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| September 12, 2016 | |
| GRIT AND TENACITY TOOK ALBERTO CERQUI CLOSE TO THE PODIUM IN VALLELUNGA | |
| 11/09/2016 - Alberto Cerqui ended his effort with a precious fourth place in race-2 at the weekend of Vallelunga, third last round of the Italian GT 2016 Championship.
Cerqui had hard time posting very fast times since free practice due to a problem to the ABS and he placed the number 15 BMW M6 GT3 in midfield with a 1s gap to the top. In qualifying, despite the hard work of team and the effective drive of the Italian driver, Cerqui posted a best time of 1'33.580, which was the absolute ninth place that earned him the fifth row of race two, on the grippier part of the track. After the eleventh time in Q1, Stefano Comandini started race one from the sixth row of the grid. A good getaway made him gain some positions before handing the car to Cerqui. The driver from Brescia drove wisely the BMW M6 GT3 despite some technical problems and ended his stint without any mistakes, crossing the finish line in P8. Race-2 was run on Sunday morning and, thanks to the great work done by BMW Team Italia's technicians, the car improved a lot and the lap times posted by Cerqui matched those of the front runners. After recovering three places in the first three laps, Cerqui put in a streak of great lap times on a clean track taking him up to P3 before the pit stop. Comandini had the chance to get on the podium in the closing stages, but the melee of the final lap awarded the Lamborghini Huracan of Bortolotti-Mul instead, as the number 15 BMW M6 GT3 ended fourth. Alberto Cerqui: "It has been a trickier weekend than expected. We experienced some technical problems that did not allow us to show all our potential since the beginning. The team found the right solution during the night between Saturday and Sunday and I had a definitely more competitive car for race two. I run a great stint, lap times were very good on clean track and we just missed out on getting the podium. If we had another lap to go Stefano would have certainly managed to get the podium. We run a great race and proved that the car is competitive when we do not have issues. We hope to end the season with two strong and issue-free performances". The Italian GT 2016 Championship will resume from Imola for the penultimate round of the season next 23 - 25 September. | |