The Italian GT Endurance Championship resumes from Imola with 35 entered crews

This weekend, the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola will host the return of the Italian GT Championship Endurance series after the summer break. Following the two rounds at Vallelunga and Mugello, the three-hour race on the banks of the Santerno will mark the halfway point of the season, with 35 teams and a total of 101 drivers from the GT3 and GT Cup classes participating.

GT3: The top class is incredibly competitive, with five teams separated by just seven points. Leading the standings are Fisichella-Leclerc-Mosca (Ferrari 296 GT3-Scuderia Baldini), winners of the first round at Vallelunga but only seventh in the Mugello race, holding just a one-point lead over Cazzaniga-Di Folco-Liberati (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2-VSR) and two points ahead of Tresor-Audi Sport Italia’s Mazzola-Delli Guanti-Aka (Audi R8 LMS). The championship battle includes Ponzio-Gai-Mac (Ferrari 296 GT3), who won the last race at Mugello and lead the GT3 PRO-AM standings, trailing by six points, followed closely by Moncini-Cola-Van Berlo in the second Audi R8. At the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit, the Audi team will field three cars, with Tresor-Audi Sport Italia's two cars joined by the R8 of Tresor-Attempto Racing, driven by Scholze-Mukovoz-Patrese.

Comandini-Denes-Guerra (BMW M4 GT3) are not mathematically out of the title race, but the BMW Italia-Ceccato Racing Team trio trails by 16 points after a crash in Tuscany following a strong third-place finish at Vallelunga. In Imola, the BMW team will be joined by their teammates Cassarà-De Luca-Nilsson, while Ferrari will be represented by the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 cars of Bracalente-Donno (AF Corse), third in GT3 PRO-AM, and Colavita-Riccitelli-Hulrich (Double TT Racing), leading the GT3 AM category.

The VSR team will also field two more Lamborghinis: one driven by Gilles Stadsbader, who is second in GT3 PRO-AM and will team up with Mattia Michelotto and Ignazio Zanon in Imola, and the other by Guidetti-Moulin-Tribaudini. Additionally, Imperiale Racing will field Huracan GT3 Evo2 cars for Fascicolo-Bowen-Gavzava and Deledda-Gilardoni-De Wilde, while Star Performance will enter Mur-Lertlamprasertkul-Lommahadthai and Pavlovic-Spengler-Sunporn.

The third round of the season will also feature two Honda NSX GT3 cars with Nova Race colors, driven by Jelmini-Frassineti-Tomassoni and Magnoni-Ciglia-Massaro, as well as Mercedes AMG GT3 cars of Sandrucci-Bencivenni-Ferrari (Antonelli Motorsport) and Ferri-Bodellini-Marchetti (Nova Race).

Rounding out the entry list for the top class are the Porsche GT3 R of Fulgenzi-Mezzetti (EF Racing) and the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of multiple Moto GP champion Jorge Lorenzo, who will share the car of Team L&A Infinity with Finnish driver Alatalo and Mattia Di Giusto.

GT CUP: The third round at Imola will also help determine the standings in the GT Cup class in both Divisions. In the first Division, the PRO-AM is highlighted by a Lamborghini-Ferrari duel, with Segù-Caiola in the lead driving the Huracan ST Evo2 for DL Racing, supported at Imola by Andrea Fontana. They are leading the standings with a 10-point advantage over Demarchi-Patrinicola-Di Mare, who are driving the 488 Challenge Evo2 for Best Lap. Nearly out of the title race, trailing by 23 points, are Risitano-Schofield-Attianese (Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo2-SR&R), closely followed by the duo Bacci-La Mazza, who will share the Easy Race 488 Challenge with Emma Segattini at Imola.

In the AM division, the duel between the 488 Challenge Evo 2 and the Huracan ST Evo2 is also prominent, with two teams tied at the top of the standings. Both Marzialetti-Agoglia (Best Lap), joined at Imola by Filippo Croccolino, and D’Auria-Clementi Pisani-Bolger (HC Racing Division) have 54 points. They are ahead by five points over Mainetti-Gattuso-Riva (DL Racing), who will be their main competitors for the 2024 title. All other Lamborghini teams, including Mendez-Anapoli-Barbolini (Invictus Corse) and Kosic-Fondi (Lema Racing), are further back in the standings, looking for a strong comeback at Imola.

In the 2nd Division, with two victories at Vallelunga and Mugello, Berton-Laurini-Peroni (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup-Racevent) lead the 2nd Division PRO-AM and are ahead of the twin car of Cazzaniga-Di Benedetto-Nicolosi (Ebimotors). In the AM category, Van der Slot-Buratti (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup-EF Racing) lead by 19 points over Fontana-Knez (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup-Centri Porsche Ticino), who will be joined at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit by the German Hofmann.