Audi Sport Italia Press Release
Davide Di Benedetto-Alex Frassineti post lone Top3 Audi finish; the Tuscan weekend of Andrea Sonvico and Christian Montanari ruined by spate of freak punctures
The happy --but short-lived-- moment came early at Mugello in the second meeting of 2012 Italian Gran Turismo, as both R8 LMS ultras grabbed the lead at the start of Saturday race, courtesy of Andrea Sonvico and Alex Frassineti that leapfrogged in sync the all-BMW front row. Unfortunately by lap 5 the duo had been edged by Stefano Colombo's Z4, who ultimately finished in P3 alongside Thomas Biagi. The Audi entries, which both had to cope with better time penalties than Colombo's BMW, were hopeful to shoot for Audi Sport Italia's second season win, and their plans looked fairly well designed, in theory. But just before the mandatory pit stop Sonvico suffered a rear left tyre puncture and handed over the #31 to unlucky team mate Christian Montanari nearly one lap down the running order. Di Benedetto managed to resume the race just ahead of Michela Cerruti's BMW, but soon the Sicilian driver learned that he had been enforced a 3.780s time penalty for having rushed off the pit lane. Di Benedetto fended off the gritty female driver come back, but although he took the chequered flag as first it was up to Cerruti and Edoardo Liberati to celebrate their maiden Italian GT win.
Race 2, staged on Sunday at noon, started with polesitter Thomas Biagi heading into the braking zone in Turn One first. Biagi and young sidekick Colombo never looked back throughout the 26-lap race, and this in spite of their 30-second time penalty due to previous Top3 finishes and their Z4 minimum weight having been increased 20 kilos before the Tuscan meeting. They strenghtened their hold on the series lead as they left the greeny venue with a 24-point lead over the Audi pairings.
Audi Sport Italia's R8s cruised in P4 and P5 in the first half of the Sunday event, with Montanari pipping team mate Di Benedetto just seconds before the pit stop window opened. Saturday's mishap at least meant that Montanari and Sonvico had to toil with a lesser time penalty than all rivals BMWs, but Sonvico's will to bid for the lead again was bluntly set aside when he suffered another blown rear left tyre -- a mere lap after having started his racing spell. Then the Como-based driver with barely five minutes to go suffered another freak puncture on Avon rubber, this time to the front right tyre -- a feat that had the Audi staff scratching their heads as the tyre is not sustaining any strain at the Tuscan venue. Sonvico and Montanari picked up two points, not nearly enough to let them keep the runner-up spot in the standings. Now this spot is occupied by Audi team mates Di Benedetto and Frassineti, albeit 24 points adrift of the BMW Italia duo.
In the early stages of his stint Frassineti had remained trapped behind Valentino Fornaroli's Vita4One Ferrari long enough to lose track of Alessandro Balzan. The Porsche driver built a small but crucial gap on the charging R8 LMS ultra, that in spite of a good deal of effort couldn't not get by the Ebimotors 911 before the chequered flag.
CAMPIONATO ITALIANO GRAN TURISMO
Round 3 - Autodromo del Mugello, June 9.
1. Michela Cerruti-Edoardo Liberati (BMW) 26 laps 50:22.480 avg speed 162.426 kph
2. DAVIDE DI BENEDETTO - ALEX FRASSINETI (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) + 1.332s
3. Thomas Biagi-Stefano Colombo (BMW) + 20.060s
4. Stefano Comandini-Valentino Fornaroli (Ferrari) + 22.292s
5. Fabio Mancini-Gabriele Lancieri (Ferrari) + 29.460s
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7. CHRISTIAN MONTANARI-ANDREA SONVICO (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) + 47.500s
Round 4 - Autodromo del Mugello, June 10.
1. Thomas Biagi-Stefano Colombo (BMW) 26 laps 50:25.887 avg speed 162.2423 kph
2. Alessandro Balzan-Giacomo Barri (Porsche + 5.980s
3. Gabriele Lancieri-Fabio Mancini (Ferrari) + 5.981s
4. DAVIDE DI BENEDETTO - ALEX FRASSINETI (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) + 6.765s
5) Stefano Comandini-Valentino Fornaroli (Ferrari) + 22.292s
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DNF CHRISTIAN MONTANARI-ANDREA SONVICO (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) - 4 laps
Drivers points standings after 4 rounds:
1st Biagi/Colombo 67 total points;
3rd DI BENEDETTO/FRASSINETI 43 pts.
5th MONTANARI/SONVICO 38 pts.
7th Cerruti/Liberati 37 pts.
9th Balzan/Barri 30 pts.
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