Rome 6 Hours: Audi Sport Italia seals off 2014 GT3 season cruising to win at 6 Hrs of Rome

Audi Sport Italia Press Release

•  Thomas Biagi, Filippo Francioni, Ferdinando Geri lead GT3 class from second hour to the checkered flag, also making bid for overall Top3 finish 

Campagnano, Italy – Audi Sport Italia's GT3 competition today at Vallelunga only had reasons to smile in the first hour of the 24th running of the Italian enduro. Nissan's Rangoni-Mulacchie and Porsche's Beretta-Romani-Cerati were both able to fend off Emilio Radaelli's car early moves, but soon after Filippo Francioni let the wheel to Thomas Biagi, Audi took the lead for good. Biagi and his "wingmen" Francioni and Ferdinando Geri cruised to a GT3 class win in their #23 R8 LMS ultra previously driven by Thomas Schoeffler, Marco Mapelli in the Italian GT series. Francioni had already put his mark on Audi Sport Italia's 2012 GT3 win, whilst for both Biagi and Geri this was their maiden Audi class win, one that looked increasingly safe over the final hour as the Autorlando Porsche was nursing braking problems.

After 2 hours and half, Biagi had found himself leading both in class and overall, although the out-of-sync pit stop schedule had played a role in this brief spell on top ahead the eventual winner (AF Corse GT2 Ferrari driven by Fisichella, Cioci, Perazzini) and runner-up (Sernagiotto, Lacorte's CN2 Tatuus). As overall win hopes faded, nonetheless the Audi crew tried to snatch the last available Top3 finish spot from the second GT2 Ferrari entry. Ultimately the Prancing Horse's Cameron-Griffin crew prevailed, as the Audi drivers were intermittently hindered by misfire problems, more over realizing that their comfortable cushion in the GT3 standings could easily disappear if their risk-taking had triggered a bad break.

OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER 6 HOURS:

1. Fisichella-Cioci-Perazzini (Ferrari 458 Italia/GT2) 214 laps
2. Sernagiotto-Lacorte (Tatuus/CN2) +1:25.582s
3. Griffin-Cameron (Ferrari 458 Italia/GT2) -2 laps
4. BIAGI-FRANCIONI-GERI (AUDI R8 LMS ULTRA/GT3) -3 laps
5. Beretta-Romani-Cerati (Porsche 911 GT3R/GT3) -6 laps
6. Grumert-Coll (AMG Mercedes SLS/GT3) - 9 laps

Photo credit: Thomas Biagi

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Rome 6 Hours: GT3 class victory for Audi Sport Italia Audi R8 LMS ultra at Vallelunga

By Johan Laubscher

Vallelunga in Italy played host to the 6 Ore di Roma (Rome 6 Hours) this weekend. Audi Sport Italia entered one of their Audi R8 LMS ultra cars for the endurance race.

The Italian Audi dealer team had a very strong year in the Italian GT Championship and EuroV8 Series and they decided to end-off the season with this endurance classic at Vallelunga. They had previously taken part in the 6 Ore di Roma in 2012, when the team won the GT3 class with a fourth place overall finish.

A total of twelve cars made up the field for the race this year. This included two Wolf prototypes, two Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 (GTE) cars and five FIA GT3 specifications cars. The GT3 entries saw one team and car each representing Audi, Porsche and Nissan, along with two Mercedes-Benz.

The #23 Audi Sport Italia Audi R8 LMS ultra was driven by Thomas Biagi, Filippo Francioni and Ferdinando Geri. They showed good pace during practice and qualified fifth overall, taking second in the GT3 class. The front row was locked out by two Wolf prototypes, followed by the #1 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 and the #12 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The race got underway with wet track conditions at 09h45 local time on Sunday. Filippo Francioni was behind the wheel of the Audi at the start and held his own in the front running GT battle. Clever pit strategy during the first safetycar period ensured that Audi Sport Italia took the GT3 class lead with Thomas Biagi behind the wheel.

Approaching half distance Audi Sport Italia continued to lead GT3 and they were also fighting for the overall lead against the #1 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 and the recovering #7 Wolf. As the race entered its final two hours the faster #7 Wolf prototype and the two Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 cars occupied the top three overall positions. Audi Sport Italia continued to lead GT3 with a healthy margin in fourth place overall.

Despite a small misfire problem hindering the Audi R8 LMS ultra, Ferdinando Geri drove very well to maintain Audi Sport Italia's one lap lead over the #12 Porsche 911 GT3 R, before handing over to Thomas Biagi for the final hour. Biagi consolidated the #23 Audi R8 LMS ultra's class lead and brought the car across the finish line for a well deserved GT3 victory and fourth place overall, equalling the team's result from 2012.

It was a terrific showing from Audi Sport Italia and a faultless drive that secured the GT3 class victory, ending off a great year for the Italian Audi team.

Photo credit: Thomas Biagi

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Rome 6 Hours: Audi Sport Italia entering two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars

By Johan Laubscher

Audi Sport Italia will be ending off their 2014 season with a six hour endurance race in Italy.

The Italian dealer team will be fielding their two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars in the 6 Hours of Rome (6h di Roma) at Vallelunga.

The team has previously taken part in this event when they fielded a single car in the 2012 edition of the race wherein they finished fourth overall, third in the GTS3 class.

The driving trio of Filippo Francioni, Thomas Biagi and Ferdinando Geri will be behind the wheel of one of the team’s two Audi R8 LMS ultra entries. The second car’s driver line-up is yet to be announced.

It should be a very exciting race for the Italian team following a very strong 2014 Italian GT Championship campaign.

The 2014 6 hours of Rome will be taking place from 14-16 November.

The Gruppo Peroni Race press release can be seen HERE. (In Italian)

Photo credit: Audi Sport Italia

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Audi Sport Italia wins GT3 class at the 6 Hours of Rome

By Tarek Ramchani

The Vallelunga circuit hosted the 6 Hours of Rome today. It was the season finale of the Italian based Dunlop Endurance Champions Cup. Audi Sport Italia did very well by taking a convincing class victory.

Audi Sport Italia took a great GT3 class win today against a very strong field from Ferrari, Porsche and BMW. The #29 Audi R8 LMS ultra finished fourth overall and was battling for the outright win for the majority of the race. The car was shared by the team's regular drivers Andrea Sonvico and Alex Frassineti. They were joined by Filippo Francioni at this event competing the three driver lineup. The trio were four laps down on the overall winners, a 1-2-3 finish for the Ferrari 458 GTE cars.

The other Audi team in the race also did well. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT cars finished in ninth with the #22 R8 LMS ultra and twenty first with the sister #21 Audi. Bad luck for the #21 WRT machine as Edward Sandström was able to fight for the top spots in the early stages of the race.

Rome gives Audi and the R8 LMS ultra another great win. Audi Sport Italia who are regulars in national Italian GT Championship have proven once again to be one of the finest GT teams in Europe.

Photo credit: Audi Sport Italia

More information:
Gruppo Peroni Race website
Audi Sport Italia on Facebook

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Positive qualifying session for Audi teams in Rome

By Tarek Ramchani

The 6 Hours of Rome is set for tomorrow at the Vallelunga race track. Three Audi R8 LMS ultras have been entered in the Italian endurance race from Audi Sport Italia and Belgian Audi Club WRT.

Audi Sport Italia has already had a very positive free practice session this morning. The official Italian Audi dealer team was able to do well again in the qualifying session. The #29 Audi R8 LMS ultra shared by Andrea Sonvico, Alex Frassineti and Filippo Francioni ended in fourth place overall with a time of 1'33.355. Most importantly they were the best GT3 car and less than a second behind the semi-works AF Corse Ferrari 458 GTE cars.

The best of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT cars finished in seventh place overall, the #21 R8 of Edward Sandström and Yves Weerts. Not bad for the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series champion’s first attempt at Vallelunga. The sister #22 Audi of Vincent Vosse and Jean Luc Blanchemain ended in twelfth place outright.

The race will start at 9:30 local time tomorrow. We wish the best of luck for both Audi teams. Live timing will be available here

Photo credit: Audi Sport Italia

More information:
Gruppo Peroni Race website
Vallelunga Circuit website
Audi Sport Italia on Facebook

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