Alessandro Pier Guidi, Alessio Rovera and Davide Rigon, who share the number 51 car, and Thomas Neubauer, driving the number 71 296 GT3 – both from the AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors team in the PRO class.
Andrea Bertolini is instead registered in the Bronze class with the AF Corse Ferrari number 52. The three-hour race, which takes place on the 5.137-kilometer-long “GP” track with 17 curves, starts on Sunday, July 28 at 3:00 p.m. (local time).
#71 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3: Thomas Neubauer, Vincent Abril, David Vidales
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
PRO Class
After the second place obtained at the 24 Hours of Spa last June, a result that came at the end of a race that they dominated for a long time, Pier Guidi-Rovera-Rigon arrive in Germany with the aim of confirming their leading roles in the endurance series.
“We start again from the Nurburgring, where, given the excellent work done so far by the whole team and the driving sensations that the Ferrari gives us, I think we can play our chances”, reveals Rovera.
“70% of the work, however, will be done in the official tests. On a circuit like the German one, overtaking is never easy, so the important thing will be to have a good qualifying and manage to start at least in the first two rows, then we’ll see about the race strategies”.
“We are third in the standings with 15 points and so everything is open with three rounds still to go. Among these is the home round in Monza, which after the Nurburgring we will try to arrive at with a valuable result”.
In the “twin” car with the number 71, Neubauer – in his first season as an official driver for the Prancing Horse –, crewed by Vincent Abril and David Vidales, will try to redeem the Belgian race which saw the trio retire early from the competition after completing 236 laps.
#52 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3: Louis Machiels, Jef Machiels, Andrea Bertolini, Tommaso Mosca
Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo
Bronze Class
After two podiums in as many races, Bertolini, together with Louis and Jef Machiels, restarts from the event staged on the iconic German track with the Ferrari number 52 of AF Corse, among the favourites in the challenge for the category title.
In the demanding class that includes the participation of teams made up of professionals and gentlemen drivers, two other cars from the Maranello company are also at the start: the number 93 of Sky Tempesta Racing, entrusted to Eddie Cheever, Jonathan Hui and Christopher Froggatt, and the number 333 of Frikadelli Racing with drivers Klaus Abbelen, David Perel and Felipe Fernandez-Laser.
Unlike the first two races of the season, the two Ferraris of the Kessel Racing team will not participate in the 3 Hours of Nürburgring.
Nicolò Rosi, racing at Spa with the number 8, was involved in an accident that caused him to fracture his ribs: the driver has not yet fully recovered and the team has therefore not entered the car; the number 74 crew is not at the start, however, due to the personal commitments of driver John Hartshorne.
#1 Frikadelli Racing Ferrari 296 GT3: Felipe Fernandez Laser, Daniel Keilwitz, Luca Ludwig Bornheim, Nicolás Varrone
Photo by: Gruppe C GmbH
The situation
In the overall Drivers’ standings, Pier Guidi-Rovera-Rigon are third, 15 points behind the leaders, while AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors is third, 14 points behind, in the Teams’ standings.
In the Bronze class Bertolini-L. and J. Machiels are first with 57 points, 14 more than Hui-Froggatt-Cheever; the Team classification sees AF Corse in first place ahead of Sky – Tempesta Racing.
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