21.10.2019 – A tough weekend spoiled by rain has marked Imperiale Racing’s closing round of the Italian GT Sprint Championship 2019 in Monza.
The Italian team got to this round in the fight for the title, but an unexpected twist ended up in a result below the expectations despite the grit of both lineups with Vito Postiglione (ITA) a Jeroen Mul (NL) in the #63 Lamborghini Huracàn GT3 Evo #63 in Pro, Pietro Perolini (ITA) and Ben Gersekowski (AUS) in the #19 in Pro-Am.
Following the good feeling obtained in the two free practice sessions, Postiglione ended Q1 with the best lap of 2’05.287s that placed the #63 car in fourth place. Gersekowski, in the #19, posted the eighth overall time in 2’07.607, which was the fifth of Pro-Am. In Q2 Mul ended second thanks to a great 2’03.003s. Perolini’s performance was also very positive and his best time was the fifth overall in 2’05.072, that was the second quickest of Pro-Am.
Imperiale Racing’s engineers opted to make the #63 car start race one on slick tyres despite the humid track. Postiglione converted his great feeling with the car into a great stint that allowed him to take the lead of the race before the pit window opened. After serving the 20s time handicap due to the recent results, Mul rejoined fourth resolute to complete a great recovery. Unfortunately, a double safety car shuffled the cards in the closing stages and Imperiale Racing’s lineup ended fifth at the flag.
Gersekowski ran a great first stint in the #19 car and has been wise to avoid early contacts recovering several places. He eventually handed the car over to Perolini in P5. The Italian put all his grit on track but the melee of the second part of the race made it tough for him. At the restart after the safety car, he spun off due to a contact which relegated Imperiale Racing’s pairing to the sixteenth place overall and third of Pro-Am.
In the decisive race two, Mul got a great getaway behind the #22 Mercedes AMG, that was the main title contender and he found his way past Agostini for the lead on lap 9. After the pit stop, Postiglione kept the lead easily but a sudden worsening of the weather conditions and the safety car forced the team to make a choice. Some cars opted for rain tyres, others like Imperiale Racing, continued on slicks. The rain got heavier in the closing laps and Postiglione had to concede some places crossing the finish line in sixth place. This result relegated the #63 lineup to the third place of the championship.
The race of car #19 has been similar. Perolini put in a good first stint despite the battles he had to fight. The choice to keep slick tyres on in the second part slowed Gersekowski down. He eventually pitted for rain tyres and ended the race in P10, fourth of Pro-Am.
Luca Del Grosso (Imperiale Racing, Team Manager):
“It is hard to accept this result. The weekend confirmed the great pace of both lineups but the verdict of the track is what counts in motorsport. When you are battling for the championship everything can happen. When it started to rain it looked like we could continue on slicks but the conditions worsened and this affected badly Vito’s laptimes despite his grit. I congratulate the winners, an absolutely great lineup, we had an exciting fight with them.
Car #19 also ran a good weekend but our two races have been hit by some episodes that prevented us from reaping what we sowed, despite the good qualifying.
Our season does not end here. We still have important goals ahead and we will analyze all the details of our performance in the Italian GT Championship 2019 for the remainder of the season. Every experience must make the whole team grow. We are united and I am pretty sure we will bounce back stronger”.
Italian Grand Touring Sprint Championship | Classification
1. Rovera-Agostini pt. 97; 2. Comandini-Johansson pt. 86; 3. Postiglione-Mul pt. 83; 4. Hudspeth-Fuoco pt. 62; 5. Veglia pt. 53
Italian Grand Touring Sprint Championship | Pro-Am Classification
1. Hudspeth-Fuoco pt. 120; 2. Di Amato-Vezzoni pt. 95; 3. Mann pt. 72; 4. Perolini-Gersekowski pt. 57; 5. Cressoni pt. 54
Imperiale Racing | Race 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