Press release 35/2019 21.10.2019
On the two glorious and famous tracks of Monza and Le Castellet the weekend just ended saw the end of the Classic Endurance Racing and the Italian GT Sprint Championship, where the Bergamo team deploys 4 cars. The 934 Turbo (# 53) in France to confirm Andrea Cabianca’s second place in the standings alongside, as at the first race in Barcelona, the illustrious Alex Caffi. At Monza two 718 Caymans for Ghezzi-Camathias (# 276), and Cerati-Chiesa (# 275) with the help of the Baruchelli-Bravetti 997 GT4 (# 277) had to try to finish the championship well after winning the Endurance title with Chiesa-Ghezzi two weeks before at Mugello.
At Paul Ricard, at the end of a weekend threatened by rain, Andrea and Alex instead played the three sessions always on the dry and with slick tyres. On Saturday they qualified the car with the eleventh time, not far from the direct rival on BMW M1 in third position in the general standing. The race on Sunday confirms the car’s excellent behavior and adaptation of the drivers to the track with Cabianca that from the start to the pit stop drives in an orderly and constant way leaving the car in Caffi in 7th class position; at that moment the BMW is in front but not enough. This, however, is not enough for the crew and Caffi makes a series of laps in 2 ‘e10″ overtaking two car, and ending the race in 5th class position sufficient to allow Andrea Cabianca to become vice-champion European of the GT2 class champion.
On the Monzese track, even here the rain threatens all weekend and in fact from the qualifications onwards it will become protagonist by mixing cards and forcing the team to change strategies during race.
In the free practice on dry asphalt the three cars of the Autorlando-Sport not going beyond the third class place in FP1 for the #276, seventh and ninth respectively for #275 and #277.
Saturday morning the track wakes up under heavy rain, turning the circuit into a strip of treacherous asphalt for cars and drivers. It starts at 10:00 with Q1 that sees the crews occupy the fifth position with Ghezzi’s #276, the eighth position with Cerati’s #275 and the ninth with Baruchelli #277. A different conclusion in Q2 which sees Chiesa with #275 gains the second position immediately ahead of teammate Camathias’ car #276. Eighth place instead for car #277 with Bravetti.
Race 1 it is scheduled on the same afternoon on a difficult track conditions which makes race very hard-fought and quite daring but the mechanisms of the Team work perfectly and allow the car # 276 of Ghezzi-Camathias to conquer the first position and with it the victory of class. Seventh the car # 275 and tenth the #277. Race two, at 2.00 pm on Sunday afternoon, he doesn’t deny himself and starts with uncertain weather, but the whole teams on grid opt for slick tires; for all the cars the first laps are very intense until the safety car enters just a few minutes after the end of the race time which coincidentally corresponds to the beginning of the rain which adds further difficulty to the teams for the strategies. Some cars come back to change dry tires to wet, others stay out and this turns out to be the winning choice; the # 276 car risks the rain tires but it goes down in the standings up to the fifth place that will keep until the finish line after having driven the group for several laps. Immediately behind car # 275 and # 277.
The result of race 2 which did not allow the team to celebrate a further victory but which allowed to further consolidate the third class position of a 2019 championship which ended with joy and enthusiasm from the whole Team for the results obtained on the track.
So they finish two other important European championships for the team that even this weekend managed bringing their drivers to celebrate on the podium; an applause then goes once again to those who manage the team, Orlando Redolfi and to the boys, mechanics and engineers who also this week-end worked impeccably.
News and results:
www.peterauto.peter.fr/en/dix-mille-tours-2/
