This weekend the Italian GT Championship, still shocked by the loss of Andrea Mamè, a true gentleman who pursued his passion all through his too short life, will race at the beautiful track of Mugello, which some say is a little version of the old Nürburgring. This will be the penultimate round before the summer break, which begins and ends at Imola later this month and in September.
We’ll begin as usual with the BoP, but maybe this time the “upper echelon” read DSC and decided not to mess with the status quo. Everyone will be in the same configuration as at the last round in Austria, except that the Audis will be 20kg lighter. We suspect that won’t be enough to allow the R8 to challenge for the top step of the podium (a little larger restrictor should be enough) but it’s a start!
The entry list this time shows a significant returnee, the Autorlando Sport Porsche. The 2012 spec car will be driven by the very young kart talent Antonio Spavone and the GT Open driver Isaac Tutumlu. But the real expectations for all the Porsches should be not as high as normal because somehow, someway the Stuttgart cars always struggle at the Ferrari official test track. Instead, last year’s race saw a BMW feud with two 1-2 finishes. Another change in the driver lineup relates to the second Audi R8, which will be driven solo by Alex Frassineti; no Kristofferson this time. We also miss the second Lamborghini from Mik Corse, while the Easy Race Ferrari 458 will have Francesco La Mazza and Stefano Pezzucchi at the wheel. Another new entry is a 458 for the Grand-Am driver Jeffrey Segal, partnered by Lawrence Stoll.
The Cup class still will be a one make Porsche category but we welcome back for this one from the US Domenico “Mimmo” Schiattarella. We all still remember fondly his drive with the Olive Garden Ferrari 333 SP and 550 with the team founded by Gabriele Rafanelli…good old times. Anyway, he will drive the GDL car with Enrico Quinzio.
The weather should play a part this time because on Sunday we can expect some showers – just to mix-up even more the already Rubik’s-Cube pattern of this 2013 season.
Gabriele Tosi
