Weekend Notebook: Ferrari battle for victory at Misano

The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli played host to round two of the Italian Gran Turismo Sprint Championship at the weekend, with the Ferraris in the limelight with wins and prestigious results. The two 50-minute plus one lap races at the Romagna track ended with the two Scuderia Baldini crews topping the overall standings: third place went to Stefano Gai and Nelson Panciatici, 9 points off the top, while Daniele Di Amato and José Manuel Urcera, fourth, sit 10 points behind the leaders. In the GT Cup Luigi Coluccio and Rocco Mazzola retained the leadership.

CIGT Sprint. In Race-1 Di Amato-Urcera took the overall win in the no. 27 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, after a noteworthy comeback completed in the final laps. Fifth spot went to the Easy Race-run Ferrari of Daniel Vebster and Riccardo Agostini, while the second Scuderia Baldini car, handled by Gai-Panciatici, finished seventh.

In the GT Cup, Coluccio and Mazzola in the Easy Race Ferrari 488 Challenge secured second place, recovering after a troublesome start. In GT3 Am, third place went to the Ferrari GT3 Evo 2020 of AF Corse featuring Angelo Negro and Han Huilin.

In the second race hampered by three Safety Car entrances, the Gai-Panciatici pairing finished in second place overall, having witnessed their dreams of victory fade away in the final moments at the end of a captivating duel.

Agostini-Vebster, having started from pole and after holding on to the race lead for several laps, were unable to defend the leadership in the second leg of the race, concluding in fifth place ahead of the Ferrari crewed by Urcera-Di Amato, who slipped from fourth to sixth place after a penalty of almost four seconds for an irregular change.

In the GT Cup, the bottom podium place went to the Ferrari 488 Challenge of Mazzola-Coluccio, seized on the final lap. Third place also for AF Corse’s Alessandro Cozzi in the GT3 Am. Samuele Buttarelli and Alessandro Berton in the SR&R Ferrari 488 Challenge took second in the GT Cup Am class.

The third round of the Italian Gran Turismo Sprint Championship is scheduled from 1 to 4 September at Imola.