05.11.2020 – The final challenge is about to get underway at the Autodromo Nazionale of Monza where the Italian GT Endurance 2020 Championship will end its seasonal campaign this weekend.
The Mirandola-based team won the round of Vallelunga last September, 20th, and will compete for the tight drivers’ classification with Kikko Galbiati (ITA) and Giovanni Venturini (ITA) that will be supported by Marco Mapelli (ITA) in this occasion, as the latter will return to Imperiale Racing after the successful experience in GT Open back in 2017 and the spot participation in the 2018 GT Italian Championship. Mapelli will replace Alex Frassineti (ITA), who had to give up in the past few hours as he tested positive for Covid-19.
Galbiati and Venturini are currently second in the drivers’ classification at 32 points and only 2 shy of the provisional leaders. The goal in Monza is to confirm the competitiveness of the #32 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo and complete a weekend as the protagonists.
This is going to be a spectacular and uncertain season’s finale due to the short gaps in the standings. Imperiale Racing, as most of its rivals, competed on this circuit three weeks ago in the Sprint series and this will provide a good baseline for the setup. Rain should not be in the mix and the Temple of Speed will show all its splendour: very high speeds in the straights and braking at the limit before the chicanes.
The racing action will begin on Friday with two free practice sessions at local 10:15 and 13:10, while the third session will follow on Saturday at 8:30. Qualifying will take place on Saturday at 14:45 with its usual three sessions, one for each driver, while the race will get green lights on Sunday at 13:20.
Qualifying and races will be available from www.acisport.it/CIGT, Facebook @CIGranTurismo and will be shared by @ImperialeRacing. RAI Sport (CH 58 FreeView) and MS Motor TV (CH 228 SKY) will take care of broadcasting the racing action on TV with a schedule that ACI Sport will make official shortly on its website.
Luca Del Grosso (Imperiale Racing – Team Manager):
“We did a huge job to be at the start in Monza. We had a few tough weeks due to the sanitary emergency, but we built a good team of technicians and mechanics that will make it to the track in Monza and we are ready to run a strong weekend. We will give our best. The classification is compact and the regulations that allow only the three best results do not leave much room for experiments: we will need a strong race to aim to a big result. My best wishes for a prompt recovery go to Alex. I also would like to welcome back Marco, who will get into the right spirit soon with Kikko and Giovanni”.
Italian GT Endurance Championship | Drivers’ classification
1. Comandini-Zug pt. 34; 2. Galbiati-Venturini pt. 32; 3. Fuoco-Rovera-Roda pt. 29; 4. Sims pt. 27; 5. Giammaria-Pulcini pt. 25; 6. Agostini-Mancinelli pt. 24; 7. Kries-Schandorff-Tujula pt. 21; 8. Drudi pt.20; 8. Frassineti pt. 20; 9. Greco-Hudspeth-Michelotto pt. 30; 10. Postiglione pt. 17