Audi Sport Italia Press
Release
At Vallelunga
drizzle and rain lift Audi's boat in next-to-last Gran Turismo meeting
Johan Kristoffersson-Alex Frassineti enjoy best 2013 Sunday posting two Top3 finishes
Italian Gran Turismo visited Rome's Piero Taruffi
circuit today with the Audi camp on the back foot after the whole
slew of difficult outings that had hindered the team cars this summer. Although
Saturday was unsurprisingly a lackluster day for the Audi crews, with Johan
Kristoffersson posting a P4 for race two grid as best effort, Sunday was
another story. As a late-summer rain front sprayed the scenic Italian
venue with drizzle--and then utter rain -- a couple of wild wet races
helped to cushion the fallout from the unlucky marriage between the R8 LMS
ultras and the Avon control tyres, at least in terms of raw performance.
On a grey Sunday morning the whole field
started race one on rain tyres, and the same Four-rings
cars that had reeled in practice allowed their drivers to roll. Mirko
Venturi took the lead, but the Ferrari driver was booked to spend a
long time in the pit lane due to a hefty time handicap piled up with
outstanding finishes in the past few races. Which allowed both Audis to claim
the runner-up spot, early on, courtesy of homeboy Alex Frassineti and then to
Andrea Sonvico comeback. The latter handed over the car at Dindo Capello, but
the three-time Le Mans winner run was soon hampered by a red warning light and
technical woes that forced the Italian to nurse his stricken car to the finish
line claiming a dismal P5. On contrary, his Swede team mate was
nowhere near close to shelf his hopes. Resuming the race behind
Stefano Comandini's Z4 and Marco Mapelli's 911--all of them on slicks--he quickly
adjusted to the low grip surface, and racking
up three successive fastest laps filled the gap from the rivals
with five minutes to go. Possibly the Audi drivers, fresh from a struggling
Saturday, were well geared up to tackle the difficulties of a slippery
track, whilst the opposition was on the back foot as soon as it was up to them
to take on the challenges of a low-grip surface. Anyway, on lap 25
Kristoffersson's near miss with a backmarker gave some relief to the leading
duo, then with two laps to go the lanky Swede taught an overtaking lesson
to Mapelli and grabbed P2. Sadly it was too late to challenge Comandini, who
posted BMW's third straight Italian GT win by 0.6s.
In the afternoon, the scattered crowd was still
holding umbrellas when race two got underway with the safety car
pulling over only at the end of lap three. It was meant to be the earliest
of a season record three full caution periods... Starting
from row two on the grid, Kristoffersson mastered an increasingly wet
track making up one spot, but the safety car was suddenly re-deployed as
Michela Cerruti's BMW Z4 crashed at Cimini corner. The green flag was waved
again on lap seven triggering an Audi charge to Comandini's runner-up
spot. The Swede had the upper hand moving on the inside of the BMW that had
claimed race one by
lap nine at Cimini corner, then shifting his sight on the leading Lamborghini.
It looked like Giacomo Barri was on his way to relinquish the lead to the
rain-happy Scandinavian, but unfortunately Kristoffersson spun on lap 10 and
therefore he was sitting on P3 just before handing over the seat to
Frassineti. The pit-stop sent back the No 5 Audi in P2 tho, only to see
Frassineti spinning before having one soaked lap completed. Colombo's BMW
therefore pipped the Audi for P2 in the standings, but it turned out his
was the last emotion before the safety-car stormed back on the
track... and spun, advising race control to call it a day and wave the red
flag. As Kristoffersson and Frassineti again climbed the rostrum steps, Sonvico
and Capello wound up in P5: Capello had been one of the men to profit of
the chopping and changing in the pack. Starting on row four he
was fourth before the mandatory pit-stop, but the No 4 Audi crew lost an
unscheduled 10-second that burdened Sonvico when he briefly resumed the race.
The Italian Gran Turismo still has one meeting ahead, scheduled at Monza on
October 21.
CAMPIONATO
ITALIANO GT - Vallelunga, (I)
Round 11 2013: Sunday, 15 September
Round 11 2013: Sunday, 15 September
1. Stefano Colombo - Stefano Comandini (BMW) 28 laps
49'45.081 avg. speed 137.941 kph
2. JOHAN KRISTOFFERSSON - ALEX FRASSINETI (AUDI R8
LMS ULTRA) +0.644s
3. Cristian Passuti - Marco Mapelli (Porsche)
+1.922s
../..
5. ANDREA SONVICO - DINDO CAPELLO (AUDI R8 LMS
ULTRA) + 26.888s.
Round 12 2013: Sunday, 15 September
1. Giacomo Barri - Giorgio Sanna (Lamborghini) 13 laps 32'27.084 avg speed 98,186 kph;
2. Stefano Colombo - Stefano Comandini (BMW) +6.002s;
3. JOHAN KRISTOFFERSSON/ALEX FRASSINETI (AUDI R8 LMS ULTRA) + 9.279s
../..
5. ANDREA SONVICO/DINDO CAPELLO (AUDI R8 LMS ULTRA) +50.918s.
Photo credit: Audi Sport Italia
