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| June 19, 2017 | |
| ALBERTO CERQUI SCORING FURTHER POINTS IN MONZA AT THE ITALIAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 | |
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19/06/2017 - Alberto Cerqui's weekend at the Autodromo Nazionale of Monza during the third round of the Italian GT Championship 2017 ended with two point finishes. Cerqui put in a bold performance on the fast circuit characterized by long straights and heavy braking behind the wheel of the BMW M6 GT3 in a weekend in which there was no room for error. The great work done by the team allowed him to get the most out of the Bavarian car on the legendary track, even though the end result did not match expectations most probably due to the balance of performance that impacted a lot on performance on this circuit. After the two free practice sessions held on Friday, Cerqui has run the second qualifying valid for race two's grid. The Italian driver put in all his class on the home circuit and closed the tight fight for the pole position in ninth place with a fastest time of 1'48.765s, that was less than one second shy of the pole position time. Race one was run on Saturday afternoon. Stefano Comandini started the race on the number 15 BMW M6 GT3, that he qualified also in ninth place in Q1. After recovering several positions, Comandini handed the wheel over to Cerqui who defended himself very well and crossed the finish line in fifth place, that was first of the Pro Am. Race two has been tougher on Sunday. Cerqui started the race but in the fight of mid pack, where a contact would have impacted heavily on the result, he struggled to find the right gap for an overtaking move and therefore opted for an undercut strategy. This allowed Comandini to get some positions back and to close seventh. Some satisfaction also arrived from the Mini Challenge, where Cerqui has been the Mini Italia guest driver for the round of Monza. On the powerful Mini John Cooper Works Challenge Pro, pushed by 265 hps, Cerqui has produced a lot of spectacle for the fans. Following the third place in qualifying, in race one he had a small problem at the cut-off which forced him to use the clutch, but he never lost contact with the top and closed in fourth position. The Italian driver got the lead at the first corner of race-2 instead and pulled away to take a solid win celebrated by a lot of fans on grand stands. Alberto Cerqui: "I would have certainly preferred getting something more in my home race, I struggled to find the limit especially in the slower parts probably due also to the balance of performance that did play against the BMW M6 GT3 on this track. The outcome is positive nevertheless, we kept our winning streak in Pro Am and secured some further points that keep us in the fight for the absolute classification. With four races still to be run we need to get a strong result in such a way no to lose to much ground from the top. I would like to thank Mini Italia for the chance of competing in the Mini Challenge on the Mini John Cooper Works Challenge Pro. The car is really competitive and well balanced, fast and reactive. I ha a lot of fun and I hope to have another chance like this in the future". Alberto Cerqui will be back on track at Mugello for the Italian GT Championship 2017 next July 14-16. | |