Lorenzo Ferrari managed to snatch an overall podium with his AF Corse teammates at the end of three hard-fought hours of racing in the Italian Gran Turismo Championship (CIGT) Endurance at Monza .
The combined times of the three drivers – Lorenzo Ferrari, Mahaveer Raghunathan and Riccardo Ponzio – allowed the Prancing Horse car to start on the second row at the start. Ponzio drove the car in the first stint, cautious and without making mistakes, leaving the wheel to the Indian ex-Formula 2 driver. It was a short stint as a Safety Car after the first hour of the race forced most of the crews to make a driver change. Ferrari therefore took to the track in 8th, but managed to quickly recover the top positions, consistently being the fastest on the track.
Having concluded the first part of the race in 4th, the AF Corse pit wall took advantage of another neutralization to make the next driver change just before the virtual 100-minute finish line. Before returning to the car, Ponzio and Raghunathan continued regularly during the green flag moments, while Lorenzo prepared to close the race. Ferrari began to set the pace with 28 minutes to go after the final pit stop. The race turned into a sprint finish due to the last Safety Car period of the day – just 10 minutes from the end – caused by the Pro-AM class leader going off track.
Crew #51 thus inherited the class podium. Ferrari was able to maneuver around the restart, managing to secure second place in Pro-AM category and third step of the overall podium in the final kilometers of the race.
This was the first podium of the season in the ACI Sport endurance race format for Ferrari and AF Corse crew #51, a result that will allow them to move on to Imola with an ever-greater feeling for the potential car.
Before returning to the track at Imola for the Endurance in August, Ferrari and Raghunathan will be back on track in the second Sprint round at Mugello, between the Tuscan hills of Scarperia and San Pietro, on the weekend of 11-13 July.
Lorenzo Ferrari
“Being able to find a podium like the one in Monza is a fantastic feeling! There is a unique atmosphere and it was the result we needed after some bad luck at Misano. I thank the team and my teammates because we did not make a single mistake in three hours of racing, managing the FCY and safety car phases intelligently, managing to maximize the potential of our car on the track”.
