Imperiale Racing grazes the podium at Hockenheim

22.07.2024 – The Hockenheim weekend of Imperiale Racing, which took part in the second round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup, ended with a fourth place and a very close class podium.

The Mirandola-based team lined up a Lamborghini Huracàn GT3 EVO2 entrusted to Ugo de Wilde (BEL) and Dmitry Gvazava (KGZ), who were competing in the Bronze class: it had the number 85 on the sides.

The whole weekend was characterised by the great speed shown by both drivers. The first meeting with the track came with Friday’s free practice, when the two drivers managed to finish ninth in class thanks to a laptime of 1’40″963. After that first track session, de Wilde and Gvazava were called upon to do pre-qualifying, where a time of 1’40″391 allowed them to finish seventh in class.

The first qualifying session on Saturday morning saw de Wilde finish in eighth place with a time of 1’38″417, with an improved pace compared to that shown the previous day, thanks in part to the work of the entire team. The #85 Lamborghini had been the author of a great comeback in race one, which took place on Saturday afternoon. The two drivers managed to steadily make up ground on their rivals, eventually climbing four positions from the starting grid. The reward for their very solid race was fourth place in class, which gave much hope for the following day.

Sunday began with the second qualifying session: in the three laps at his disposal, Gvazava managed to set a good 1’39″203, which was worth the crew’s chance to start from fourth place in the Bronze class. In race two he and de Wilde again showed all their skill, managing to set an excellent pace throughout their race. Thanks to this they were able to climb up to third position, with a real chance of getting back on the podium after the two podium placings gained at Misano in the first round of the season. The third place in class gained on track faded due to a decision of the stewards, who penalised a manoeuvre carried out by the crew with 10’. The two thus had to climb from third to eighth position.

Elena Pignatti (Team Owner):
“We cannot hide a bit of disappointment with the result of race two: Gvazava and de Wilde were both very fast throughout the weekend, and they as well as the whole team would have deserved to finish on the podium in race two. We accept the stewards’ decision, but it certainly has a bitter taste. We cannot overlook the positive aspects that we were able to gather at the end of this weekend: our car proved to be very fast, as it was in Misano, and we are sure that thanks to everyone’s work we will be able to confirm this in the next championship rounds’.

Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup – Bronze Class Standings | Round 2 of 4
1. Harper-Leung pti. 52,5
2. Hui-Cheever pti. 41
3. Collard-Mitchell pti. 36
4. De Wilde-Gvazava pti. 32
5. Mukovoz-Pereira pti. 26

Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup 2024 Calendar
Round 1: 17-19 May > Misano
Round 2: 19-21 July > Hockenheim
Round 3: 23-25 August > Magny-Cours
Round 4: 11-13 October > Barcelona