The second round of the Italian GT Sprint Championship saw its contenders return to the track last weekend at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola. Despite rather inclement weather for the season, the technical track along the Santerno River certainly tested the crews participating in this new challenge of the national series promoted by ACI Sport.
Starting from the free practice sessions, the strong Puglia-born driver Delli Guanti immediately stood out by setting the absolute best lap in FP1 and the third fastest time in FP2, indicating his perfect comfort on the undulating Imola track. In the subsequent day’s qualifying sessions, Delli Guanti reaffirmed his form by stopping the clocks just over two tenths off pole position, confirming his excellent rapport with his Audi R8 LMS EVO II.
During the first race, due to a mandatory penalty incurred during the pit stop following their second place finish at Misano, Pietro and his teammate Mazzola had to settle for sixth place. In the second race, despite consistently running at the front, Pietro saw a certain podium slip away due to rain falling only on certain parts of the track, making driving treacherous for his teammate. Nonetheless, with these two additional strong results, the crew now holds second place overall in the championship standings, with the next event scheduled for late August at Mugello. Now, however, Delli Guanti is gearing up for his debut in the Endurance series starting June 16th at Vallelunga, where he will once again share his car with Mazzola and their former teammate from the 2023 Fanatec Aka.
Pietro Delli Guanti: “The rain in the latter part of Race 2 certainly complicated our lives and denied us a certain podium finish. Nevertheless, we are very pleased with the result achieved, which keeps us in contention for the overall title with two races remaining. Now, our focus shifts to performing well in the endurance series.”