Baccarelli.   Programme. The programme opens on Saturday with the two official test rounds (8.30 am to 10 am), while the two races will start at 12:40 pm (GT Cup) and at 1:55 pm (SGT3-GT3). On Sunday, the two races will be at 1:55 pm (SGT3-GT3) and at 3:55 pm (GT Cup). The races will be broadcast live on Rai Sport (SGT3-GT3) and AutomotoTV (GT Cup) as well as streamed live on www.acisport.it/CIGT. The races last for 48 minutes + 1 lap.