By Tarek Ramchani
Despite some bad luck Audi Sport Italia achieved a fine second place finish in race 1 yesterday. The official Audi Italia dealer team faced a lot of misfortune in race 2 today.
The Audi R8 LMS ultra cars started from second and third behind the pole setting BMW. The #32 car of Alex Frassinetti and Davide Di Benedetto were right ahead of the sister #31 car shared by Andrea Sonvico and Christian Montanari. Montanari again replaced Dindo Capello this weekend as Dindo is busy with the factory Audi Le Mans program. As in Race 1, both Audis battled hard with the BMW of ROAL Motorsport. In the first part of the race the #31 faced drama, Andrea Sonvico twice got a blown tire. The car lost a great amount of time and dropped to last before handing the R8 to his team mate Christian Montanari. The sister #32 kept fighting for top spots but couldn't match the very fast pace of Thomas Biaggi's BMW. Di Benedetto who was behind the wheel of the car after the mandatory pit stops challenged a Porsche GT3 R and Ferrari 458 for a podium finish. In the end after a fought three-way battle he ended in fourth, some 6 seconds behind the winning Z4 GT3. The other car only finished fifteenth, 4 laps down and losing vital points for the overall championship standings.
Overall Audi Sport Italia’s weekend at Mugello was quite a difficult one. The #31 R8 LMS ultra was extremely unlucky with tire issues in both races. The other car did better and the new comers Alex Frassinetti and Davide Di Benedetto adapted very well to the Audi R8 LMS ultra. Next race will be at the Misano circuit. The team will have Dindo Capello at the next round. The Audi star is one of the fastest with the R8 LMS, adding extra chances for the Italian Audi squad in the battle for the championship title.
The Audi R8 LMS ultra cars started from second and third behind the pole setting BMW. The #32 car of Alex Frassinetti and Davide Di Benedetto were right ahead of the sister #31 car shared by Andrea Sonvico and Christian Montanari. Montanari again replaced Dindo Capello this weekend as Dindo is busy with the factory Audi Le Mans program. As in Race 1, both Audis battled hard with the BMW of ROAL Motorsport. In the first part of the race the #31 faced drama, Andrea Sonvico twice got a blown tire. The car lost a great amount of time and dropped to last before handing the R8 to his team mate Christian Montanari. The sister #32 kept fighting for top spots but couldn't match the very fast pace of Thomas Biaggi's BMW. Di Benedetto who was behind the wheel of the car after the mandatory pit stops challenged a Porsche GT3 R and Ferrari 458 for a podium finish. In the end after a fought three-way battle he ended in fourth, some 6 seconds behind the winning Z4 GT3. The other car only finished fifteenth, 4 laps down and losing vital points for the overall championship standings.
Overall Audi Sport Italia’s weekend at Mugello was quite a difficult one. The #31 R8 LMS ultra was extremely unlucky with tire issues in both races. The other car did better and the new comers Alex Frassinetti and Davide Di Benedetto adapted very well to the Audi R8 LMS ultra. Next race will be at the Misano circuit. The team will have Dindo Capello at the next round. The Audi star is one of the fastest with the R8 LMS, adding extra chances for the Italian Audi squad in the battle for the championship title.
Photo credit: ACI / Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo
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