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    Weekend notebook: first season title for Ferrari

    Maranello 04 luglio 2022

    The Ferraris involved in three championships on Italian tracks enjoyed a busy weekend. Monza hosted round three of the European Le Mans Series, which saw Davide Rigon, Matteo Cressoni, and Claudio Schiavoni first to cross the line at the end of the 4 Hours, only to be disqualified for a manoeuvre performed after the chequered flag, considered irregular by the stewards. After Iron Lynx lodged an appeal, the result remains provisional. The Lombardy track also hosted a leg of the Le Mans Cup, with the number 52 Ferrari of AF Corse finishing fifth. Finally, the Sprint Series of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AMS took place at Imola in Romagna, where Pierre Alexandre Jean and Ulysse de Pauw were crowned champions.

    GT World Challenge Europe. As mentioned above, Pierre Alexandre Jean and Ulysse de Pauw in AF Corse’s 2020 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo sealed the Silver Cup Sprint series title at Imola with a round to go. The crew mathematically sealed the title with second place in Race-1 and victory in the second outing.

    In contrast, Cedric Sbirrazzuoli and Hugo Delacour were unlucky on the Romagna track. On lap one of Race-1, the number 21 Ferrari of AF Corse collided with the number 25 Audi of Saintéloc Junior, which spun after contact with Eddie Cheever’s Mercedes at the Quercia corner. Unfortunately, the AF Corse pairing was forced to retire due to damage that also ruled them out of Race-2. Sbirrazzuoli also lost the lead in the Pro Am class standings, now held by Miguel Ramos and Dean MacDonald, who pulled off a double-win at Imola. AF Corse’s number 52 Ferrari finished behind them in both races, complicating the title battle for Andrea Bertolini and Louis Machiels. They are now 20.5 points off the top with just one round to the end of the championship. The final and deciding Sprint Series Pro-Am leg runs at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit from 16 to 18 September.

    European Le Mans Series. The Monza race results remain provisional after the stewards disqualified LMGTE class winners Davide Rigon, Matteo Cressoni and Claudio Schiavoni: after crossing the finish line first, Iron Lynx’s reigning champions stopped on the track on their way to the Parc Fermé and were pushed into the pits by Ferrari number 83. The stewards considered the manoeuvre irregular and therefore disqualified the number 60 car. The Iron Lynx team lodged an appeal, and the results remain provisional. 

    In the race, before the disqualification, third place went to the number 57 Ferrari 488 GTE of Kessel Racing with Takeshi Kimura, Frederik Schandorff and Mikkel Jensen at the wheel. The number 83 Iron Lynx Ferrari, crewed by Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy, came fifth.

    It was a close race, with the top five crews all battling for the lead over the four hours.

    Rinaldi Racing’s number 32 Ferrari with Ehret-Varrone-Lancieri followed them over the line, finishing sixth despite being involved in an accident only sixteen minutes into the race. The JMW Motorsport car of Petrobelli-Hudspeth-Payne took seventh place, followed by the number 55 of Spirit of Race with Cameron-Griffin-Perel and finally the number 33 of Rinaldi Racing with Hook-Crestani-Bleekemolen.

    The fourth round of the series will take place at the Barcelona circuit in Spain over the weekend of 28 August.

    Le Mans Cup. The Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 number 52 took fifth in the 110-minute race held at the Monza circuit, which counts as the fourth round of the Le Mans Cup championship. Gino Forgione and Andrea Montermini took turns at the wheel of the AF Corse car. The Piacenza-based team’s second Ferrari, initially included in the entry list, did not participate in the competition.

    The next round of the Le Mans Cup championship is scheduled for Saturday, 24 September, at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.