Alex Fontana has retained his lead in the Silver Cup class of the GT World Challenge Europe following this weekend’s round held on the Italian circuit Misano Adriatico, a Sprint Trophy event with two 60-minute heats. The Swiss driver, at the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracàn GT3 Evo entered by Emil Frey Racing, brought home more precious championship points, with the team achieving the objectives it had set itself. Together with his teammate Ricardo Feller, Fontana added another trophy to this year’s collection with a Silver Cup podium finish in Race 1. In the Saturday race it was Fontana who took the first stint after qualifying with the 11th fastest time of 1:32.752 in the morning session. During that first stint, which was interrupted by a safety-car phase, Alex was fighting for a Top 10 place through to the pit stop in which he handed over to his fellow Swiss driver Feller. At the end of the race the pair emerged with an important 8th place overall, which corresponded to 2nd among the Silver Cup entrants, a hair’s breadth from a class win and the promise of further success in Race 2. On the Sunday instead, Fontana took over the Lamborghini #14 at the obligatory pit stop in Race 2: the Emil Frey Racing team was one of the first to opt to bring its driver in, but the Swiss driver lost precious second with a minor problem faced by the mechanics fixing the right front wheel.
Rejoining the race in a provisional 27th place, Alex crossed the line 11th and 4th among the Silver Cup entrants.
Thanks to these placings, Fontana has retained his lead in the Silver Cup Overall and Sprint Cup standings with 131.5 and 81.5 points respectively. He is also still in the running for the Overall title with 58 points and the Sprint Cup with 43 points.
The 2021 edition of the GT World Challenge Europe now continues with the most prestigious and most demanding of the scheduled races, this time valid for the Endurance trophy: the Spa 24 Hours, due to be held between 31 July and 1 August.
Alex Fontana
“We scored important points for the championship standings this weekend too and I’m delighted to have retained by Silver Cup lead. It was never a sure thing as we know that here at Misano things would be tougher than the previous outing at Zandvoort, where our car really was at its best. However, the key to keeping the targets established for the season alive is to get as much as possible out of these situations. I’ll now be working with the Emil Frey Racing outfit and my teammate Ricardo to analyse where we can make further progress in terms of driving and set-up, ahead of the Spa 24 Hours which will be the most prestigious race of the season: a great challenge in which we can take nothing for granted, but which can represent a huge opportunity.”