There is also a lot of regret this time at Ferrari, with the third seasonal round of the Endurance Cup of the GT World Challenge Europe held at the Nurburgring providing further negative surprises for the 296 GT3s managed by the AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors team.
With a great desire to make up for the shocking defeat suffered at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the Reds had all it took to be protagonists at the Nurburgring, but already in Qualifying something didn’t work properly in the final phase of the attack on the best time.
After the turns of Alessio Rovera and Davide Rigon, Alessandro Pier Guidi climbed into the loaded #51 to do his lap, but as soon as he left his spot he came into contact with the #46 BMW of Valentino Rossi who, starting from the pit next to his left, had already entered the acceleration lane; the impact sent the Ferrari into the Aston Martin of the Comtoyou team (and a mechanic of the Belgian team was dragged away, miraculously suffering only a bruise to a wrist) and found himself with a damaged bumper.
This, in addition to procuring a €1000 fine for ‘Unsafe Release’ for the Piacenza team, prevented the Piedmontese from doing their lap and therefore the trio had to start from 48th place on the grid for the 3rd hour. Here Rovera showed off his immense strength as a fighter with a knife between his teeth, avoiding trouble and angrily climbing back up the slope to earn 15th place before handing over the wheel to Rigon and Pier Guidi, who completed the recovery fighting in the group of the fastest until grabbing an eighth place that obviously cries out for vengeance.
#51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors, Ferrari 296 GT3: Alessio Rovera, Davide Rigon, Alessandro Pier Guidi
Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo
“I have to say that, given the circumstances, today’s result is like a victory for us considering the accident in the pit lane in qualifying that prevented us from making it to Q3, forcing us to start from the back”, comments Rovera.
“So we started with the hope of getting into the top 10 and getting some important points for the championship: we hit the target and went beyond that. Everything worked well during the three hours and in view of Monza the result at the Nurburgring is really important, so now I can’t wait to get back on track in the championship in front of our fans”.
“We must be satisfied, I thank the whole team, which was perfect, and my teammates Ale and Davide.”
Rigon added: “Our race was perfect. At the start Alessio gained dozens of positions, allowing me to get on board in the middle-high part of the standings and, at that point, Ale did his best to finish the job”.
“We know that in this championship, given the number of teams entered, if you don’t start in the top positions it’s impossible to win in a race that’s only three hours long. I repeat, however, that we must be satisfied, also with the performance of the 296 GT3 which here in the dry was strong in every sector”.
Pier Guidi can only throw up his hands: “We did our best to make up as many positions as possible. Even though we finished eighth, I think that today we demonstrated the potential of this car and our team at their best.”
#51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors, Ferrari 296 GT3: Alessio Rovera, Davide Rigon, Alessandro Pier Guidi, #71 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors, Ferrari 296 GT3: Vincent Abril, David Vidales, Thomas Neubauer
Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo
On the other side of the pits, the #71 Ferrari driven by Thomas Neubauer, Vincent Abril and David Vidales had placed sixth and the start was assigned to the Spaniard, who however was too aggressive at Turn 1, coming in too fast and ending up hitting the Porsche of poleman Patric Niederhauser, who in turn inadvertently touched the Mercedes alongside him, suffering a puncture to the left rear.
For the episode a Drive Through penalty was served with consequent lost positions; Abril and Neubauer were however fast and in the end a Top10 was achieved.
“I feel sorry for the team, first of all, for having taken that Drive Through at the beginning. We finished in tenth position, but during the weekend, both in qualifying and in the race, I think we did a good job demonstrating the great potential of our Ferrari,” comments Vidales.
“This way we took the first point, but I had mixed feelings: I was happy with the pace we showed in the race, the shame is for the penalty, which came when we were comfortably in fourth place.”
“I’m also happy with how we carried out and managed qualifying in humid conditions and on a track where traffic management is not easy. Overall, this weekend has been very positive, we continue to learn and improve.”
“A big thank you to the entire AF Corse team, the mechanics, the engineers, the technical staff for their hard work. I apologize to the #96 Porsche for the contact on the first lap.”
Neubauer said: “Tenth place is not what we would have hoped for on the eve of the race, but we gave our all, even after the Drive Through penalty we served at the start, to recover and secure some points. Now we look forward to Monza when we will return to the race in the most eagerly awaited event by the Italian public: it will be exciting to compete on an iconic track like that at the wheel of a Ferrari”.
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