Michela Cerruti made it back to the podium today at Mugello in the third round of the 2013 Italian GT Championship. After having faced troubled times in the first part of the weekend, the BMW-powered female racer left a strong impression in both races as she emerged as a legitimate frontrunner. In Race 1, she made her way back from 7th place on the grid and cruised to third place with a fine pass on Lamborghini’s Giorgio Sanna.
In the second race, the #2 BMW Z4 made it back from 6th to 4th place as Michela came close to repeating the same feature of her morning run. The trip to Tuscany proved positive for the whole ROAL Motorsport squad with three podium finishes and a fourth place that laid great foundations for the next run, set for July 21st at Imola. On the other hand, Michela won’t have any time to rest as she prepares to line-up in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship round at the Norisring in Nurnberg, Germany.
“Considering how the weekend started, we’re vey happy with the results – said Michela – we got some very good satisfactions. We improved the car’s set-up without thinking too much to the lack of straightline performance and focused on everything else in order to be as competitive as possible. In Race 1 I was off to a good start, holding onto my position and managed to pull two very good stints. I’ve been waiting for this podium finish since the last round at Red Bull Ring and I’m very pleased to have accomplished the feature here.
“In Race 2 there’s been a little bit of a mess at the start and Sanna jumped in front of me. I struggled to pass him back but once I did it, my pace was really good in clean air, one of the best. After the pit-stop though, also due to some tire troubles I just couldn’t reach the third-placed car. In the end, the gap was similar to the time handicap we paid into the pits, and if I just could push as hard as in the first part of the race, third place would have definitely been again in my frame.”