The second round of the Italian GT Endurance Championship was staged at the Mugello circuit, with Alex Fontana competing together with Slovenian driver Matej Knez. The pair took part in the event with the Centri Porsche Ticino team, driving the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup #292 entered in the second GT3 Cup AM division.
The championship format provided for three qualifying sessions to establish the starting grid, each lasting eight minutes. The Swiss driver took part in the middle phase, setting the fastest time in the GT Cup with 1:51.329. When combined with his teammate’s best time, this gave him the second fastest time in his class and 34th overall. The race then lasted three hours, during which each car was required to make five pit stops.
The Centri Porsche Ticino team chose Matej Knez to take the first stint and he drove for the first 30 minutes before handing over to Alex. Taking advantage of the numerous safety car phases, Fontana was able to to haul the team into the top-20 in the overall standings, once again demonstrating the fantastic race pace the driver heading the AF Academy has at his disposal. The race was also complicated by the high temperatures the drivers had to deal with: an air temperature of 32°C and 50° on the asphalt, making tyre and car management difficult.
The team finished in 29th place overall, second in GT Cup AM division 2, showing great determination despite all the difficulties encountered during the race. An important statistic to note is that Matej is the third AF Academy driver to compete in international races in the last two years. An even more surprising result considering that Knez only started driving two years ago. The academy school has therefore served as a springboard to the international motorsport scene for newcomers, right up to the most important motorsport series. An increasingly solid partnership has been established between Centri Porsche Ticino and AF Academy, from the road to the track.
Alex Fontana
“It was a tiring day, as it was so hot. We gave our best on a spectacular circuit like Mugello. Unfortunately we had a few unforeseen incidents that caused us to lose time, but the race pace is there and the future is bright. Matej is also improving and this will be important for the forthcoming races.”