The Ferrari-Audi duel will characterize the second act of the Italian Grand Touring Championship, race to be held this coming weekend at the Paul Ricard circuit, the same venue that will house the Formula 1 French Grand Prix next June 24th. The two races in France follow the great opener held two weeks ago in Imola. In that occasion, the Ferrari 488 of Fisichella-Gai (Scuderia Baldini 27) and the Audi R8 LMS of Baruch-Fässler, clinched one win each as the crews are currently in the top two of the GT3 classification.

Audi Sport Italia will count on Benoit Treluyer for the two French races, as he has been protagonist last year with Vittorio Ghirelli, but this year will share the drive with Marcel Fässler. These are two great champions, both winners of three 24 Hours of Le Mans, that add some prestige to the Italian series and that will share driving duties with the Israeli Bar Baruch.

In Paul Ricard, the 488 run by the team located near Rome will be sided by the sister car run by Easy Race for Mancinelli-Fontana, but the Ferrari – Audi duel will also have the Lamborghini as the third force in the field since the Lamborghini crews have already been shining in Imola. Vedel-Veglia and Zampieri-Altoè, both wearing Antonelli Motorsport colors, can aim to the top step of the podium, as Palma-Barri (Petri Corse) and the new entry Mezard-Hiesse, a French crew that will make it to the start on a car run by SVC Sport Management.

Luca Magnoni and Luca Rangoni (Audi R8 LMS ultra-Nova Race) will also be present in GT3, while the winners of the two opening races of GT Cup Merendino-Di Benedetto (Porsche 991-Island Motorsport) will have to face the challenge of Pisani-Sauto (Porsche 997-Silipandi Racing). Two Ginetta run by Nova Race will compete in GT4 and will be driven by Magnoni-Rangoni and Marchetti-Kauppi.

The program: The two races of the second weekend of the season will be run on the traditional 45 minutes + 1 lap format, instead of the 56 + 1 lap run in Imola. The second racing weekend will kick off on Friday with free practice, two qualifying sessions will then be run on Saturday (at 12 and 13), while race-1 will follow at 18.10 and race-2 on Sunday at 14,30. Both races will be covered live by Rai Sport, on the Facebook page of the championship and in live streaming at www.acisport.it/CIGT.

 

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