Italian GT, Monza - Practice & Qualifying Report
Audi Looking Strong Images to follow Practice Who says the Friday counts for nothing in racing? Friday at Monza for the last round of the Italian GT saw plenty of carnage, red flags, misunderstandings on track (bad ones) and some huge surprises; starting with the entry list. In GT2 we had another Ferrari, an old 430 for Palma-Ricci, and a second Autorlando Porsche for Caccia-Garofano; while in GT Cup there was no Gagliardini for the Antonelli team battling in the standings - he had been replaced by Baccani. 33 cars took part in the first free practice session, but not all of them finished it.
The first laps on a very cold typical autumn morning in the Park, saw a festival of spinning - mainly Ginettas, but with some scary moments for the big boys. At Lesmo 1, Capello, Piccini, Ruberti and Sanna all had big moments and all took their left front tyres well outside the dark stuff, but everyone managed to stay on. The speed of the field was a surprise, with the top speed of the GT3 Audis being very much on the pace of the Porsches and the Corvette.
Fastest in the session was the Reiter Gallardo with (presumably) the old fox, Peter Kox, at the wheel, by almost 6 tenths from Capello (very very fast like the good old days in the Audi A4 Supertouring). Third overall was the 458 Italia of Gai-Radaelli, while fourth overall and third in class was the other Audi of Bonanomi. Fifth and sixth were the other GT3 contenders, the Vette and the Autorlando Porsche. Top of the clock in the Cup class was the Porsche of Passuti, followed by the “bull pack” starting from Piccini down to Sanna, Ragazzi and Babini. In GT4 all the Ginettas were very close, expect for the star car of Rangoni-Ponti; which was about two seconds faster than the 'peloton'.
The second session was a mess! It was the last run of the day, from 18.00 to 18.30, with the darkness falling. It was interesting to watch, but there were too many blocking incidents and big moments at the Parabolica; with as many as four cars finishing the session in the gravel of the last corner. And there was also contact between a white Ginetta and the title contender in GT3, Cordoni. Thankfully there was no major damage, but it was a close call. The speed of the Gallardo was impressive, matching even the GT2 Ferrari; at least in the first part of the main straight. Overall, the times were a little bit faster in the second session. The Reiter Gallardo still held the top spot, about seven-tenths quicker than the Porsche of Ruberti-Cordoni (before the accident with the Ginetta), then came the two Audis. GT Cup saw Lamborghini domination, with only the Antonelli Porsche capable of matching the times done by the “bulls”. GT4 had another star car on top; not a Ginetta this time, but the very road base Porsche of Belicchi-Rayneri - guess who did the time? Qualifying
Apparently at Ingolstadt the “Area 51” is work well - coming from nothing on top speed, they discovered and unleashed a secret weapon and the two Audi R8s swept the first row in Qualifying 1 for Sunday's final round of the Italian GT Championship at Monza And they had the first row locked-up for race 2 until the final minutes of the second session also, before Peter Kox found the right moment to clock the best time; a blinding fast one, about a second faster than the first session. Qualifying one was again a huge mess. This time we counted a crash for the old 430 of Palma at the exit of the second chicane; a hard contact between a white Ginetta and the crown champions GT2 Porsche of the Coggiola brothers (both with some damage); a huge moment for the GT2 Autorlando Porsche of Caccia, launching himself over the very high kerb of the Roggia chicane; a monster lockup for Ruberti; a very unhappy Cioci giving the finger to another Ginetta driver; a spin for the GT Cup Porsche of Fornaroli; and, just to make everything interesting, the Cayman GT4 spilling oil everywhere throughout the session! After the first half hour, it was an Audi front row for Capello and Bonanomi. Ruberti was third, Cioci fourth, Amos fifth and Merendino sixth; all GT3 cars and all of them covered by a little more than a second. The GT Cup was still a Lamborghini reign, with Sanna on pole from Babini and Seveso. Fourth was the still pretty fast Porsche of Passuti, then the last two Lambos of Livio and Carboni. It seemed that the other GT Cup title contender, the Porsche of Mastronardi-Fornaroli, couldn’t find any speed at all during the first two days. GT4 saw again a star performance for the Ginettas of Rangoni, from Postiglione and Belicchi in the GT3 Porsche; then Lasagni and the oily Cayman of Donaviti.
Qualifying two saw a red flag just five minutes in - yet another crash (the third, leaving it a very second hand car) for the 430 of Palma. The two Audis locked the front row for much of the session, until Foxy-Koxy stole pole on the last lap. Fourth overall was the GT3 458 of Gai, fifth was the Vette of Di Benedetto (still not on top of the car's potential this weekend), then Cordoni in the Autorlando Porsche, about 2.6 seconds down. The others? Miles and miles away. Sixth and top in GT Cup was yet again a Lamborghini - Iacone's - then Piccini, Sanna, Ragazzi and Mastronardi (his Porsche about 1.5 seconds down of Piccini). No time had been set by Baccani in the title-contending Antonelli Sport Porsche, with hard trouble striking both Porsches battling for the title. GT4 saw a more usual situation, with the 'regular' Ginetta of Cressoni ahead of the Cayman (very fast this time) of Brambati; then Cappelletti, Ponti and Baldan, all in Ginettas.
We arrived at Monza with some certainty, but we came out on Saturday night with a very hard headache! The Audis were suddenly very fast, the Corvette was struggling, and there was also the Reiter Gallardo looking to for spoiling the party. The Autorlando Porsche was not out of sight, and there was also the angry pack of the Ginettas in the Cup Class. If you like dark horses, you had a wide choice at Monza. The time penalties were likely to have an impact only for the overall fight in GT3, but not so much in GT Cup. The Gallardos were too fast than the Porsche, and at Monza, there is no substitute for power! Gabriele Tosi |
