GT Italia | Basz the great protagonist at Monza in GT3

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On Monza’s very fast track Karol Basz was the great protagonist of the penultimate round of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship at the wheel of the Imperiale Racing Huracan GT3, together with team mate Vito Postiglione. The Italian and Polish drivers, who were already the lead players in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa, showed excellent teamwork that was transformed into two podiums on the strength of the second and third places achieved in race-1 and race-2 respectively.

For the driver from Krakow followed by Minardi Management this was his absolute debut at the wheel of a GT3 car and confirmed the excellent speed qualities that made him the current leader of the Super Trofeo that will hold its final round at the Vallelunga circuit on November 15th and 16th.

Right from qualifying Karol found an excellent feeling for the car and constantly took the car into the front positions, taking second place on the grid in his turn at qualifying.

“It was a very positive weekend. Climbing into the podium twice on my debut in GT3 is very positive, even in view of the future and I must thank all the Imperiale Racing team and Vito Postiglione. Closing race-1 in front of a great driver such as Giancarlo Fisichella was very satisfying, despite of the difficult weather conditions”.

“We are very happy with Karol’s work here at Monza. Despite being on his debut in an GT3 car he showed right from the start that he could play for pole position, closing the weekend with second place in qualifying and two podiums in the two races. It was an excellent debut. We thank everyone in the Imperiale Racing team and especially Ivano Pignatti who gave us this important chance,” commented managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

F1 | Gp Japan, MINARDI “Ferrari can make no more mistakes”

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There are still 5 rounds until the end of the season on the Formula 1 World Championship that this weekend lands in Japan at the historic Suzuka circuit. After Lewis Hamilton’s win and Mercedes’ 1-2 double the gap between Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari has climbed to 50 and 55 points respectively in the drivers’ and the constructors’ ladders.

Ferrari must admit its fault for the points lost at Monza as at the other circuits in the times that was most favourable for it. The gap would have been much smaller, just like the pressure. Mercedes has shown great strength both technically and strategically. Even if some did not like the team games, the history books will only show the titles won.

Toto Wolff’s are making the most of all the material available to them by exploiting every favourable opportunity. Unfortunately Ferrari has not managed to do it just as well, despite finishing within a few seconds after a very tight and tough grand prix.

Suzuka is surely not an easy circuit where in recent years the weather was an important variable. This weekend too the forecasts are not the best since there is a tornado and we do not yet know which direction it will take. I may be the case to change the date of the race since the bad weather has always been a constant factor. I remember the 1994 edition when Alboreto and Martini touched without even noticing because it was raining so much. It went decidedly better for Fittipaldi in 1992 when he crossed the finish line with the Lamborghini powered M192 in sixth place, giving us the only point of the season.

Pirelli will bring the Medium, Soft and SuperSoft mixes and Mercedes and Ferrari have focussed on different strategies with 10 sets of SS for Vettel and Raikonnen and 7 for Hamilton. It will crtainly be the case to intervene with the tyres in view of next year since this year they are not achieving the results hoped for with negligible differences in performance from one mix to another.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Karol Basz at Monza with the Imperiale Racing Lamborghini GT3

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An extra appointment on the calendar for Karol Basz who this weekend will be one of the protagonists at Monza in the penultimate round of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship on his debut in GT3.

The driver from Krakow followed by Minardi Management will defend the colours of Imperiale Racing at the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 paired with Vito Postiglione on his return after six months to the temple of speed where he triumphed in the opening round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa with a win in race-1 and the second fastest time in qualifying (the fastest in the PRO class).

“I am honoured that Imperiale Racing once more repeated its faith in me for the Monza appointment of the Italian Championship at the wheel of the powerful Huracan GT3. I am very happy to come back to Monza again beside Vito with whom we already gained a great victory together. Naturally I will do my best to come back home with a new trophy,” commented Karol Basz.

“We are very happy with the call from Ivano Pignatto that gives for Karol the chance to come back to racing in a selective reality that he knows well such as the Italian GT Championship. It is the demonstration of having made the right choice at the beginning of the year in choosing the Imperiale Racing structure and the confirmation that Karol is doing very well in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa. Monza is a track that is very suitable for his speed qualities and already at the beginning of the year he gave a great show with the win. For this we are certain that he will be competitive right from the start despite his debut at the wheel of a GT3. It will be a very important experience for him and we will do everything to achieve the best result, together with all the team, seeing the excellent feeling with Vito,” commented Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

F1 | GP Russia, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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It was a very tight grand prix when Mercedes had to resort to all the possible strategies in order to beat a good Ferrari which can only regret giving 2-3 tenths of a second to its direct rivals. Once again Bottas sacrificed himself for his team mate (but I do not condemn the act) even though we saw the essence of the weekend in the fifteenth lap when Hamilton overtook Vettel.

Toto Wolff’s team found once more found the policy of the best times and Ferrari must regret its mistakes (in strategy and drivers) when the circumstances favourable.

Bottas was the weekend’s best driver and was perfect in both qualifying and the race when he managed to keep Hamilton’s rhythm. It was the perfect race for young Leclerc who finished in seventh place with the Sauber, just behind the two Red Bull drivers and so gave the team important points in the direct duel with Toro Rosso. The driver from Monaco set fantastic times, especial between the 34th and 42nd laps. Max Verstappen was very good in taking full advantage of his tyres by covering more than 40 laps. Pirelli should give us some explanations since these tyres are performing very differently from the expectations and the technical desires at the start of the season.

In a week’s time we will be back for a new duel between Vettel and Hamilton on the track of a circuit with a historic flavour like Suzuka.

Gian Carlo Minardi