Published on March 13th, 2014 | by Daniel Sherman Fernandez
0Dunlop 12H ITALY-MUGELLO 2014, Endurance Race This Weekend
Starting this Friday and right to Saturday (March 14th and 15th 2014), the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello will host the inaugural Dunlop 12H ITALY-MUGELLO. This international endurance race for GTs, touring cars and 24H Specials marks the start of the European endurance racing season and counts as the second round of the 24H SERIES powered by Dunlop. Dutch agency CREVENTIC is the organiser and promoter of the event, in good co-operation with staff and management of Mugello Circuit and, as usual, CREVENTIC’s valued partner, DNRT. “With an entry of 40 cars and teams and drivers from 24 countries, we are looking forward to a great race,” says Gerrie Willems on behalf of CREVENTIC.
Only one week before ‘La Primavera’, the classic cycle race from Milan to San Remo, the motor racing fraternity already starts the European season with the inaugural Dunlop 12H ITALY-MUGELLO. The news of the first international twelve-hour race to be held in Italy was met with plenty of enthusiasm from teams and drivers from all over the world. “The Mugello circuit is a challenging track, beautifully located in the rolling hills of Tuscany. A lot of people want to race there,” Gerrie Willems explains. “On top of that, the weather forecast is very good, with temperatures around 18 degrees, bright sunshine and no rain forecast for Friday and Saturday. Add to that the benefits of Italy like its fantastic cuisine and the great opportunities for shopping and sightseeing in the nearby city of Florence, and it is clear why everybody is looking forward to the event!”
With 14 different car brands on the grid, there is plenty of variety in the field. The A6 class includes Swiss teams Hofor Racing with a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 and Stadler Motorsport with a Porsche 997 GT3 R, the most recent winners of the 24H BARCELONA and the Dunlop 24H DUBAI respectively, while Italy’s sports car culture is represented by works-supported team AF Corse with a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. Czech team, Scuderia Praha, are running a similar car, while other entries in the A6 class include two further Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3s, one additional Porsche 997 GT3 R and a pair of Chevrolet Corvettes. There are four entries in the Porsche 997 Cup class. The SP classes consist of Renault Mégane and GC Automobiles silhouette cars, various GT4 cars, among others three Ginettas from Italian team, NOVA RACE, and one Audis. The touring car classes A5 and A2 provide plenty of variety with BMW, Mazda, Mini, Peugeot, Renault, Peugeot and SEAT while teams with! BMW, SEAT and Volkswagen are racing in the D1 class for diesel-powered cars.