Ten Italian drivers for their home ELMS round

First off, the German Proton Competition team (No.77Porsche 911 GT3 RSR) has amongst its line up Italian driver Gianluca Roda, teamed with Christian Ried and Nick Tandy, who won the first leg of the season at Silverstone and who is therefore at the head of the LMGTE category points' standings. 

Four-time FIA GT Champion Andrea Bertolini, a native of Modena, will once again be a central figure at JMW Motorsport.  With his team mate Joël Camathias, and at the wheel of the No.66 Ferrari 458 Italia, he finished the first round in fourth place and will be looking to climb up the LMGTE standings. 

In Italy a new team is making its debut in the GTC class of the European Le Mans Series: SMP Racing.  Two of the nine drivers in the Russian team are Italian and will be looking to shine on their home turf.  Fabio Babini has raced in a huge number of endurance races in the FIA GT series between 2000 and 2004, and he also entered three rounds of the American Le Mans Series between 2001 and 2003. 

Thanks to his huge amount of experience in the Italian GT Championship, FIA GT plus his 2010 Superstars GT Sprint title, Maurizio Mediani has been a driver coach since 1995.  After having taken part in numerous Blancpain Endurance Series, GT Open and Asian GT Championship races, he is part of the Krohn Racing team in the FIA World Endurance Championship as well as with SMP Racing at Imola for the ELMS. 

The only Italian team on the grid goes by the name of AF Corse! 

An entrant in several championships this year, AF Corse has three Ferrari 458 Italias in the ELMS, two in the LMGTE category and one in GTC.  Most of its drivers are Italian, all keen to bring honour to the Prancing Horse marque in Italy. 

Q & A with Amato Ferrari, owner of AF Corse: 

Q:  AF Corse is involved in several championships this year.  What are your hopes for the ELMS?

A:  (Amato Ferrari):  In fact AF Corse is entered in a good number of endurance racing series.  In the ELMS our objective is clear; we want to win the LMGTE and GTC categories with our two Ferrari 458 GT2 and GT3 cars. 

Q:  AF Corse is the only Italian team on the 2013 grid.  Who are your nearest rivals and how do you see the season going?

A:  After the first round at Silverstone, we would say that Ram Racing and IMSA Performance Racing are our biggest rivals in LMGTE as they are fast and have great potential.  In GTC the battle is quite well balanced and it's not clear who will win as all our competitors can take the title. 

Q:  How did the first race of the season go for you?

A:  The Silverstone race was largely influenced by the disastrous weather we had and by the intervention of the safety car during the whole last stint.  In LMGTE, some unlucky accidents compromised the race of our two cars.  In GTC second place was a small consolation as – without the safety car coming out – our trio of Rizzoli-Gai-Casé could have won the race. 

Q:  Who are your drivers for Imola?

A:  Piergiuseppe Perazzini, Marco Cioci and Federico Leo will be at the wheel of the No.55 Ferrari 458 Italia while Yannick Mallegol, Jean-Marc Bachelier and Howard Blank will race the No.54 in the LMGTE category.  In GTC Andrea Rizzoli, Stefano Gai and Lorenzo Casé will be fighting for victory in the No.62 F458 GT3.

The second round of the European Le Mans Series will take place at the Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari.  This race will be part of a weekend of racing shared with the FFSA GT Tour.  Also on track over the weekend will be Classic F3 single seaters and the XL Formula cars as well as those of the Peugeot RCZ Racing Cup.