A bittersweet weekend just passed at the Mugello International Circuit, where the second round of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship took place.
The potential — and especially the speed — to achieve an excellent result was there, given Daniel’s fastest time in Friday’s free practice.
In Qualifying 1, Dabboussi — driving the Ferrari 296 Challenge of team AF Corse — managed to secure an excellent 11th place in his class, but it was Daniel who surprised everyone by taking overall pole position in Q2.
At the start of Race 1 on Saturday afternoon, Dabboussi struggled to find his rhythm and pitted in 25th place. Daniel, upon rejoining the track, suffered a puncture, forcing him to return to the pits again.
The double pit stop cost the AF Corse team a significant amount of time, which resulted in finishing Race 1 in 28th place.
At the start of Race 2 on Sunday, Mancinelli started from pole position which he had secured during qualifying, despite the safety car 15-16 minutes after the race start, managed to build a several-second lead over his pursuers and hand the car over to his teammate with a 10-12 seconds gap.
Dabboussi, returning to the track, held off the attacks of Medler and Renmans’ Ferrari and Pollini’s Lamborghini, but unfortunately, a contact with Giraudi’s Mercedes sent him into the gravel, resulting in his retirement from the race.
“I’m a little disappointed about the setbacks we had during the weekend.” – Daniel said – “We were very fast and could have definitely fought for the podium. I would like to thank my teammate Dabboussi and the entire AF Corse team for their excellent work.”
