Bittersweet weekend at Mugello for Scuderia Baldini

Weekend dolceamaro per Scuderia Baldini al Mugello con Giancarlo Fisichella, Arthur Leclerc e Tommaso Mosca

It was not an easy weekend at Mugello for Scuderia Baldini. The second round of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship took place in the Tuscan hills during one of the hottest weekends of the year, a feature that made the weekend a real challenge. After the season-opening win at Vallelunga, expectations were high for Giancarlo Fisichella, Arthur Leclerc and Tommaso Mosca, who had to deal with a long race full of pitfalls after starting from pole position.

Giancarlo Fisichella was the main character for the start, skilled in defending from opposing cars throughout the duration of the first stint, also characterized by about ten minutes of neutralization due to the shelter of a car stuck in the gravel. Once back in the pit lane for the first driver change, Fisichella got over Scuderia Baldini's pit by a few meters, with the mechanics bringing the car back to the right position into the traffic of the pit lane. Unfortunately the lost time was key for the rest of the race as the damages to the car - which was touched by some competitors passing in pit lane in that moment - and once Tommaso Mosca got behind the wheel the goal was the fightback.

The driver from Brescia managed to recover some positions despite the long period of Full Course Yellow, handing the Ferrari 296 GT3 #27 to Arthur Leclerc for the third stint. The Monegasque then tried to maintain his position in the few green flag laps. Despite the efforts of the entire crew, Scuderia Baldini had to settle for a fourth place in the GT3 PRO class, seventh overall, with also a ten-second penalty received following a contact during the second last stint with AF Corse’s Ferrari 488 GT3 #51.

Here's the comments of the drivers

Giancarlo Fisichella:

“We didn’t expect a race finish like this. Something probably happened during my first pit stop, when I got the wrong position. They hit us behind breaking a very important wing profile, so maybe there was some misplaced toe as well. We couldn't drive properly anymore, especially when we were in the wake. We tried to get to the end, in seventh place with a penalty. Hopefully the next race will be different.”

Tommaso Mosca:

"The Mugello race was a bit understated for several aspects. Unfortunately we didn't have pace and obviously we must understand why, but we hope to be back in shape for the next round of the Italian championship in Imola."

Arthur Leclerc:

"It wasn't a good race unfortunately. We started on pole position but during the race we were slower than about a second and a half. In three hours it is hard to recover with such a pace moreover, I had a lot of difficulties in the first place today. It was very hot and the tires suffered. However, the crew as a whole is fast, I feel good with Giancarlo and Tommaso and we showed it during qualifying, we are doing a good job. Overall a not-so-positive weekend and hopefully I can recover at the next race."

Fabio Baldini, team principal:

"This weekend was definitely thougher than Vallelunga. Getting pole position gave us a lot of confidence, but we couldn’t translate Saturday’s performance into Sunday’s one. We must understand what we got wrong but we are still confident for the next round in Imola, at the end of September."

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola will host the third round of the Italian Gran Turismo Endurance Championship during the weekend of 7/8 September. After Mugello it will be important for the team to put the pieces back together to fight again in front of the field.