Alessandro Balzan and Dylan Medler clinch Italian GT title: "To achieve this with Rinaldi is really special"

Alessandro Balzan and Dylan Medler won a rainy Italian GT Endurance finale at Mugello with both the race victory and the championship for Rinaldi Racing. After three hours of back-to-back Full Course Yellows and Safety Cars, Balzan still had one final restart to do while Medler watched from the garage with the team.

The #45 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo crew survived an afternoon in which several championship contenders ran into big trouble. Guy Albag and Lorenzo Ferrari’s #64 Antonelli Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 lost two laps after he was tapped into a spin during an overtake, while a drive-through penalty complicated the #66 VSR Lamborghini’s goal to get the championship.

The #72 DL Racing Lamborghini remained in contention until late contact with the #24 Dinamic GT Porsche ended its hopes, opening the way for Balzan and Medler to take the race and title. For Balzan, it was the opportunity to settle unfinished business in the championship. “I did the Italian GT [championship] a few times in my career and I always missed the win at the very last race,” he tells GT REPORT.

“So today, to achieve this with a win, with Dylan and with Rinaldi, is very special. I’m really happy. This was a box I wanted to tick off for a while.”

Balzan backs Rinaldi’s pace at the final restart

Rain and low temperatures made the finale difficult from the outset. Following delays to the earlier races, the field got underway behind the Safety Car at around 13:30 CET. Further Safety Car periods and Full Course Yellows repeatedly interrupted the race as drivers struggled for grip and conditions worsened. Medler moved into third during the opening green-flag running, keeping the Rinaldi Ferrari in the leading group. As the race developed, the crew’s prospects improved through the setbacks their rivals encounered. The final restart still left Balzan with another difficult lap to complete on cold tyres.

“When the engineer told me, ‘Ale, we are going to restart the race again’, it was not exactly what I was hoping for,” Balzan says. “But we knew that today the Rinaldi car was extremely fast in the rain. Even if the restart was tricky with the tyres getting really cold, I said, ‘Just don’t make any mistake, put your head down. One lap, you can do this.’ And it’s an incredible satisfaction.”

The team kept Balzan informed of the championship picture, although the position of the recovering #66 Lamborghini meant there was little room to relax. “The engineer told me what the championship points were. They said, ‘Look, if you stay third, we are okay.’ But we didn’t know what the #66 could have done at that point, especially with the restart. And I said, ‘You know what? I have speed. I’m going to try to take not too many risks and try to take the lead.’ That’s the best I could do.”

Medler’s nervous wait in the garage

For Medler, the closing stages meant trusting his teammate while watching a race that had already changed direction several times. “I was extremely nervous at the end of the race, but I knew the car was in amazing hands,” the American driver tells proudly. “I knew he was going to be able to take it all the way through. It was super tricky, though, the whole race. So coming to a conclusion was amazing, especially with the result that we had.”

Inside the Rinaldi garage, nobody wanted to celebrate before Balzan had completed the final lap. They watched nervously as the race continued and crept closer to the end. No final stint has probably ever felt so long. “We were just trying not to say anything that would jinx it,” Medler said. “Because it’s just one lap, but you never know what happens. There had been so many Safety Cars this whole race, so we just wanted to finish.”

The championship rewarded a season of work with the German team, whose Ferrari had the pace to fight at the front in Mugello’s difficult conditions. “We’ve been working with Rinaldi all year,” Medler continued. “They’ve been delivering a great product. An amazing team, a great family here. We’ve been pretty successful this year: a few good races and this championship.”

A Tuscan celebration before returning to America

After an afternoon spent managing cold tyres, poor visibility and championship calculations, Balzan has a straightforward plan for the evening: “I think a very good bistecca alla Fiorentina tonight,” he smiles. “Because in a couple of days we are both flying to America again. That’s where I live. And we’re thinking about 2027 now. It’s around the corner already!”