Ferrari outstanding at Navarra and Portimão
Maranello, 23 May – There was success for Ferrari in the GT races that took to the track at the weekend both at Navarra, where the second round of the Blancpain Endurance Series was held, and at Portimão, for the third round of the GT Sprint International Series.
At Navarra the Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 of Michael Bartels, Frank Kechele and Nico Verdonck took victory. They went into the lead of the race on the 17th lap when Kechele overtook pole man Stephane Ortelli, who was teamed with Filipe Albuquerque and Bert Longin in the Audi run by Belgian Club. From there, the Vita4One car made a break and flew all the way to the chequered flag, finishing the three-hour race with a victory margin of over 17 seconds. Third place went to the Monza victors Raffaele Giammaria, Gianluca Roda and Paolo Ruberti who keep the lead of the championship with their Porsche 997 run by Autorlando Sport.
In Portimão, the AF Corse driver Giuseppe Cirò made good use of his pole position to take a stunning victory in Race 1 at the wheel of a Ferrari 430 GT2. He secured his place on the top step of the podium after successfully managing his advantage over his direct rival and team-mate Niki Cadei in the Ferrari 458 Italia GT3, who also had to take a drive through penalty.
Completing the podium were Giacomo Barri (Vittoria Competizioni) and Michael Dalle Stelle (Racing Team Edil Cris), who were both driving Ferrari 430 GT2 cars. The championship leader Andrea Palma also did well at the wheel of a Ferrari 430 GT2 (Vittoria Competizioni), ending the race in fourth place. Niki Cadei was next up, having carried out an excellent battle back up through the field. That also meant that he took first place in the GTS3 class ahead of Roberto Del Castello in the Corvette Z06R.
There was further success for Ferrari in Race 2 where Giacomo Barri again produced the goods. The Vittoria Competizioni standard-bearer ended up wining the race thanks to an excellent getaway before he duelled with Michael Delle Stelle (Ferrari 430 GT2 Racing Team Edil Cris) and Fabio Mancini (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 AF Corse, who came first in the GTS3 class) who ended up taking second and third places respectively.
The next round of the Blancpain Endurance Series is scheduled for July 31 at the Belgian circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, while the GT Sprint International Series will return to action on July 10 at Misano.
Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (www.ferrari.com)
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