12 Hours of Mugello: Hofor team does everything right
MOTORSPORT Two months after the 24 Hours of Dubai, the Swiss also put in outstanding performances at the Mugello 12 Hours, which is part of the same race series. First and foremost was the Hofor Racing Team. Newcomer Giorgio Maggi finished a good third on a Lamborghini. In Dubai, it was Daniel Allemann who, as overall winner with the East German Herberth Team, made an optimal [...]
In Dubai, it was Daniel Allemann who put in the best possible performance as overall winner with the East German Herberth team. In the 12-hour race at Mugello, the second round of the 24H Endurance Series for touring cars and GT cars, his Porsche GT3 retired early with engine failure. The same thing had happened in 2016 and subsequently cost Allemann the possible title.
Giorgio Maggi now proved to be the new Swiss spearhead. The young man from central Switzerland contested his first endurance race with a GT3 sports car in a Lamborghini Huracan from Konrad Motorsport. Maggi quickly showed what he had learned at Race Performance in the European and Asian Le Mans series with the LMP3 and LMP2 sports prototypes.
After a flawless performance, the four-strong team was rewarded with third place overall in the two-part race - four hours on Friday and eight hours on Saturday. Victory went to the Ferrari 488 GT3 of the Czech Scuderia Praha, while second place, five laps down and one lap ahead of the Lambo, went to a Mercedes AMG GT3 from France.
Hofor Racing takes over the top of the table
The Swiss scored a triple victory in the A6-Am class. GT3 sports cars also compete here, but not primarily for overall victory. "It simply makes the most sense to take advantage of being allowed to fill up with more fuel, but in return to set a slower lap time that can be achieved by all drivers without much stress," is the reasoning of Hofor Racing.
Martin Kroll and his fast niece Chantal, Roland Eggimann and the professionals Christiaan Frankhout (NL) and Kenneth Heyer (D) did their job well as always and, from a midfield position in qualifying, soon advanced towards the leading group in the course of the race. In fifth place overall, they won their class with the new Mercedes AMG GT3, as in Dubai, and thus took the championship lead in all classifications.
7th overall and 2nd in class went to the Lamborghini Huracan driven by Mark Ineichen, Christoph Lenz, Swiss-based entrepreneur Roberto Pampanini and professional Milos Pavlovic. Finishing eighth overall and third in class with another Mercedes AMG GT3, Alexandre Coigny, David Iradj Alexander and Richard Feller completed the GT3-Am podium occupied by a total of eight Swiss drivers.
By far the fastest race lap of the entire field was set by Fabio Leimer in the Ferrari 488 GT3 from Octane26. The professional from Aargau alternated with Ferrari European champion Björn Grossmann at the wheel of the sports car equipped with many sensors by the team from Wallisellen. Because the race was only for testing, Leimer/Grossmann drove out of competition and therefore made several pit stops for data evaluation.
A podium finish was taken by Tanner & Stanco Motorsport in the A2 class. In Mugello, the Winterthur-based team fielded their older Clio III Cup Endurance, which Stefan Tanner with Andy Stanco and Armando Stanco brought home in second place behind an unbeatable Peugeot RCZ that was leading the Touring Car Championship. After the accident in Dubai with the Clio IV, which was not their fault, they survived the distance this time without a scratch. For the first time Tanner & Stanco Motorsport also participate in the VLN Championship. For this reason Luigi Stanco was at the same weekend with the new Clio IV at the test drives at the Nürburgring.
The Grisons-based Capricorn Racing team with Claudio Truffer, Patrik Meier and Gerhard Haas, on the other hand, was badly shaken. After changing the gearbox of their Honda Civic TCR on Saturday night, the car ended up in a wall in the second half of the race.
