Archive for category: Championships

Almost 2 months after the 24h of Spa-Francorchamps, Davide Rigon is ready to go back behind the wheel of the Ferrari 458 of Kessel Racing Team, to run the 5th race of Blancpain Endurance Series.
At Nurburgring Rigon, together with his two team-mates Zampieri and Gattuso, will try to score the first win of the season. But, given the high-level of competitiveness of the series, that won’t be so easy to get. For the talented Italian driver, it will be a return on a track which gave him so much satisfaction in all racing categories, even if it will be the first time there behind the wheel of a GT racing car.
The German weekend will start on Saturday with a one hour and a half long free practices session and pre-qualifying, before the official round scheduled on Sunday morning at 9.40, and the 3 hours long race which will start at 14.30.
“ I’m really excited and I just can’t wait for getting into the race again. The Nurburgring is a special track for me, as I got some important results there. I’ve been waiting for this race for such a long time and this will be my first time there behind the wheel of a GT car. As usual, there will be very little time to arrange everything and regain the pace, two months after the unlucky 24H of Spa.”, says Davide Rigon.

Despite the image of that exciting second place clinched in Imola two weeks ago is still so clear in Nicholas Latifi’s mind, now it’s time to focus on the next challenge and on the Italian F.3 European Series sprint finish.
The first challenge will take place at the Roman circuit called Pietro Taruffi, while the final race will be run in October, the 21st at the “speed temple” of Monza, where the F.1 Champions Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso clinched a place on the podium last week-end.
In a year that marks his debut in the world of open wheels and sees him climbing the starting grid, the aim of the JD Motorsport team’ Italo-Canadian driver at Vallelunga is to continue his development as a driver and giving Championship leaders a hard time.
The Roman weekend will start on Thursday with 4 sessions of free practices, which will be followed by a further half an hour free practice session on Friday, before qualifying which will determine the starting grid of race-1 and 2, scheduled respectively on Saturday at 15.10 ( live on Raisport 2) and on Sunday at 10.00 ( live on Raisport 2). The sprint race ( at 4pm) will be the last race of the seventh event. The three races will be broadcasted via web streaming on www.acisportitalia.it/F3 and www.sporttube.tv (channel 5 ).
NICHOLAS LATIFI: “”I’m really looking forward to the race at Vallelunga this weekend. Last race at Imola was the best results i’ve had, so i’m looking to build on that momentum and finish the races near the front. I know the qualifying is going to be very important here, seeing as it is a track where not a lot of passing is done, so I’m going to be pushing and working with the team to make sure we have a fast car for then.”
DAVID TENNYSON (coach driver): “Nicholas is ready and highly focused for the Vallelunga race weekend. His impressive result in the Imola race is another milestone in his development as a driver. We are confident the Vallelunga race weekend will be another successful event as Nicholas gains valuable race experience in Formula 3.”
GIOVANNI MINARDI (sport advisor): “ The podium achieved in Imola should be an incentive for Nicholas. It’s a starting point to continue to develop, work and improve. We don’t have to forget that this is his first season behind the wheel of a Formula car. I’m very satisfied with his development and I’m sure at Vallelunga he will bother the three drivers striving for the title.”

One month after the challenge at the Red Bull Ring, the Italian F3 European Series is now ready to come back to Italy for the last three races which will take place at the international circuits of Imola, Vallelunga and Monza.
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The result of the 24h race in Spa wasn’t as good as planned for Davide Rigon. Just two years after scoring an epic win in the FIA GT World Championship driving a car of the “Scuderia”, the talented driver from Veneto had prepared to the smallest detail this challenging event, which was the fourth round of the Blancpain GT Endurance Series.
After the flood of people present at the traditional drivers and cars parade which took place at Spa city centre on Wednesday, the competitive week-end officially started on Thursday with free practices, during which his teammate Zampieri had a terrible accident because of which the Ferrari 458 GT3 71 was irreparably damaged.
Mechanics were able to accomplish a miracle by fixing the car in time for the qualifying round after which the Kessel Racing Team got the middle rows, missing the top 20 to be valid for a superpole. After a night and morning shower, race started in dry. The first driver out on track was Gattuso, who gave way to Davide Rigon one hour after the start.
The driver from Vicenza began to gain positions till he got up to 16th ( the third in category), before giving way to Daniel Zampieri, who had to pit for a couple of laps because of a wiper electrical problem. Despite a frenzied race pace, bad luck prevailed , so only 6 hours before the end of the race, the car was stopped by a serious technical problem which forced it to drop out. When that happened, it was Daniel Zampieri’s turn behind the wheel of the car which is a member of PRO class.
“It was a hard week-end, especially because of the terrible accident during qualifying. Daniel thankfully didn’t hurt himself. Despite the miracle accomplished by mechanics, to whom I offer my congratulations, the car had not been the same any more and we had several problems which drove us to drop out. Anyway I’m pleased with my race pace ‘cause I was one of the fastest on track. In the last turn I re-gained several laps. The atmosphere you live during a 24h race is something amazing, just like seeing a flood of fans……Really beautiful!”

Waiting is over. This week-end spotlights will be turned on the most important meeting of the Blancpain GT Endurance season: the 24h of Spa. It’s a hard but charming circuit, nestled in the forest of Ardennes.
For Davide Rigon this will be a return on the ups and downs of the Spa circuit behind the wheel of a Ferrari, just after the 2008 victorious experience in the FIA GT World Championship. The race is worth a whole season, not only for the charme and glory that go with it but also for the standing: scores will be awarded during race three highlights. So being constant and handling a good management of the Ferrari 458 are race most important issues. After getting on the podium at Paul Ricard, the Kessel team driver, together with his team mates Zampieri and Gattuso, is dead set on getting another important result.
“ The 24h of Spa represents my most important race of the season. I trained a lot for this race I’ve already won in 2008 behind the wheel of a Ferrari GT2 of BMS team. I remember each lap was like a qualifying lap. We have to maintain top speed and remain focused throughout the race, ‘cause it’s so stressful. As usual rain will play a dominant role” says Davide Rigon.
“ This year we’re in good shape, even if we’ve been quite unlucky and we’ve got less than deserved. This kind of event can deeply influence the whole race season. It’s three races in one. Scores will be awarded after the 6th, the 12th and the 24th hour. This is the reason why we have to be constant and handle the car with kid gloves, even if till now the Ferrari has been a very reliable car. About 85 cars will take part in the race and also Audi and Porsche official drivers are expected to run the competition. Track will be so crowded, so it will be so hard to find free stretches.”, says again Rigon.
“ I’m confident that we can get a good result. During a 24h race difficulties are so many, but the crew is one of the most powerful and the team has enough experience to do a good job. I wish good luck to everybody!”, comments the manager form Faenza Giovanni Minardi.
Qualifying will start on Thursday, while the green light will turn on only on Saturday afternoon at 4pm.