David Perel and Rafael Durán secured the Italian GT Endurance Pro-Am championship with fourth in class at Mugello. The #50 Spirit of Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo duo entered the final round six points behind the championship leaders and battled through three hours of rain, Safety Cars and Full Course Yellows to take the title.
Perel ran as high as second overall, gaining massively on their championship rivals during his middle stint. He struggled with pace and visibility when he returned to the car for the finish, while Durán’s running was so frequently interrupted that he counted just three green-flag laps.
Perel builds an advantage in the middle stint
Perel drove the opening stint and initially lost positions while searching for grip. “I did the start, I did the middle and I did the end,” he tells GT REPORT. “At the start, I was just figuring out which direction to go with the wet lines. In the first two laps, I actually dropped places.
“But then there was a Safety Car, and I hit the brakes too late into Turn 1 and overtook all the way into P3. Then I saw what the leaders were doing, copied them and found the rhythm.”
His second stint helped put the Ferrari ahead of their title rivals: “In the second stint, we were flying,” he says. “We made the difference in the second stint because we actually pulled a lap on our championship competitors.” The Ferrari had been running second overall, but Perel found the car harder to drive when he returned for his final stint.
Earlier in the weekend at Mugello, the weather was the complete opposite.
“Then I got back in the car for the final stint and the pace was completely gone. The visibility was going down. There was a massive mark on our windscreen which came from somewhere, and I could not see. At the final two restarts, on the straight, I was just lifting. I’ve raced at the Nordschleife and done so many Spa 24 Hours, but I have not experienced visibility that bad. It was dark and the spray was insane.”
Praise for the team
Perel brought the Ferrari home fourth in Pro-Am. Although that was enough for the championship, he had hoped to finish on the class podium after their earlier pace. “We crossed the line and we were champions, so that’s cool. I’m happy to be champion. When I think long term, I’ll remember the middle stint and I’ll remember being champion,” Perel says.
“But after being so strong in the middle stint, being P2 overall and not at least finishing on the podium in Pro-Am, that’s a downer, actually,” the South-African admits.
However, Perel focusses on the positives and has beautiful words for his team who helped both him and his teammate through this tough race. “The team did fantastic. Rafael did his job,” he says. “Marco, my engineer here, is almost a guarantee that if you race with him, you’ll be champion in this series. So the pressure is on the drivers!”
Perel was also happy for Rinaldi Racing – a team he obviously knows very well – who clinched the overall title. “I’m really happy for Michele Rinaldi, because he puts his heart and soul into racing,” Perel continues. “He cares so much about the results. It’s not just about us, it’s for him. He had a lot on the line this weekend that people wouldn’t really understand. But they pulled it off, so I’m happy for him.”
‘In the whole race, I did three green laps’
For Durán, the final laps brought back memories of the GT Open Spa 500 earlier this year, in which a late problem had cost him and Tommaso Mosca a big result. “We were in P2 with 12 minutes to go, and then we ran out of fuel,” he recalls. “That was the only thing in the back of my mind now. The race finished, we were the champions, but it was just about getting across the line.”
The repeated changes between green-flag running, Full Course Yellow and Safety Car periods gave him little opportunity to get comfortable in the car. “In the whole race, I did three green laps,” he explains. “That was it. All my green laps were after a Full Course Yellow or a Safety Car, so the temperatures were never high. I was just trying to survive!
“The last hour of the race was a bit much, frankly. It was the worst condition I’ve ever driven in, and thank God we have something to come out of it. It would have been tough if we hadn’t got into such a good position for the 100-minute mark.”
No trophy, but a boosted ego
Conditions worsened throughout the race and everyone seemed to be going all in at all moments, causing multiple incidents. With a lot being on the line for the crew of the #50 Ferrari, Durán kept his head cool and backed out of some fights – rather playing it smart than letting it all wash down the drain to fight off a car.
“There was one point in my last stint where the sister car of the championship leader came up alongside me and started playing quite dirty, so I just let it go. All we needed to do was finish in front, and that was it. With that, we took the championship. I think it was mostly letting these guys play around, bringing the car home and surviving”, he says.
With fourth in class, there was no race podium trophy to collect. Durán joked about what he would take away from the weekend instead. “No trophy in the end. I get a boosted ego!” he laughs. “Aside from that, not really any trophy. I can write it on my CV!”
The celebrations will have to be delayed for a bit, as both Perel and Durán will be back in the car on Monday to test at Paul Ricard ahead of their Asian Le Mans Series campaign.
