Alex Fontana starts his engine for the 2017 edition of the Blancpain Endurance Cup. Even though the Swiss driver only took part in a single day of testing against the two of most of his rivals, he did not take long to record the best time. On his fourth lap Alex stopped the clock on 1:56.558, which proved to be the fastest time of the tests. A noteworthy performance, especially as the Mercedes AMG GT3 run by AKKA in the Pro-Am category is less powerful than the works PRO car, with Fontana succeeding in closing the gap. Alex’s teammates Daniele Perfetti and Ludovic Badey were able to alternate at the wheel and practice driver changeovers, a factor of vital important during the races. Also of note was the debut of the new Pirelli tyres on this occasion that proved to be perfectly suited to Alex’s driving style and the characteristics of the Mercedes AMG GT3.
Alex Fontana
“Without doubt I’m delighted to have set the fastest time, but to be sincere this was never our primary objective. What I was more interested in was nurturing the on-track relationship with Daniele and Ludovic and I have to say we’ve already established a great rapport. The whole team worked well both on the car and on the development we had planned in terms of the set-up. Initially rain had been forecast, but having two days of fine weather was instead of benefit to everyone and we were able to continue the testing we had begun at Monza over the last few weeks. We’ll be racing both in Brianza and here in the Var region and the data we’ve accumulated will be invaluable.”