47 cars on grid at the opening round in MonzaKujala comes back with a victory in Pro-Am with AmstutzSuccess for the 17-year-old Rik Breukers in AM class
Dry weather, followed by rain, then sunny again: with unpredictable weather conditions and a grid with 47 cars as the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Europe started Saturday in Monza, with a lot of new features
Race 1 was won by the young Dane Dennis Lind on his debut in the one-make series. Lind, with team Raton Racing, set fourth position in the first round of qualifying but managed to leave all the other cars behind including the crew of Orange 1 Team Lazarus formed by Nicola De Marco (on his return to racing after a two-year gap and driver of the first driving stint) and Fabrizio Del Monte, who were in first position before swapping seats.
Latvian Harald Schlegelmilch (Artline Team Georgia) took the last step on the podium having set the fastest time in the second qualifying session.
Vito Postiglione who, from the pole position, immediately took the lead and after passing it to De Marco, he regained leading position after the pit stops. The Imperiale Racing drivrt on his first outing in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Europe, had to slow down dramatically in the closing stages, thus missing the chance of getting an extraordinary result for him and his team and he had to content himself with a sixth absolute place.
In the PRO-AM class, Bonaldi Motorsport scored a success thanks to the reigning PRO champion Patrick Kujala and Adrian Amstutz, who drove together for the first time. Another important success was scored in AM class by the other debutant Rik Breukers, who at 17 years of age is the youngest driver in the race. The Dutchman of GDL Racing finished in fifteenth place overall and began his challenge behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo in the best way. The winner in the Lamborghini Cup was Songyang Fu with the FFF Racing Team by ACM.
The team from Antonelli Motorsport formed by Loris Spinelli and Enrico Fulgenzi were forced to withdraw after starting from the first row and initially occupying the second position.
Good results for the young Croatian Martin Kodric, also with Bonaldi Motorsport, who gained the fourth absolute place during his second participation in the series, after debuting at Sebring last year. Among the young drivers, the results of the other two “rookies” Andrea Fontana and Lorenzo Veglia (Antonelli Motorsport) did not disappoint expectations: they gained a more than satisfactory seventh place and also finished in second position in PRO-AM class.
Ninth place for the former F1 driver Nicola Larini, who was at his debut in the one-make series with Petri Corse.
Drivers quotes
Dennis Lind #60 - Raton Racing (first overall and in PRO class): “This victory is like a dream to me. I’m happy also because the track conditions were not easy at all and the fight for the top positions was always very pressing. The beginning of the season couldn’t have been better”.
Patrick Kujala #34 - Bonaldi Motorsport (first place, PRO-AM class): “I’m very happy also for my driving companion Adrian Amstutz. It was a very hard race, but I was aware we had to aim at the victory in the class without taking unnecessary risks and we managed to hit the target in the end”.
Rik Breukers #71 - GDL Racing (first place, AM class): “Debuting under the rain was very tough. However, I soon managed to leave a significant “gap” behind me and in the final stages I only had to concentrate on managing the car”.
Songyang Fu #55 - FFF Racing Team by ACM (first place, Lamborghini Cup class): “This is the first time I’ve come to Europe, therefore all racing circuits are new to me, including that of Monza. Today’s race was difficult to handle, but it helped me to gain experience with the car and learn more about the racing environment”.
