A weekend of high adrenaline at Spa-Francorchamps for Kessel Racing, which once again asserted itself as a leader among the AMs, while Earle took two podiums in the GT Sports Club.
Unique emotions: Kessel Racing's AM team took category first place in the most difficult, challenging and hard fought GT race of the year, the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps! The Duyver-Zanuttini-Perel-Cadei team kept the lead for the whole day from start to finish: no slip-ups, no collisions, no unplanned stops. A true masterpiece for the Ferrari AM of the Swiss Kessel Racing team, repeating their victory of 2016. And that was not the only satisfaction this long and intense weekend of racing had to offer.
Less fortunate, however, was the pro-AM car, innocently caught up in a bad accident around ten hours from the end of the race. Matteo Cressoni was at the wheel of the number 11 car, when it was hit violently by a Lamborghini in the most demanding section of the circuit. Despite heavy damage to Ferrari, Cressoni was relatively unscathed and after a medical examination, was promptly discharged from hospital.
In the GT Sports Club, the classic two races took place, with the qualifiers on Friday, while the main race took place on Saturday before the 24 Hours got underway. In the Iron category, Stephen Earle with the 458 GT3 came third on both occasions, earning a well-deserved podium. Alexis De Bernardi had a less successful weekend, unfortunately victim of a slow puncture in the qualifying race and had to retire during the second stage of the main race. In the Iron Cup standings, Earle, with two races to go, lies in second place only two points from the leader, Frers.
Ronnie Kessel (team owner): "Winning a race and a championship is difficult, repeating it on a track like Spa, back to back, is nigh on fantastic. The team worked perfectly as usual, and the victory repaid the work put in. The drivers and the whole team deserved the applause they received from the wonderful SPA crowd. It was a pity about the other car, we were very worried about the accident this morning; thankfully Matthew is ok, which is the most important thing. At Spa we also competed in the GT Sports Club where our "Doctor" climbed the podium and is now only two points from the top of the standings. Alexis De Bernardi had a tough weekend, but is in great shape and will be back soon."
With the success of Spa under our belt, the Kessel Racing racing season takes a short summer break until the GT Sprint race at Hungaroring, scheduled for the Magyaran track at the end of August.