NEWS
PENALTY STEALS AWAY IMOLA PODIUM FROM BERETTA, DELEDDA AND TESTA
Aug 03, 2025
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Italian GT Endurance, Imola - Italy
Penalty steals Imola podium away from Beretta-Deledda-Testa
The penultimate race of the 2025 Italian GT Endurance Championship took place at Imola today. A change in the Pro car line-up saw Alessio Deledda take the place of the injured Andrea Frassineti, racing the 63 car alongside Michele Beretta and Rodrigo Testa. The Pro-Am drivers were unchanged - Kevin Gilardoni, Mattia Michelotto and Ignazio Zanon behind the wheel of the number 66 Lamborghini.
After drama-free practice sessions light drizzle started to fall at Rivazza just as qualifying started. Intermittent rain continued throughout the sessions, causing several stoppages, but was never enough for wet tyres to be a consideration. The combined times saw the 66 car start from fifth place and the 63 from the sixth row. Gilardoni and Deledda took the start of the three-hour race, Gilardoni losing a place to Ponzio and Deledda moving up into tenth. A drive through for Massaro for an incorrect starting procedure promoted Deledda into ninth as he continued to push McIntosh’s BMW ahead of him in eighth. A Safety Car on lap eleven delayed the first pit window by a minute and Deledda pitted on lap sixteen for Beretta. A fifteen second handicap in both of the first two driver changes, for their win last time out at Monza, pushed the 63 car down the order to fourteenth. Gilardoni handed the 66 car over to Zanon two laps later, the car remaining in sixth place. Beretta had made it up to tenth by lap twenty-four when another Safety Car for a multi-car incident paused racing. An unscheduled pit-stop for Di Folco put Zanon up to fifth and at the restart he kept Spengler behind him to maintain the place. Beretta gained another two places before the second pit window opened on lap twenty-eight. Zanon pitted immediately for Michelotto and Beretta followed him in a lap later, just after the track went to Full Course Yellow, handing the 63 to Testa. The mid-window Full Course Yellow was a massive disadvantage for the cars which had pitted at the start of the window and Michelotto found himself down in twentieth when racing resumed on lap thirty-five. Testa passed Fascicolo and Lommahadthai to take fifth as Michelotto tangled with a slower car and, having moved up to seventh, found himself back in twenty-sixth place. The third pit window opened just before the halfway point of the race. Michelotto pitted for Zanon but a few laps later the 66 was forced to retire with damage. On lap forty-six Testa handed the 63 Lamborghini to Deledda who moved the car into third place. Pitting just as the pit window closed the 63 was awarded a two-minute penalty which, although beretta took the chequered flag in second, left the VSR car out of the points in the final classification.
The Italian GT Endurance finale will be at Mugello in September.
2025 Italian GT Endurance Calendar
Round 1 Misano, Italy 3-4 May
Round 2 Monza, Italy 21-22 June
Round 3 Imola, Italy 2-3 August
Round 4 Mugello, Italy 13-14 September
