Autosport

Lamborghini took a dominant win in the opening Endurance Cup round of the Blancpain GT Series at Monza, with the all-factory line-up of Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli and Christian Engelhart.

Their Grasser-run Huracan GT3 took the lead during the first round of pitstops and was unchallenged on the way to a winning margin of just under half-a-minute.

“After my pitstop, the team told me I had a 4.5-second lead,” said Caldarelli.

“Our strategy in qualifying was to save the tyres, so I knew we should have good pace – we did and I could build the gap.”

Bortolotti shadowed Miguel Molina in the SMP Racing Ferrari 488 GTE into the first pitstop window of the three-hour race, before Caldarelli emerged with a clear lead over the Ferrari taken over by Victor Shaytar.

Caldarelli was able to extend the margin to nearly 25s before Shaytar came into the pits to hand over to Davide Rigon.

Engelhart found himself with a similar advantage over the ISR Audi R8 LMS driven by Clemens Schmid after the final pitstops.

Rigon briefly began to make inroads into the Lamborghini’s advantage after passing the Audi, before being handed a drive-through penalty for a yellow-flag infringement.

That allowed Schmid back into second, a position he maintained under severe pressure from Alessandro Pier Guidi’s Spirit of Race Ferrari until losing drive in the closing minutes.

That meant Pier Guidi, who shared his Ferrari with Pasin Lathouras and Michele Rugolo, had a clear run to second.

Franck Perera came through to a distant third in the HTP Mercedes-AMG GT3 he shared with Maximilian Buhk and Jimmy Eriksson, on a track where the German car wasn’t fully competitive.

Giancarlo Fisichella, James Calado and Marco Cioci finished fourth from 14th on the grid in the AF Corse-run Kaspersky Ferrari 488 GTE.

Rigon took the flag in fifth ahead of the M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 shared by Vincent Abril, Andy Soucek and Maxime Soulet.

The TF Sport-run Oman Racing Team Aston Martin V12 Vantage came through to take Pro-Am class honours courtesy of a late charge from Jonny Adam.

The Aston factory driver, who shared the car with Ahmad Al Harthy, set the overall fastest lap of the race as he chased down Andrea Rizzoli’s Kessel Ferrari for the class win.

The race was red-flagged after just two laps in the wake of a multi-car startline shunt that partially blocked the track.

The accident happened when Bentley driver Guy Smith nudged Ezequiel Perez Companc’s Grasser Lamborghini on the run to the first corner.

The Lamborghini ended up on the grass and spun across the field.

Smith was subsequently given a 15s stop-go penalty for causing a collision, but did not stop in the pits.

He was subsequently black flagged, only to rejoin the track after driving through the pits.

He pitted again five laps later and the car took no further part in the race.

RESULTS – 92 LAPS:

POSDRIVERTEAMCARGAP
1M.Bortolotti, C.Engelhart, A.CaldarelliGRT Grasser Racing TeamLamborghini3h24m15.027s
2P.Lathouras, M.Rugolo, A.P.GuidiSpirit of RaceFerrari29.360s
3M.Buhk, F.Perera, J.ErikssonMercedes-AMG Team HTP MotorsportMercedes38.280s
4G.Fisichella, M.Cioci, J.CaladoKaspersky MotorsportFerrari43.666s
5V.Shaytar, D.Rigon, M.MolinaSMP RacingFerrari47.684s
6A.Soucek, M.Soulet, V.AbrilBentley Team M-SportBentley53.861s
7A.Christodoulou, Y.Buurman, L.StolzMercedes-AMG Team Black FalconMercedes59.540s
8A.Al Harthy, J.AdamOman Racing Team with TF SportAston Martin1m15.544s
9M.Broniszewski, A.Rizzoli, M.CressoniKessel RacingFerrari1m17.045s
10C.Ledogar, R.Bell, B.BarnicoatStrakka RacingMcLaren1m17.554s
11J.Kane, D.Fumanelli, S.TordoffStrakka RacingMcLaren1m35.877s
12S.Leonard, M.Winkelhock, J.DennisTeam WRTAudi1 Lap
13M.Simmons, M.Parry, S.MooreMotul Team RJN MotorsportNissan1 Lap
14K.Heyer, I.Dontje, P.AssenheimerMANN-FILTER Team HTP MotorsportMercedes1 Lap
15N.Hommerson, L.Machiels, A.BertoliniSpirit of RaceFerrari1 Lap
16A.Mattschull, D.Keilwitz, R.SalikhovRinaldi RacingFerrari1 Lap
17J-L.Beaubelique, N.Bastian, J.GounonAkka ASPMercedes1 Lap
18M.Avenatti, D.Faulkner, M.SkeenHTP MotorsportMercedes1 Lap
19O.Morley, M.Toril, M.MetzgerBlack FalconMercedes1 Lap
20A.Amici, D.Lind, S.CostantiniRaton RacingLamborghini1 Lap
21F.Crestani, G.Yacaman, N.PohlerOrange 1 Team LazarusLamborghini1 Lap
22A.Piccini, M.Beretta, S.GattusoOmbra RacingLamborghini1 Lap
23A.Amstutz, M.Kodric, P.KujalaBarwell MotorsportLamborghini1 Lap
24J.Caygill, J.Venter, N.M.-MelnhofTeam WRTAudi2 Laps
25M.van Splunteren, C.Mateu, G.MaggiAttempto RacingLamborghini2 Laps
26J.Haring, A.Renauer, R.RenauerHerberth MotorsportPorsche2 Laps
27A.Demirdjian, D.Rizzo, A.EatonAF CorseFerrari2 Laps
28G.Vannelet, B.DelhezTeam HB RacingLamborghini3 Laps
29F.Salaquarda, F.Stippler, C.SchmidISRAudi5 Laps
30F.Serralles, D.Juncadella, T.VautierAkka ASPMercedes22 Laps
31L.Frey, S.Ortelli, A.CostaEmil Frey Jaguar RacingJaguar27 Laps
32I.Vinke, V.Vong, B.CacciaTeam ZakspeedMercedes28 Laps
J.Hirschi, C.Klien, M.SeefriedEmil Frey Jaguar RacingJaguarRetirement
P.Ehret, R.MastronardiRinaldi RacingFerrariRetirement
D.Baumann, E.Sandstrom, F.SchillerHTP MotorsportMercedesRetirement
M.Meadows, R.Marciello, E.MortaraAkka ASPMercedesRetirement
N.Leventis, L.Williamson, C.FlemingStrakka RacingMcLarenRetirement
S.Kane, G.Smith, O.JarvisBentley Team M-SportBentleyRetirement
M.Fassler, D.Vanthoor, W.StevensBelgian Audi Club Team WRTAudiRetirement
L.Machitski, M.Ramos, R.AbraBarwell MotorsportLamborghiniRetirement
E.P-Companc, N.Siedler, R.GiammariaGRT Grasser Racing TeamLamborghiniRetirement
C.Kelders, M.Rostan, C.HaaseSainteloc RacingAudiRetirement
A.Buncombe, L.Ordonez, K.ChiyoMotul Team RJN NissanNissanRetirement
K.Lendoudis, R.Aguas, J.M.BalbianiTeam ZakspeedMercedesRetirement
D.Perfetti, A.Fontana, L.BadeyAkka ASPMercedesRetirement
M.Ishikawa, L.Bontempelli, O.BerettaAF CorseFerrariRetirement
J.Duyver, M.Zanuttini, D.PerelKessel RacingFerrariRetirement
A.Watson, J.Jaafar, D.StonemanStrakka RacingMcLarenRetirement
B.Sandberg, D.Chaponick, S.HeckertBlack FalconMercedesRetirement
N.Menzel, M.Jensen, J.van LagenWalkenhorst MotorsportBMWRetirement
N.Berthon, S.Richelmi, B.TreluyerBelgian Audi Club Team WRTAudiWithdrawn
M.Mapelli, G.Venturini, L.FilippiAttempto RacingLamborghiniWithdrawn

Lamborghini takes dominant win in Blancpain Endurance opener at Monza

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