GT racing: No luck for the Swiss at Monza
GT-SPORT The Swiss would have had the speed for a top classification at the opening round of the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup in Monza. But neither Emil Frey Jaguar Racing nor drivers from other teams had luck on their side. A starting accident took a quarter of the field out of the race. For some of the 50 GT3 teams, the 3-hour race ended after [...]
For some of the 50 GT3 teams, the 3-hour race ended after a few seconds as a result of a starting accident. The mass collision triggered by second row starter Guy Smith from Great Britain in the Bentley Continental affected more than a dozen vehicles. Among them was the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Alex Fontana and Daniele Perfetti from Ticino, for whom the home race was over.
Marcel Fässler, too, had a short working day because of this. The Audi R8 LMS driven by Will Stevens (GB) at the start and damaged in the mass crash was able to rejoin the race after the half-hour interruption but had to be withdrawn after a few laps. Edoardo Mortara and Raffaele Marciello, who start for Italy, also retired with their Mercedes as a result of the starting accident in the second hour.
Only Kessel Racing had reason to celebrate. The team from Grancia took the Ferrari 488GT3 driven by the trio of Broniszewski, Cressoni and Rizzoli over the full distance in eighth place overall and second in the Pro-Am classification. Victory went to a Lamborghini Huracan driven by Grasser Racing with Rolf Ineichen's ADAC GT partner Christian Engelhart and the Italians Caldarelli and Bortolotti. Adrian Amstutz and Giorgio Maggi finished in positions 22 and 26 with their teams' Lambos.
Curbed predatory cats from Safenwil
The weekend in Monza got off to a promising start for Emil Frey Jaguar Racing, with both GT3 cars from Safenwil among the fastest in practice. Unfortunately, the good performance was curbed by the BoP (Balance of Performance) regulations. Only one model in the field was heavier than the Emil Frey G3 Jaguar afterwards.
In the starting accident, the car of Jonathan Hirschi, Christian Klien and Marco Seefried also suffered considerable damage to the left side of the vehicle. The car was able to return to the race late after repairs during the forced break. But two punctures and further problems caused the final retirement. The sister car of Lorenz Frey, Stéphane Ortelli and Albert Costa also retired early with a technical problem in the engine area. Before that, this trio had even been in the top 10 at times.
"We were certainly beaten below value," sighed Technical Director Jürg Flach. "We knew we could make a difference here in the race because we were here twice for testing and especially in the long runs we were able to set good lap times, which we also showed in the race."
The next round takes place in three weeks at Silverstone. For all the Swiss in the Blancpain GT Series, things can only get better.
