VETERAN Italian Formula 1 driver Andrea Montermini will race alongside Renato Loberto and Tony Defelice in the Vicious Rumour Racing Ferrari at the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour this February.
Loberto confirmed the teams’ driver line-up via a Facebook post just prior to Christmas, finalising a line-up that offers plenty of potential for a strong February 6-8 weekend.
“It will be great to return to this event after an unfortunate accident in Practice 1 ruled us out of the event before I even sat in the car this year,” Loberto wrote.
“It has been a lot of fun campaigning the Ferrari 458 Challenge EVO with great success in selected rounds of the Australian GT Championship, and working on the various GT test & development programmes throughout 2014; and once again joining the VRR team for B12Hr is going to start 2015 off on a high.
“I believe the Bathurst 12 Hour is the best race in Australia, and the ever-growing field of high quality cars and drivers from abroad is evidence of this.”
Loberto is a dab-hand at racing Ferrari’s and is regarded one of Australia’s foremost performance driving instructors.
Montermini, 50, contested 29 Grands Prix for the Smitek, Pacific and Forti teams with a best result of 8th in the 1995 German Grand Prix. The Italian also competed successfully in CART / IndyCar competition and finished fouth in Detroit in 1993 – his debut season.
He has since turned his attention to sports car competition and, along with starts at LeMans, has notched up an impressive array of GT triumphs including victory in the Italian GT Championship and multiple titles in the international GT open series, all driving Ferraris.
Defelice, VRR’s owner, rebounded from the horror start to his 2014 season at Bathurst by performing strongly in selected rounds of the Australian GT Championship and state-based sports car racing ahead of his return to the mountain this February.
The VRR Ferrari joins an incredible attack from the prancing horse that includes defending winners, Maranello Motorsport.
The Melbourne-based team recently confirmed Brit Ben Collins alongside defending champion Mika Salo and Tony D’Alberto in their 458 GT3.
New Zealand Ferrari team Trass Family Motorsport (TFM) announced experienced GT ace Jono Lester would lead their attack with Super Tourer champion John McIntyre and Graeme Smyth joining the all-Kiwi attack.
TFM will operate with technical support from Maranello Motorsport.
A two-car attack from the top AF Corse’ outfit, Trofeo Motorsport and former B12hr podium finishers Clearwater Racing are all yet to confirm their respective driving squads.