Press Release 08/2019 07.05.2018
This weekend the first race of the Italian GT Sprint Championship got underway in the wonderful setting of the Vallelunga circuit and as usual, during the two free practice sessions on Friday the drivers were (re)able to become familiar with the track; this proved to be very useful especially for the Autorlando-Sport driver Riccardo Chiesa aboard the Cayman #275, making his debut on the Roman circuit after his first race on the Italian GT Championship Endurance in Monza and for Joel Camathias, a welcome return after the titles won with the Team in previous years.
The weather did not spare surprises even this time and in fact the Qualify of Saturday morning took place in the rain, with the car #276 that in Q1 conquer the P2 class, P12 absolute, with Ghezzi and the #275 that conquers the P4 class, P17 absolute with Cerati. In Q2 instead the car n ° 276 has conquered a stupendous Pole position of class with Camathias, that is also worth a twelfth absolute position, followed by the car n ° 275 with Church, third of class and fourteenth absolute, author also of a excellent performance given the few km made on the track.
Saturday afternoon, race 1 started with precarious track conditions, always due to the weather with the pilots riding slick tires with a track that was still wet. Ghezzi starts discreetly but struggles to find the rhythm also because of the intervention of the Safety Car. At the opening of the Pit window the car # 276 is called to the pits for the driver change, but a non-perfect stop precludes the Team from the possibility of concluding on the podium. However, the Ghezzi-Camathias pair closed at the foot of the podium with a good fourth place finish. Also the race of the car # 275 was put in crisis by the presence of the Safety Car and nothing was worth the attempt of comeback of the two drivers: despite a regular pace of Cerati and a Chiesa rhythm that grew lap by lap, the two close class eighths, absolute twentieths.
Even on Sunday, the crazy weather tested team strategies as the 13.40 race takes place under uncertain weather conditions. At the start Camathias maintains the 1st class place of the GT4 category increasing the advantage until the pit time, where the driver change takes place in excellent mode. However, a few laps after the return, the # 276 has to retire due to technical problems when Ghezzi was driving. A bitter withdrawal above all because the crew was aiming for a victory that was coming around each lap. Race not easy even for the Chiesa-Cerati on # 275, which after the driver change they are forced to go back to the pits for a violent storm that hit the circuit, and finding the car of the couple Camathias-Ghezzi in the pitch to make even more difficult the mechanics operations. The couple will finish in seventh-class position at the end of a weekend of alternating phases, where the good performance of the drivers in the different sessions carried out are to be combined with the efforts of the Team to bring out the best from the car-driver combination. The disqualification of the SIN allow #275 to gain a position but the 6th place is sub-judice because the decision has been appealed. We want also to highlight the wonderful performance of Joel Camathias on his first return, which saw him at the head of the GT4 category for the whole length of his stint, managing to keep behind also GT Light cars, superior by category, for several laps.
The next round of the Italian GT Championship will be for the “Endurance” group on the Misano Adriatico circuit on the weekend of May 19th, hoping that the Riviera Romagnola will give the cars a better weather so that the drivers’ talents and the performance of the cars can express themselves at their best performance. The fans hope to see battles on the track and duels at the last corner and we hope that the team and the riders will be able to finish the race weekend well.
Info e results:
http://www.acisport.it/it/CIGT/home
