18.07.2023 – Imperiale Racing secured a pole position and a great comeback in race two at the highly anticipated Misano event of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup.
On the Italian circuit dedicated to the memory of Marco Simoncelli, the Mirandola-based team showcased excellent speed in Europe’s largest and most important series with the Lamborghini Huracàn GT3 Evo #126 driven by Dmitry Gvazava (KGZ) and Loris Spinelli (IT).
Already in the free practice sessions, the team demonstrated impressive speed, securing second place in class with a strong time of 1’32″628s. The sixth position in the practice session translated into a second-place class finish in Q1 by Spinelli, who clocked an impressive time of 1’31″478s, securing the sixth overall position on a grid of 42 cars. It was a remarkable display of strength and determination that allowed Imperiale Racing to line up on the third row among the top performers in the championship.
Unfortunately, race one lasted only a few hundred meters. Due to a pile-up at the start, the Lamborghini from the Mirandola team was forced off the track in the first corner.
The retirement did not discourage the team, who worked together with great cohesion to demonstrate their speed in Q2. Gvazava enabled Imperiale Racing to secure an extraordinary class pole position in Q2 with a time of 1’32″813s. After a promising start in race two, Gvazava suffered the consequences of contact during the race, puncturing the front left tyre. This incident necessitated an extra pit stop, causing the #126 Lamborghini to lose several positions. Upon returning to the track, both drivers embarked on a spectacular comeback, recovering many positions to ultimately finish in ninth place in class at the chequered flag.
Luca Del Grosso (Team Principal):
“We are satisfied with the speed we showed throughout the weekend, although once again, some situations did not work in our favour. It is a shame about the contact in race one and the puncture in race two, as without those incidents, we would have certainly fought for top positions. We demonstrated our performance in qualifying, securing the pole position among the Bronze drivers in Q2 and the sixth overall position in Q1. It is a great satisfaction for everyone involved in one of the most competitive championships in Europe. Special thanks to the drivers, to the mechanics, who made a very fast pit stop, training every day, and managed to restore the car for Sunday, to the engineers, for having found the set-up for a car that was very fast both in qualifying and on the race pace, to the sports management, for being perfect, to all those who worked at the Mirandola headquarters before our departure for Misano, to our supporters and those who followed us on social media, and last but not least, to the owners, for having strongly wanted this race. We all did a great job, it was a great satisfaction to take the start of this event, and I hope to have other occasions of important visibility like this one”.