Weekend notebook: bad luck at Nürburgring, victories and podiums at Monza

Ferrari’s hopes at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, buoyed by second place in qualifying, came to an abrupt end just three hours from the finish when the number 45 296 GT3, which had been running consistently at the front, collided with a backmarker and crashed into the barriers. 

In contrast, the 3 Hours of Monza, part of the Italian GT Endurance Championship, saw Ferrari secure many class wins and podium finishes. In the British GT Championship, the Spirit of Race SA 296 GT3 claimed seventh place at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

24H Nürburgring. The 53rd edition of the 24 Hours contested at the “Green Hell” featured a single Ferrari entry: the number 45 296 GT3 of Realize Kondo Racing with Rinaldi. The car started from second on the grid after an impressive qualifying lap by Prancing Horse official driver Thomas Neubauer, who shared driving duties with David Perel, Felipe Fernandez Laser and Axcil Jefferies. The 296 GT3 was in the lead when a power outage meant the race had to be red-flagged after just an hour and a half, with the interruption lasting more than two hours. At the restart, the Prancing Horse’s 296 GT3 rejoined from fourth position, as per regulations, which take pit stop times into account, and remained in contention for a podium place throughout the night and into the following morning. However, with just three hours to go, contact with a lapped car ended the crew’s hopes, forcing them to retire due to damage sustained after hitting the barriers.

CIGT. Ferrari secured both second and third places overall in the 3 Hours of Monza, round two of the Italian GT Endurance Championship. The runner-up spot went to the number 62 AF Corse 296 GT3 driven by Leonardo Colavita, Ibrahim Badawi, and David Vidales, who also claimed victory in the GT3 Pro Am class. As a result, the Piacenza-based team’s crew now tops the overall standings. The number 51 296 GT3, driven by teammates Lorenzo Ferrari, Mahaaver Raghunathan, and Riccardo Ponzio, finished third at the chequered flag and secured second in the GT3 Pro Am class.

In the GT3 Am class, Stefano Marazzi and Samuele Buttarelli secured a podium finish with second place in the number 74 Rossocorsa Racing 296 GT3, ahead of the number 83 296 GT3 driven by Jason Ambrose, David McDonald and Francesco Castellacci.

In the GT Cup Pro Am category, victory went to the number 111 Best Lap 296 Challenge of Sabatino Di Mare, Filippo Croccolino and Pietro Pio Agoglia, who finished ahead of Fabrizio Fontana and Stefano Gai in the number 169 AF Corse 296 Challenge. In the 2nd Division Pro Am, the number 403 Easy Race Ferrari 488 Challenge, shared by Lorenzo Bontempelli, Diego Di Fabio and Vito Postiglione, took the win. Another victory came in the 2nd Division Am, thanks to the number 552 Reparto Corse RAM Ferrari 488 Challenge of Mattia Simonini, Giacomo Parisotto and Fabio Daminato. In the 1st Division Am, the number 219 296 Challenge of Andrea Levy, Ivan Mari and Mattia Bucci claimed second place.

The next round of the Endurance series is scheduled to take place at Imola from 1 to 3 August.

British GT. The fourth round of the British GT Championship, contested outside the UK at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, featured the number 55 Ferrari 296 GT3 from Spirit of Race SA. Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin started from eleventh on the grid and fought their way back to finish in seventh place.

The next round is scheduled for 11–13 July at Snetterton.