Mattia Michelotto and the Belgian Gilles Stadsbader (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2) are the winners of race 1 GT3 of the second round of the Italian Gran Turismo Sprint Championship underway at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
The race was interrupted about 3 minutes from the end due to an accident with the victory of Denes-Bartholomew (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2), but the Imperiale Racing crew was excluded from the classification after the race due to a technical irregularity (car was underweight in the technical checks), thus handing the victory to the VSR standard bearers ahead of the Audi R8 LMS (Tresor Audi Sport Italia) of Moncini-Cola and the Lambo of teammates Cazzaniga-Di Folco.
Double success for Antonelli Motorsport in the subclasses with Sandrucci-Wiebelhaus (Mercedes AMG GT3) first in GT3 Pro-AM, while in GT3 AM the victory went to teammates McGee-McIntosh.
For the record, Giacomo and Matteo Pollini (Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo2-Giacomo Race) climbed to the top step of the podium in the race reserved for the GT Cup class, with their second victory of the season, ahead of Borelli-Casè (Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo -AF Corse) and Milner-Hancock (Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo2-RS Historics), but the ranking is not yet definitive as the Stewards are evaluating some measures.
The last two races of the first round are scheduled for tomorrow (2.20pm GT3 and 4.30pm GT Cup) which will be broadcast live on Acisport (SKY 228) and Raisport (DT 58) as well as on the championship’s social channels.
GT3: It could have been a fantastic victory for the Imperiale Racing crew, gained since the official tests which saw the two drivers obtain both poles. An absolute superiority manifested right from the start with Denes who immediately pulled ahead of Michelotto, handing the car over to his co-equiper at the driver change with an advantage of almost 5 seconds. In the second stint Bartholomew increased his lead over his pursuers, bringing his Lambo to cross the finish line first ahead of Michelotto-Stadsbader’s Huracan. The crew of Vincenzo Sospiri’s team could do nothing against the excessive power of the winners, among other things in the early stages the young driver from Veneto had problems getting the tires up to temperature, however in the post-race period the situation changed in their favour, after the stewards excluded the “field” winners from the rankings due to the underweight of the car verified during the technical checks.
Truly a turn of events that awarded the VSR bearers their second success of the season ahead of Moncini-Cola (Tresor Audi Sport Italia) who immediately redeemed themselves after the misfortune in race 2 at Misano, completing a capital performance, thanks to an excellent first stint of the young driver from Brescia who stayed close to the leaders and an equally profitable second stint by Cola who confirmed third place (which later became second) ahead of Cazzaniga-Di Folco. The VSR crew closed close to the podium in a race which saw Cazzaniga fighting in his stint with Lappalainen, Di Amato and Denis, while Di Folco controlled the position achieved despite the five-second penalty for an irregular gearbox, which had no impact on the final ranking.
Fourth place overall goes to Mercedes AMG colors thanks to Sandrucci-Wiebelhaus who, with the Antonelli Motorsport car, also achieved victory in the GT3 PRO-AM, preceding Bontempelli-Trulli (Ferrari 296 GT3). The performance of the Easy Race drivers was capital, in particular that of the 19-year-old Enzo Trulli, son of the former F1 driver Jarno, who in the second stint, after taking the car from the driver from Monza, recovered about ten positions, closing fifth place and ahead of the second Audi of Mazzola-Delli Guanti, and the BMW M4 of Malvestiti-Ebrahim.
Much bad luck, however, for the second M4, that of Dennis-Klingmann, only 18th at the finish line, after at the beginning of the second stint the German driver returned to the pits to change a tire following a slight contact with the Audi by Delli Guanti.
The top ten is completed by the eighth place of Berto-Jelmini (Honda NSX GT3-Nova Race) who finished ahead of Postiglione-Coluccio (Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020) and Di Giusto-Alatalo (Aston Martin Vantage GT3-L&A Infinity) .
Only 19th and 20th place for Moulin-Fabi (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2-DL Racing) and Lappalainen-Nurmi (Ferrari 296 GT3-AF Corse), involved in an accident in the closing stages of the race, while fighting for 5th position , which then forced the race director to display the red flag.
Also in GT3 AM, success went to a Mercedes AMG GT3, that of McGee-McIntosh, 15th overall, which allows the American drivers to maintain the lead in the provisional classification with full points.
 win race 1 in Imola){kind=link}