The 28-year-old from Treviso, close to Tancredi Pagiaro’s team since the season 2008 in Formula 3000, will race together with Thomas Biagi in the International GT Open Championship. An all-Italian driver’s couple behind the wheel of a Huracán GT3 with its thrilling orange livery in the 2016 season for the supercars made by Lamborghini with the Team from Caselle di Selvazzano Dentro and the industrial holding from Bassano del Grappa.

Never change a winning team. With a great racing history on our shoulders we’re looking ahead to form this new and successful Team, also based on respect, reliability and professionalism, formed over many years. This is how Fabrizio Crestani, next to Thomas Biagi, will debut in the first race on a European track with the stunning Lamborghini Huracán GT3 from Orange1 Team Lazarus. The Team from Veneto – this year starting the car with an impressive all-orange livery of its new main sponsor and technical partner – will put the drivers from Conegliano and Bologna behind the wheel at the International GT Open Championship. Fabrizio Crestani, born on 17 December 1987, is considered to be one of the fastest and solid drivers in Italian motorsport. Crestani – chosen by the Team from Padua and the Holding from Vicenza – is the owner of tuning garage and has been competing since 2005. So far he started in different categories from his debut in 2005 in a single-seater and in 2015 in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo with Daiko Team Lazarus. Here he gained fourth overall place together with Sergio Campana, the driver from Reggio Emilia. He also started in the Formula Junior 1600, the Italian and British Formula 3, Euroseries 3000 and the Italian Formula 3000 Championship as well as in the International Formula Master, GP2 Asia Series, Auto GP and GP2 Series since 2014 in Formula racing. So far in his career he gained seven wins, five pole positions and 11 fastest race laps.

Fabrizio Crestani, racing driver: “It’s fantastic to be part of Orange1 Team Lazarus with this new challenge in the GT Open Championship. With Tancredi Pagiaro everything started in the year 2008 in Formula 3000. Since then we’ve always been together. For me this Team is like a second family. The mutual trust, built over all those years, is absolutely essential to do well. We started in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo as the last entry, but we immediately showed our potential with a second place in Race 1 and fought right to the last race in Sebring for second place in the Championship, showing professionalism, reliability and the highest possible commitment. Last year I followed most of the races with the Huracán GT3 from the outside, like the spectacular debut at Monza in the Blancpain Endurance Series. Automobili Lamborghini has really built a jewel. Although it was its first year running in 2015, it immediately showed that it can compete with the strongest competitors in the field such as Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, McLaren and Bentley, who have been participating in the GT3 Championship for many years. The world of Lamborghini is fantastic. It’s growing year after year and it’s an honour for me to be part of it. I want to thank my sponsor Daiko, supporting me since my days in karting. Without them I wouldn’t be here today. I want to pay back everything now with great results to the men and women who work for this here and make it all possible. I also want to thank Giorgio Sanna, Head of Lamborghini Squadra Corse, for his confidence and his support. The fact that someone so important from the Lamborghini family believes in me makes me extremely proud. This year we have to hold the name of the manufacturer from Sant’Agata Bolognese also in this Championship very high. I like the tracks in the Championship a lot, which is very stimulating and give me confidence. My teammate Thomas Biagi is a very intelligent man with great experience. I think we’ll work well together and we can go beyond and take the Team in the right direction. I can’t wait to lift the pit limiter and start this new journey together with the fantastic men and women at Orange1 Team Lazarus.”

Tancredi Pagiaro, Orange1 Team Lazarus Team Principal:   “Fabrizio Crestani debuted with us with a win at Mugello in Formula 3000. He was always with us. At his debut in the GP2 Series at the end of the 2010 season in Spa-Francorchamps he immediately qualified amongst the top 10. Two years later we called him to race again in GP2. At the first winter tests we set the fastest time in Barcelona and at the first race of the season in Sepang we gained points. He was always a main protagonist, he always gave it his all and went to the limit with the machine we gave him to race. Last year, when we agreed to do the Super Trofeo, the team orders were the same as usual: ‘We have to make a difference and we can’t make any mistakes, because we want to finish the races at all cost.’ And he kept his word. In 2015, in 14 races, Fabrizio did not have one single accident and always crossed the line. He drove some spectacular pursuit races and together with his teammate he fought for second place in the Championship. The goal was consistency, which was reached, without him ever complaining about the fact that he didn’t even have one single day of testing. Continuity for the Team was the most important thing and once we passed at the office of the ‘Big Boss’ Giorgio Sanna we took the decision to have Crestani on board with us, awarding his confidence, his capacities and his reliability. We’re convinced that – together with Thomas Biagi – he will even improve and he will find a ‘big brother’ in the man from Bologna, who will show him academic and not show business motorsport. I know that this will be an exciting experience for all of us.”