Two Lamborghini Huracan in front of everyone at the end of Race-1 in Imola, where the Italian Gran Turismo Sprint Championship is enjoying its second weekend of the season. The #85 Imperiale Racing car driven by Philip Denes and Jack Bartholomew brought the Mirandola team back to the top step of the podium, ahead of the green-yellow twin of the VSR Racing team. Third place for Moncini and Cola’s Audi; in Pro-Am victory for Sandrucci and Wiebelhaus.
Denes escapes, Bartholomew administers
The start was perfect for Philippe Denes, who was able to bring his Lamborghini ahead of everyone thanks to a start that burned all his rivals. The car from Sant’Agata proved to be particularly at ease on the Romagna track, prepared to perfection by Imperiale Racing. The American extended his lead over Michelotto to around 5 seconds, before stopping on lap 14 to hand the wheel over to his co-team Jack Bartholomew.
The Englishman then found himself with a similar advantage over Gilles Stadbader, with the Belgian who in the meantime had taken Michelotto’s place. In the final part, therefore, Bartholomew was able to manage the advantage, safeguarding the vehicle and taking home a well-deserved first success. Stadsbader, however, concentrated on managing second place, which allowed him to confirm his lead in the overall classification, also thanks to the problems suffered by the other crews. However, his management was not at all simple, given the temperatures reached today in Imola, which gave the crews no respite.
Audi third, Nurmi and Fabi out
TO complete the podium it was there Audi R8 LMS by Tresor Audi Sport Italia, with Cola capitalizing on the excellent work done by Moncini in the first phase. The Italian also benefited from a contact between Delli Guanti’s sister car and Klingmann’s BMW M4 GT3, with the German thus finding himself having to make an additional stop after taking the wheel from Jake Dennis, the reigning FE champion who replaced Hesse for the occasion.
The race ended early due to a red flag displayed after the contact between Nurmi and Fabi, which ended both of their races and flooded the track with debris. It’s a shame, because the red flag thwarted a beautiful overtaking at Tamburello by the comeback Enzo Trulli against the Mercedes AMG GT3 of Wiebelhaus.
Mercedes to success in Pro-Am and Am
The German himself, paired with Gustavo Sandruccigot the success in the category Pro Am, ahead of the 296 of the talented Trulli and Bontempelli. Third position for the #8 of Ceccato Racing, with the pairing of Ebrahim and Malvestiti. As for AM, Mercedes and Antonelli Motorsport are still ahead of everyone, with the American pair of McGee and McIntosh preceding the Honda NSX of Ciglia and Magnoni.
See you tomorrow with the second race of the Italian GT Sprint Championship in Imola, which will close the second round of the season; we’ll see who will be able to undermine the dominance Lamborghinis seen on the track today.
From Imola – Nicola Saglia
