Italian GT Imola: Antonelli Motorsport wins lights-to-flag

On the day Kimi Antonelli won the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, his father’s team delivered a home win of its own. Antonelli Motorsport took victory in the penultimate Italian GT Championship (CIGT) Endurance round at Imola, as Guy Albag and Lorenzo Ferrari controlled the race in the #64 AKM Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 after Albag passed pole-sitter David Perel at the start.

Contact at Tosa brings out the safety car

The start ran cleanly with Albag immediately grabbing the lead from pole sitter David Perel in the #50 Spirit of Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, until the #25 Africa Racing by Dragon Ferrari 296 GT3 of Xolile Letlaka and #33 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Murat Çuhadaroğlu collided at the exit of Tosa, both cars ending in the barriers and triggering the first safety car. Racing resumed after around ten minutes, with Ibrahim Badawi in the #62 Double TT Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 slipping from third to fifth. Perel kept the pressure on the leading Mercedes and forced Albag into a mistake at Variante Alta, where he ran wide onto the gravel, though the AKM car held its advantage.

Antonelli edges clear

The first pit-stop window arrived around the half-hour mark, Perel and Albag coming in together. Lorenzo Ferrari took over the #64 while Rafael Duran replaced Perel in the #50, and Duran emerged third after Ariel Levi, in for Andrea Frassineti, passed him in the pit lane in the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3. Duran soon lost another place, then dropped to fifth after a brief safety car, while the AKM Mercedes stayed in front.

With 130 minutes left, Levi began hunting the leading Mercedes, while the #36 Oregon Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 ran third. AKM answered at its second stop, and although Levi tried to make an overcut work, a misunderstanding in a yellow-flag zone cost him time and the move never came. The #64 pulled clear through the second half, stretching its lead beyond five and then ten seconds, while Spirit of Racing’s undercut lifted Perel to second on older tyres as he held up the chasing pack.

Tresor Attempto’s charge ends in smoke

The Audi’s recovery continued regardless. Frassineti, having taken over from Alex Aka, climbed from sixth to third with just over an hour to go, and after a further safety-car restart, Levi passed Duran for second with 40 minutes left, the AKM car still around seven seconds up the road. It came to nothing. The brake disc that had already cost the Audi pace, left it unable to break clear, and after contact from Andrew Rackstraw’s #51 Spirit of Racing Ferrari the car trailed smoke, slid down the order and pitted to retire.

Spirit of Racing complete the podium

That left AKM Motorsport to take the win, Albag and Ferrari some 18 seconds clear of the #51 Spirit of Racing Ferrari of Francesco Braschi, Riccardo Ponzio and Andrew Rackstraw, whose second place also sealed the Pro-Am class win. Perel and Duran brought the #50 home third, having lost a potential second place in a scrimmage with Rackstraw in traffic. The #36 Oregon Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 finished fourth, with the #85 Imperiale Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 fifth.

Krypton takes the GT Cup title

Krypton by DL Racing turned a qualifying setback into a championship. The #231 Ferrari 296 Challenge of Francesco Galli, Simone Iaquinta and Luigi Ferrara had been dropped to third in class on the grid for a red-flag speeding penalty, but recovered to lead the GT Cup home in 20th overall. The win was enough for Ferrara and Galli to secure the Division 1 Am title with a round to spare. The #232 Rossocorsa held second in class despite a five-second penalty, finishing 0.265sec clear of the #269 Zanasi Racing Ferrari 296 Challenge.

Championship picture

The win lifts Albag and Ferrari to the top of the outright GT3 standings on 56 points with a round to run, 13 ahead of #63 VSR Lamborghini Huracán GT3 drivers Mattia Michelotto, Ignazio Zanon and Edoardo Liberati who suffered a dreadful weekend. In GT3 Pro-Am the #85 Imperiale Racing crew of Andrea Cola, Lautaro De la Iglesia and Phillippe Denes hold a six-point lead over Duran and Perel. The GT3 Am fight has reopened after pre-event leaders Murat Çuhadaroğlu, David Fumanelli and Marco Pulcini retired in the Tosa contact, leaving the #93 Kessel Racing trio of Oscar Ryndziewicz, Giovanni Altoè and Giacomo Altoè on top after winning the class.

In GT Cup, Ferrara and Galli have already secured the Division 1 Am title. Division 1 Pro-Am swung to the #163 DL Racing of Pietro Agoglia, Mattia Bucci and Alessandro Cremona, who move into the class lead after the #150 Spirit of Racing retired, while the #577 Tsunami RT crew edged to the front of Division 2 Am by a single point. Every title bar the settled Division 1 Am will be decided at Mugello.

Final rounds

The Endurance championship has one round left, the Mugello finale on 30 October to 1 November. Before that, the CIGT Sprint championship races at Monza from 9 to 11 October.