Italian GT: Audi Sport Italia back with Dindo Capello and two Audi R8 LMS ultra

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi Sport Italia will enter the 2013 Italian GT Championship with two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars, and a strong driver line-up. The team will aim for the 2013 title, after the dramatic finale at Monza last year.

Andrea Sonvico missed the title by only a single point, loosing the title to the BMW drivers. Sonvico is back with the team and will share the first Audi R8 LMS ultra with Dindo Capello. The Italian Audi legend will compete in the Italian GT as a full season competitor for first time in years, after focusing on the Le Mans effort with the factory Team Joest. The second car will be in the hands of Alex Frassineti, who also drove for the team last year, and the 2012 Superstars Series champion, Johan Kirstoffersson. The Swedish driver had a great 2012 by winning the Superstars Series, the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship and the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia. He is not stranger to Audi Sport Italia, the team who built his Audi RS 5 quattro, which entered by his father's team KMS.

The first round of the Italian GT Championship is set for next weekend at Misano. No doubts that Audi Sport Italia will be among the big favorites for the title hunt.

Photo credit: Audi Media

Three podium finishes for Audi Sport Italia was not enough at Mugello

Audi Sport Italia Press Release 

R8 LMS ultras three podium finishes are not enough at Mugello, on a day the Italian Gran Turismo points lead change hands

Fmr. leader Andrea Sonvico and Dindo Capello post 3rd and 4th as teammates Davide Di Benedetto-Alex Frassineti clinch runner-up and third spot at Tuscan venue

BMW Italia definitely can call Mugello their own, as the squad run by former touring car star Roberto Ravaglia sweeped the four Italian GT3 rounds that had Tuscany's rolling hills as their backdrop. On Sunday, in their second 2012 visit at the history-laden track, Thomas Biagi and Stefano Colombo claimed both wins, the latter snatching his second successive and fourth season victory from female team mate Michela Cerruti with just half-lap to go. The move allowed the winners to come back atop the points standings for the first time since early August, when Audi Sport Italia's Andrea Sonvico had pipped from the top spot the rivals. Teaming up with Audi mainstay Dindo Capello, Sonvico started from row 3 the morning race, occupying P5 throughout his stint behind Gianluca De Lorenzi's brand-new Mercedes SLS. After the mandatory pit-stop his team mate Capello managed to move up a couple of spots and in the final stages of the round he also had to rely on his ample bag of tricks to safeguard his P3 from the charging BMW of young gun Edoardo Liberati. The runner-up spot was claimed by #32 R8 LMS ultra driven by Davide Di Benedetto and Alex Frassineti. The former proudly put his mark on the most amazing start seen this season, rocketing from row 2 on the outside of Colombo and Matteo Malucelli's Porsche at San Donato bend. The Sicilian bravely resisted the pressure from the BMW driver until Lap 6, when he relinquished the lead to Colombo, who never looked back thereafter. Malucelli on contrary didn't give any sign of giving up, but Di Benedetto kept P2 safe until the pit stop, leaving to Alex Frassineti the opportunity to seal the pair fifth 2012 podium finish.

Race 2 had Audi's Saturday hero, Frassineti, sitting on pole. The Rome-based driver didn't make any mistake at the start of the afternoon 48-minute plus 1-lap race, but he was quickly passed for the lead by Biagi, who had started second in his Z4. Frassineti was then able to fend off Liberati's assault until Lap 6, when the BMW driver moved by making it a 1-2 for the Z4s. Frassineti then kept the fastest pace --that is, among drivers who were not sitting in a BMW, whilst Capello was stuck in P5 behind Stefano Comandini's Ferrari, whose better top speed allowed the Rome driver to keep the 3-time Le Mans winner at bay until the pit stop. The pit stop sent back on tracks a pair of BMWs leading a pair of Audis, with Di Benedetto comfortably edging Sonvico. The latter in the closing laps had to put in his best driving resources as Malucelli's Porsche came back menancingly but ultimately had to bow to the Audi.

Porsches were off pace at Mugello, leaving Audis alone to attempt to spoil BMW's party, but they are likely to come back with a vengeance at Monza season finale where, besides leading Biagi-Colombo and runner-up Sonvico, even Di Benedetto-Frassineti have could be a dark horse as candidate to grab the Gran Turismo crown, now held by Audi works driver Marco Bonanomi.

CAMPIONATO ITALIANO GRAN TURISMO 2012
Round 11 - Mugello, September 23:
1. T. Biagi - S. Colombo (BMW) 26 laps 49:57.052, avg speed 163,804 kph

2. D. DI BENEDETTO - A. FRASSINETI (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) +6.4564s

3. D. CAPELLO - A. SONVICO (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) + 15.405s
4. M. Cerruti - E. Liberati (BMW) + 16.070s

5. S. Comandini - V. Fornaroli (Ferrari) + 30.311s

CAMPIONATO ITALIANO GRAN TURISMO 2012
Round 12 - Mugello, September 23:
1. T. Biagi - S. Colombo (BMW) 26 laps 49:56.599 avg speed 163,829 kph

2. M. Cerruti - E. Liberati (BMW) + 0.717s

3. D. DI BENEDETTO - A. FRASSINETI (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) +24.878s

4. D. CAPELLO - A. SONVICO (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) + 26.213s

5. S. Comandini - V. Fornaroli (Ferrari) + 26.705s

2012 ITALIAN GRAN TURISMO

Drivers' points standings (after 12 rounds):

1. Biagi/Colombo 139 points;

3. SONVICO 132 pts.;

4. DI BENEDETTO/FRASSINETI 130 pts.;

6. Balzan e Barri 114 pts.;

8. Cerruti e Liberati 95 pts.;

10. CAPELLO 94 pts.;

Hard day for Audi Sport Italia drivers at Imola - Audi R8 LMS ultra

Audi Sport Italia Press Release 

It was a hard day for Audi Sport Italia drivers at Imola as the team tackled the fifth meeting of 2012 Italian Gran Turismo.

R8 LMS ultra drivers had to make do with lone podium finish in Race 2, but points standings leader Andrea Sonvico --and team mate Dindo Capello--manage to keep top spot ahead of Porsche duo Balzan-Barri

At Imola it definitely took a Porsche to end up on top of time charts: the rest of the Italian GT3 field --including Audi Sport Italia's drivers -- watched frustrated as Ebimotors and Antonelli Sport crews shared the available wins at the former F-1 venue. Starting from the front row Ebimotors' Alessandro Balzan/Giacomo Barri dominated Race 1 while Antonelli Sport's Paolo Ruberti/Cristian Passuti jogged throughout Sunday's Race 2.

Andrea Sonvico and Dindo Capello’s respective best qualifying times held them inside the second row in both races, alongside their sister Audi car, at least proving that the R8 LMS ultras may have been the best of the rest at Imola, performance-wise.

Sonvico, who alongside Audi stalwart Capello came to the famed circuit well poised to defend the series' leading spot claimed before the summer break, was indeed able to maintain his position. But this came the hard way: car #31 drivers toiled to P7 on Saturday and to a hard-fought P4 on Sunday, way off the pace of the 911s. Heavy time handicap penalties triggered by the outstanding RedBull Ring results hampered the effort put in by Capello and Sonvico: this took a toll as they faced off with the quickest BMWs and Ferraris. Therefore at Imola Audi Sport Italia's best finish was picked up by car #32 duo Davide Di Benedetto and Alex Frassineti, whose Sunday run ended up in P3, just a couple of seconds adrift of Mancini-Lancieri's Ferrari 458 Italia. The Sicilian Di Benedetto -- who did not have to cope with time penalties -- nearly caught up with Mancini at the checker, also setting his car fastest lap as time was running out. It was a good way to make up for a sad Saturday, as he had beached his R8 LMS ultra in a sand trap on the opening lap...
Sonvico uphill battle at Imola unexpecetedly got a lucky break when just after the mandatory pit-stop Barri's Porsche was victim of an aggressive move by Valentino Fornaroli's Ferrari, whose car tangled on the 911 rear left tyre forcing the Ebimotors driver to an unscheduled pit-stop to get a new tyre.

In spite of this puncture, the Porsche pair clinching 24 points has made up significant ground on Sonvico, who now leads by four points. But all 911 GT3R drivers at the next venue, Mugello, most likely will have to cope with a re-tooled domestic Balance of Performance, as Imola's verdict did not go unnoticed by the Italian Sporting Body's Bureau in charge of laying out a GT3 level field.

CAMPIONATO ITALIANO GRAN TURISMO
Round 9 - Imola, September 1:
1. A. Balzan - G. Barri (Porsche) 27 laps 50:01.317 avg speed 158.982 kph

2. P. Ruberti - C. Passuti (Porsche) + 8.308s
3. T. Biagi - S. Colombo (BMW) + 15.555s
4. S. Comandini - V. Fornaroli (Ferrari) + 15.708s
5. M. Cerruti - E. Liberati (BMW) + 30.651s
6. G. Lancieri - F. Mancini (Ferrari) + 36.564s
7. D. CAPELLO - A. SONVICO (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) + 38.099s
RTD. D. DI BENEDETTO - A. FRASSINETI 0 laps

Round 10 - Imola, September 2:
1. P. Ruberti - C. Passuti (Porsche) 28 laps 51:24.835 avg speed 160.406 kph

2. G. Lancieri - F. Mancini (Ferrari) + 25.456s
3. D. DI BENEDETTO - A. FRASSINETI (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) +26.549s

4. D. CAPELLO - A. SONVICO (AUDI R8 LMS ultra) + 40.842s
5. M. Cerruti - E. Liberati (BMW) + 41.432s

CAMPIONATO ITALIANO GRAN TURISMO 2012

Drivers' points standings (after 10 rounds):

1. SONVICO 112 total points

2. Balzan e Barri 108 pts.

4. DI BENEDETTO - FRASSINETI 103 pts.

6. Biagi - Colombo 99 pts.

8. Cerruti - Liberati 76 pts.

10. CAPELLO 74 pts.