A DEBUT FOR EVERYBODY. Kessel Racing had a fantastic start at Monza in the Blancpain Endurance Series, a championship now in its sixth edition with exceptional talent and a very high level of competitiveness by all teams and drivers. The team from Grancia came to the track with three cars: the ever-present Broniszewski and Bonacini were at the wheel of the new Ferrari 488 GT3 in the “PRO-AM” class, with Andrea Rizzoli also adding himself to the team, the winner of the 2014 championship during his first season at Kessel Racing. Two Ferrari 458 GT3s ran in the Gentlemen class: “the Doctor” Stephen Earle was in car number 111 and was accompanied by two new drivers, the Belgian Delhez and the South African Perel. Marco Zanuttini and the Australian Liam Talbot shared the 888 car alongside the Russian Vadim Gitlin who was a key driver with Kessel Racing in the 2014 Ferrari Challenge.
KESSEL & MONZA. Monza has always been a special and unique place for Kessel. It’s practically on Kessel’s doorstep given the short distance between the track in Lombardy and the offices in Grancia. It’s the very track on which way back in 1977 saw Loris Kessel debut the Ford-Cosworth powered Apollon with which he battled for the drivers’ and constructors’ championships on the f1 calendar.
Monza was the first race in the 2011 series where the 458 GT3 driven by Gattuso, Rigon and Zampieri took pole position. It was none other than Valentino Rossi alongside Uccio Salucci who raced at Monza in 2012. Kessel Racing’s box was surrounded by fans of the 9 time World Champion who had a great race in the rain. The first race of the 2013 season at Monza saw the triumph of Ramos, Rigon and Zampieri who dominated the 3 hour race, showing themselves to be one of the most competitive cars ever in the series. On the same day Bontempelli, Caccia and Garofano took a brilliant second place in the AM class. Let’s not forget Earle, Talbot and Zanuttini’s great performance at Monza in 2015 in the Gentlemen’s class as well as Broniszewski, Lyons and Bonacini’s who came third after having led the race right from the beginning and unfortunately ran into technical issues in the last minutes of the race.
TODAY. Once again Monza has shown itself to be a favourable track for Kessel Racing which dominated the “PRO-AM” class with the Ferrari 488 GT3 driven by Broniszewski, Bonacini and Rizzoli, who were outstanding in getting everything out of the turbo charged 8 cylinder Maranello engine. It was a sensational victory, which goes to show just how much work was put in during the Winter months by the team based in Grancia. The two cars that entered the “GENTLEMEN” category both ran into bad luck and were forced to retire during the first hour of racing. The cars are still in parc fermé, but once the celebrations are over our team will concentrate on the next race in the calendar in mid-May, Silverstone. It will once again be a challenge for Broniszewski, Bonacini and Rizzoli to repeat their success in Monza, whilst the two Gentlemen cars of Earle-Delhez-Perel and Zanuttini-Talbot-Gitlin will undoubtedly be hungry to make up for their misfortune.
RONNIE KESSEL (Team Owner): Monza has always represented something special to us. It’s our home race and it was at this very track that we obtained amazing results in the past. We had a great win today with our car in the PRO-AM category, in which we had great success in the sprint Championship at Misano Adriatico a few weeks ago. Being at the head of the championship in both the GT Sprint and Endurance categories gives us great satisfaction and confidence for the season ahead. It was a pity for our two cars in the GENTLEMEN category; they had great potential but unfortunately were forced to retire in the early stages of the race. We have high expectations for Silverstone to once again confirm our team dominance.