Benham & Tappy forced to miss Monza
Unfortunately @mikeybenham & I will not be racing at #Monza @GT_Open this weekend due to a testing accident last wk. We'll be back at Barca
— Duncan Tappy (@duncantappy) September 28, 2016
Duncan Tappy announced unfortunate news on twitter today, that he and teammate Michael Benham will not race at Monza after a shunt in testing.
The duo, who drive Garage 59’s #59 McLaren 650S GT3 and sit seventh in the Drivers Championshipp standings are set to be back for the final round at Barcelona. This means Garage 59 is down to a single 650S GT3 for the weekend, though a second McLaren is set to race in the hands of Balfe Motorsport.
Despite the clash with the Blancpain Sprint Series at Barcelona this weekend, French McLaren GT factory driver Côme Ledogar will still drive in the sole remaining GT Open Garage 59 McLaren with Alexander West. Andrew Watson, who is part of the McLaren GT Driver Academy and raced for Garage 59 in the Blancpain Endurance Cup, will take Côme’s place in the #59 for the Sprint Cup round, to race alongside fellow British driver Martin Plowman.
Debut for Glickenhaus 003
This weekend Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus will compete at Monza with locals Lorenzo Bontempelli and Mino Caccia at the wheel of its fan-favourite SCG03S.
The third generation of the supercar that stemmed from the project launched by American sportscar fan James Glickenhaus. It was designed by Paolo Garella and built by Manifattura Automobili Torino, and is equipped with a Honda V6 3.5 turbo engine.
The car, which has a GT3 racing homologation by the ADAC, has been racing this year in long-distance competitions of the VLN and 24 Hours series.
Kaspersky returns with 488
Love at first sight 😍 Here is a teaser of the NEW #KasperskyMotorsport 488 GT3 pic.twitter.com/ZJ5kmaCS8B
— Kaspersky Motorsport (@kl_motorsport) 27 September 2016
Alex Moiseev and Marco Cioci will be back to the GT Open for the last two rounds in Monza and Barcelona with the Kaspersky Motorsport team, which receives technical support from AF Corse, but this time with a brand new Ferrari 488 GT3.
The pair impressed earlier this year in their first outing at Spa-Francorchamps in the team’s 458 GT3, finishing third in the second race of the weekend.
GT Open debut for Imperiale
The Monza round will stalwart Lamborghini team Imperiale Racing make its debut with an Huracán GT3 with Vito Postiglione and Simone Pellegrinelli driving.
Based in Mirandola, near Modena, Imperiale Racing, part of the group Autocarrozzeria Imperiale, has competed in various GT3 series and the Lamborghini SuperTrofeo in recent years.
Team principal Ivano Pignatti commented: “We are delighted to come to Monza and to have the opportunity to test the International GT Open, a top-class series that we always wanted to explore.”
Vito Postiglione is a former Italian GT, Porsche Carrera Cup and Ferrari World Challenge champion, and Simone Pellegrinelli competes regularly in GT and touring car races.
