Giancarlo Fisichella and Tommaso Mosca (Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020) are the Italian GT Endurance Champion 2023

The absolute title of the Italian GT Endurance Championship was officially awarded today to the team composed of Giancarlo Fisichella and Tommaso Mosca at the end of the 4th and final race held at the Vallelunga racetrack.

The Scuderia Baldini drivers, at the wheel of the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, had already mathematically secured first place in the standings in the last event at Mugello. However, they would have had to share the title in the event of a victory at Vallelunga by the BMW team of Comandini-Cassarà-Nilsson. But that was not the case, and at the end of the two-hour race they finished second behind Gilardoni-Guzman-Middleton (Lamborghini Huracan GT3-Imperiale Racing) and ahead of Guerra-Tavano-Tamburini (BMW M4 GT3-BMW Italia/Ceccato Racing Team), Fisichella and Mosca were able to celebrate their well-deserved Italian championship.

For the record, under the chequered flag, the Scuderia Baldini team had finished in the first place, but after the race, the race stewards decided to penalize them by ten seconds for contact involving Mosca during the overtaking of Gilardoni, which pushed them back to the second step of the podium.

At Vallelunga, the Italian titles in the subcategories were also awarded. The GT3 PRO-AM title went to Comandini-Cassarà-Nilsson (BMW M4 GT3-BMW Italia/Ceccato Racing Team), the GT Cup PRO-AM title was claimed by Demarchi-Patrinicola-Di Mare (Ferrari 488 Challenge-Best Lap), and the GT Cup AM title was secured by Caiola-Fabi-Ianniello (Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo-Lamborghini Roma/DL Racing).

GT3: Two victories, one second place, and one third place are the achievements of the Italian champions Fisichella and Mosca. Throughout the season, they were backed by a 488 GT3 Evo 2020 superbly managed by Scuderia Baldini. Even in the final round at Vallelunga, the home circuit of the Roman team, the Ferrari drivers completed a magnificent race, not at all affected by the post-race penalty they received for contact during the second stint.

The perfect blend of the two drivers, the experience of a former Formula 1 champion combined with the talent of a 23-year-old with experience at high levels, all melded with the great professionalism of Scuderia Baldini and the exceptional performance of the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, which claimed the championship after three years. In addition to the drivers' title, the Scuderia Baldini-Ferrari team also secured the Team-Constructors title, rounding off a stellar season.

The race had a regular progression, with Fisichella consistently leading and keeping the British driver Middleton at bay during the first stint, despite increased tire pressure that caused some rear-end issues. During the driver change, due to time constraints, Mosca found himself behind Gilardoni but managed to overtake him on the 44th lap after contact that was later deemed irregular by the race officials. In the third stint, Fisichella returned to the lead, finishing without problems in first place under the chequered flag, ahead of Guzman. Guzman was later awarded the top spot on the podium alongside his co-drivers from Imperiale Racing, Middleton and Gilardoni.

On the third step of the podium were the BMW drivers, Guerra-Tavano-Tamburini, ahead of Castro-Donno-Gai (Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020-AF Corse) and the second BMW team, Comandini-Cassarà-Nilsson, who won the GT3 PRO-AM title with just a four-point advantage over their teammates.

The second Lamborghini from Imperiale Racing with Batholomew-Fascicolo-Raghunathan finished the race in sixth place, ahead of the first GT3 AM team, Cressoni-Schiavoni (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2-Iron Lynx). They had an impressive comeback race and narrowly managed to beat the Mercedes AMG GT3 of Magnoni-Ferri-Bencivenni (Novarace) in a close finish. Unfortunately, the Audi R8 LMS (Audi Sport Italia) of Attianese-Stuvik-Bottiroli retired seven laps from the end due to rear-end problems that caused a couple of punctures during the race.

GT Cup: The GT Cup PRO-AM title had already been mathematically awarded at Mugello; however, Demarchi-Patrinicola-Di Mare did not back down. The Best Lap team drivers finished in third place, behind Pavlovic-Fischbaum (Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo2) and the winners Galbiati-Piria (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup). The latter were ninth overall and first in the GT Cup. For the Enrico Fulgenzi team's crew, it was their second win of the season, allowing them to tie in the final standings with the title winners. However, Kikko Galbiati and Vichy Piria missed the first race in Pergusa and, therefore, could not celebrate with the Best Lap drivers, even though they both finished with 55 points.

The GT Cup AM final standings also witnessed a close finish, with the last race of the season won by Leutwiler-Jacoma-Menzel (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup). The Centri Porsche Ticino team's crew took the lead in the second stint with a nice overtake by Jacoma on Caiola and held onto it until the checkered flag. They were followed by the newly crowned Italian champions Caiola-Fabi-Ianniello and Mendez-Lazzaroni (Lamborghini Huracan ST Evo2-Bonaldi Motorsport). The title race favoured the Lamborghini Roma-DL Racing crew by just three points over Filippo Lazzaroni, emphasizing the youth of the competitors, and underscoring the importance of the GT Cup class, which now holds the top position in Italian GT competitions.

The final championship standings see Atzori-Menichini (Ferrari 488 Challenge-SR&R) in third place with 40 points, ahead of Francesco La Mazza (Ferrari 488 Challenge-Easy Race) with 36 points.