12.03.2021 – Imperiale Racing announces its participation in the Italian GT Endurance 2021 Championship with a strong Pro drivers’ lineup featuring Andrea Amici (ITA), Alberto Di Folco (ITA) and Stuart Middleton (GB). They will be sharing driving duties in the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo.
The commitment of the Mirandola-based team in the highest Italian series as the team supported by Lamborghini Squadra Corse continues the tradition of Imperiale Racing that has always been shining in the Italian championship since its debut in 2011 obtaining successful results and exciting a lot of fans all over the world.
This racing program, launched together with the hashtag #theamazingimperialesquad that will follow the team for the whole 2021 campaign, from the one side it wants to underline Imperiale Sport Car Service big commitment to develop and manage the Racing programs that celebrate its 10th Anniversary this year, but also wants to send a message of hope and desire to bounce back leaving this dark period behind soon.
The drivers’ lineup of the #63 car is new and international. Amici and di Folco will be back to Imperiale Racing seven years after their last presence, while Middleton will be at the debut in the Italian team.
Amici, class 1993, comes from the third place in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America 2020 that he contested in Pro-Am. He has a lot of experience in the cars from Sant’Agata Bolognese that he has been racing since 2012. After the debut in karting and a short experience on single saters, Amici moved to GT racing. He has been part of the Imperiale Racing team from 2012 to 2014 taking two second places in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe (2012 and 2014), winning in 2013 and also achieving important results on a national and international level. He won the 6 Hours of Rome GT3 in 2015, came second in the Italian GT 2015 Championship, won the GT Asia 2016 in GT3 and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Pro 2018. These results rightfully placed him among the big drivers of the Lamborghini brand. Amici had a great 2019 campaign and claimed the podium in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East and in North America and came second in the World Final Pro.
Di Folco, 25 years old next March 21st, started his brilliant career in 2010 on karts where he has been competing for two years. After a transition season 2013 in which he moved to open wheels, in 2014 he made his debut in GT with Lamborghini winning the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe Pro-Am with Imperiale Racing. His speed makes Di Folco one of the strongest drivers of the marque with which he has been racing for seven years now. Among his highlights, Di Folco was third at the Super Trofeo 2015 Pro, second in the prestigious Total 24 Hours of Spa 2018 in Am Cup and competed in all the main European GT Series like the Blancpain GT, International GT Open and Italian GT Championship. In the latter, he competed last in 2016 when he claimed two wins and two second places.
Middleton is the youngest driver of the three. The British driver from Northumberland, class 1999, made his debut on closed wheel racing in 2015 after karting winning the KICK Start Energy Ginetta Junior Winter Series at the debut. He then had a impressive growth and in 2016 he was second in the Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship and won the British GT Championship in GT4 the following year taking two pole positions, two wins and five further podiums. In 2018 he was second in the GT4 European Series in Silver Cup and in 2019 he finally made his debut in a Lamborghini car coming third in the Super Trofeo Europe Pro. Last year he was close to the podium in the North America series, while he will make his debut in GT3 in 2021.
Andrea Amici (driver):
“I am so excited to be back with Imperiale Racing for the 2021 Italian GT Endurance season and to be working with Alberto Di Folco and Stuart Middleton. With the team I experienced a great season in 2013 winning my first title in the Lamborghini ST Europe. We’ll work hard to achieve a great result. I can’t wait to start!”.
Alberto Di Folco (driver):
“Exited and extremely happy to be back on track with not only a Team But a Family! Imperiale Racing was my First team and my First Very important win, winning with them the Lamborghini ST European Championship in Pro-Am two races before the end of the Season. Incredibile team and super competitive car! I’m sure that together with Andrea Amici and Stuart Middleton we can repeat what we accomplished in the past… Can’t wait to start!”.
Stuart Middleton (driver):
“I am absolutely delighted to be joining the imperiale racing team for the 2021 Italian Gt endurance championship. It is a great move to be stepping up to the highly competitive GT3 category, continuing behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. I am very grateful to the team and Lamborghini for the opportunity and I can’t wait to get to work with everyone. As a team I believe we can do great things this year, I know how good imperiale racing is as a team from my experience in super trofeo 2019, and also having Andrea and Alberto as teammates this year is perfect – these guys can drive! Bring on the start of the season!”.
Luca Del Grosso (Imperiale Racing – Team Manager):
“The start of the new season is always a moment full of expectations and objectives. Getting back on track gives us a sense of rebirth this year as never before, even though we are not quite yet at the point where we can leave this difficult moment behind us. The whole Imperiale Group worked hard over winter to devise this program with the constant support of Lamborghini Squadra Corse and I am really proud to have Andrea and Alberto back in the team and to welcome Stuart for this new challenge that we labelled #theamazingimperialesquad. This is not just a hashtag, to us this is a mission, a characteristic feature, the pride of being part of the same group. We know we have what it takes to run a strong campaign, but the challenge is going to be very intense and we will have to give our best in all the races to get the most of every round”.
The Italian Gran Turismo Endurance Championship will start next May 21-23 at the circuit of Pergusa.