Despite going wide at the first chicane and slipping down from first to fifth position, Marius Zug and Stefano Comandini where able to bounce back in their BMW Team Italia BMW M6 GT3 and take race 1 honors at Monza.
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Zug, who started the race, kept his cool after his mistake during the opening lap and successfully avoided losing any contact with the front runners, while teammate Comandini found his way past Alessandro Vezzoni (co-driving with Daniele Di Amato) in the RS Racing Ferrari 488 GT3, taking the overall lead and fending off a late attack from the Yuki Nemoto driven Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 (Yuki Nemoto/Tuomas Tujula).
An impressive third-place finish went to the championship leading Audi Sport Italia Audi R8 LMS GT3 of Riccardo Agostini and Mattia Drudi even after being pushed down the order due to a 20-second handicap penalty during their mandatory pitstop. Drudi had led the race and opened a small gap in the first stint.
Fourth place went to the Imperiale Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Kikko Galbiati and Giovanni Venturini. Behind them was the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 of Alessio Rovera and Giorgio Roda, while the Leonardo Pulcini, Danny Kroes driven Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 claimed sixth position.
The AKM Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Lorenzo Ferrari and Loris Spinelli, after having been running inside the top 5 throughout most of the race, suffered a late-race penalty which meant they could only salvage a seventh-place finish.
Daniele Di Amato and Alessandro Vezzoni clinched the eighth spot and a Pro-Am victory all while piloting the RS Racing Ferrari 488 GT3, with the Lorenzo Marcucci, Alex Frassineti LP Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 finished behind in ninth. Rounding out the top ten and clinching an Am victory was Stefano Pezzucchi in his Krypton Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The most entertaining battle of the race was seen in the GT4 class, with the Nova Race Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Luca Segù and Francesco De Luca scoring a thrilling race 1 victory ahead of the the Villorba Corse AMG GT4 of Andrea Belicchi and Jody Simone, and the Ebimotors Porsche Cayman GT4 of Riccardo Pera and Paolo Gnemmi.
The Simone Riccitelli, Francesco Guerra BMW Team Italia BMW M4 GT4 finished fourth ahead of the Sabino De Castro, Gianluigi Piccioli Ebimotors Porsche Cayman GT4.
GT4 Am class honors went to the Ebimotors Porsche Cayman GT4 of Alberto De Amicis and Mattia Di Giusto.
Matteo Greco and Riccardo Chiesa scored their fourth GT Cup victory in five races piloting their Easy Race Ferrari 488 Challenge.
Race 2 will take place on Sunday at 13:30 CET, with the last 50 minute + 1 lap sprint race set to be live streamed via Italian GT Championship’s Facebook page.
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