With the 2016 Blancpain GT Endurance Series at an end, the Kaspersky Motorsport team has turned its attention to another racing series, the International GT Open championship, to allow the team to get accustomed to their new 488 GT3.
The race weekend in Monza kicked off in beautifully sunny and warm weather, Alex Moiseev and Marco Cioci were paired up for two races; one on Saturday and another on Sunday. The big novelty was that, instead of the Ferrari 458 Italia that has given faithful service all season long in Kaspersky Lab colours, the Russian-Italian duo gave a baptism of fire to the new racer & the car on which they will build Kaspersky Motorsport’s Blancpain 2017 campaign, the Ferrari 488 GT3.
Although the cars may seem similar, they are very different beasts as our Chief Engineer Jacopo Fedele explained before the weekend’s race programme got underway. “The 488 GT3 is a new generation of GT3 car, with more or less the same power level as the old one because of the Balance of Performance rule, but there’s more grip, more aerodynamics, more lateral G,” he revealed. “You can brake later, carry greater entry speed into the corners and your exit speed will also be faster. Inside the car, you can immediately notice a different steering wheel, lots of different buttons and controls on the dashboard. You can control different levels of traction control and adjust the ABS system. The only thing it has in common with the old car is the engine is in the same place!”
It has been a steep learning curve for the Kaspersky Motorsport team as they’ve familiarised themselves with the car’s dynamics. Additionally, there have been new electronic parts to get accustomed to as well. “The new car has a different Electronic Control Unit that can control many more functions than on the old one, so the work the mechanics do now is a little bit more scientific,” added Fedele.
At least the Monza track, the Temple of Speed as it’s called, is a known quantity for the team and for both drivers, who have raced and tested here already this year. So Alex and Marco had a baseline to work from, as they adapted to faster cornering speeds and different braking points than in the past.
The work began on Friday with two free practice sessions to fine-tune Quali and race set-up. The results were definitely encouraging as the team was fourth quickest in both sessions. This was later confirmed when Alex did a great job in Qualifying 1, setting the ninth fastest time overall.
Conditions were perfect for the first 38 lap race on Saturday at the atmospheric “Pista Magica” (magic track). The chequered flag fell at the end of an hour’s racing and the Kaspersky Motorsport team #49 car crossed the line in seventh place. A day later and the 32 lap second race was a real thriller. Having qualified third in Qualifying 2, Marco was first in the car and he fought his way into second and then took the lead after the lead car crashed out. After the driver swap, Alex held the lead almost right to the end, but he dropped to second and in the closing stages he was caught by some quicker cars, but still drove very strongly, battling hard, to take a well deserved fifth place for the Kaspersky Motorsport crew.
“After a solid performance in Saturday’s race, the second one of the weekend went even better,” said Alex Moiseev after Sunday’s race. “I’m very happy for the whole team, as this is a great morale boost for all of us. We have experienced some bad luck in some past races, but no one at Kaspersky Motorsport let their head drop, we just kept fighting and this result shows why we never give up.”
The new 488 is a fantastic car, as you would expect from a vehicle developed by the famous Prancing Horse company and therefore, it bodes well for Kaspersky Motorsport’s 2017 programme. “I immediately got a positive feeling from this car, although it is still very new and therefore has great potential for improvement, with much more to come in terms of performance and even more importantly, reliability,” added Alex. “The whole team did an amazing job this weekend, which was great as we come towards the end of this tough season and this fifth place finish is a great reward for all their hard work. Thanks guys!”
Team-mate Marco Cioci was a big part of the result in Monza. “It was a good weekend for us and I’m very happy for the team. It was a great battle for me and for Kaspersky Motorsport and is exactly what the team needed, after all the hard work we have put in over recent events.”
The #49 Kaspersky Motorsport will be given one more outing this year, at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit on 5th and 6th November, which represents a chance for them to learn even more about how to set the new 488 GT3 car and the best way to drive it, in preparation for next season.