07.05.2019 – A victory and a second place are the haul of the weekend just ended for Imperiale Racing at the circuit Piero Taruffi in Vallelunga during the opening meeting of the Italian GT Championship Sprint 2019.
The Italian team had a particularly difficult weekend at the circuit located near Rome due to weather conditions that shuffled the cards but has been among the overall protagonists with the Lamborghini Huracàn GT3 Evo #63 driven by Vito Postiglione (ITA) and Jeroen Mul (NL) in PRO, and the #19 driven by Pietro Perolini (ITA) and Ben Gersekowski (AUS) in Pro-Am.
Drivers put in a lot of work to define the setup for the circuit – that is one of the most complete in the calendar – since free practice on Friday. The rain has affected the two qualifying sessions and forced all teams to revise their setups. A great Postiglione posted the third quickest time in Q1 in 1’52.787s, that was very close to the front row, while Perolini qualified the #19 car in P13 with a best lap of 2’02.828s. Mul put in another good performance in Q2 placing the Lamborghini Huracàn GT3 #63 to P2 in 1’47.091s, while Gersekowski was fourth fastest of Pro-Am, eighth overall, in 1’50.689s.
The initial stages of race one have been quite hectic and Perolini had to retire due to a contact at the start. The #63 car was, therefore, the only car left called to defend Imperiale Racing’s colors and Postiglione gained one position reaching P2 during the first lap. A few laps afterwards the Italian driver managed to successfully complete an overtaking move on the #7 Audi R8 LMS taking the lead of the race. Mul completed a flawless stint that allowed the pairing to claim their maiden win of the season which was dedicated to the late friend and driver Alessandro Bonacini, who passed away on Friday.
On Sunday, Mul lost a position to the #52 Ferrari 488 GT3 at the start, but then he managed to close the gap and get the position back with a nice move at the Roma corner. The rain made it tricky in the second part of the race and Postiglione got on track in P3 and eventually put in a very nice move on the #7 Audi R8 LMS claiming P2. Imperiale Racing’s pairing secured, therefore, the second podium of the weekend.
The #19 car obtained a positive result too. Gersekowski was behind the wheel at the start and managed the car wisely early on. After a little mistake, the Australian driver handed the car over to Perolini who had to soon pit again to fit rain tyres. The Imperiale Racing’s pairing managed nevertheless to end within the top ten in P10 overall, that was fourth of Pro-Am.
Luca Del Grosso (Imperiale Racing, Team Manager):
“It has been a great weekend for us. We are quite happy as the whole team worked very well despite these difficult weather conditions that required a big team effort. Drivers on track have been spectacular, Postiglione and Mul completed awesome overtaking moves that thrilled everyone watching. Regrettably, Perolini and Gersekowski could not play their cards in race one, but they put in a positive performance on Sunday though. The mileage clocked will help them in the Endurance race next September. This weekend was marked by the sad news we would have not want to hear on Alessandro Bonacini’s passing. Dedicating him our win has been quite moving. I had an amazing season with him and I believe all members of Imperiale Racing have great memories of him. We will miss Alessandro.”
Imperiale Racing | Racing calendar 2019
5-7 April | Monza | CIGTE
3-5 May | Vallelunga | CIGTS
17-19 May | Misano CIGTE
21-23 June | Imola | CIGTS
19-21 July | Mugello | CIGTS
13-15 September | Vallelunga | CIGTE
4-6 October | Mugello | CIGTE
18-20 October | Monza | CIGTS
