RICHARD ANTINUCCI'S AUDI R8 LMS PROVIDES A THRILLING SHOW AT VALLELUNGA

Physical brand of racing on display in penultimate Italian GT Championship round.

Monday, September 27, 2010

SUNDAY'S NOTES
Throughout the 2010 racing season, Richard Antinucci has been often spotted in the Izod IndyCar Series paddock, laying foundations for a comeback to the open-wheel category in 2011. Nevertheless, on Sunday September 26 he replaced Audi Sport Italia's lead driver, Dindo Capello, as the 3-time Le Mans winner was called up by Audi Team Joest for an additional testing session in the build-up for the upcoming Petit Le Mans. Back in the R8 LMS cockpit, Antinucci created some buzz in the usually bored Italian sportscar paddock, posting no less than five spectacular passes on rivals.
In the morning race Antinucci took the wheel from team mate Gian Luca Giraudi in P3 and he quickly made up ground on the leading duo — Brian Lavio's Ferrari and Richard Lietz' Porsche. Whilst the Austrian pro was applying constant pressure on the amateur Ferrari driver, Antinucci carved his way through the duelling pair and on Lap 27 he even managed to claim the lead. But Lietz — whose Porsche GT3R has clinched 6 out of 12 rounds so far — quickly regained the top spot and Antinucci and Lavio were left elbowing each other for the runner-up spot. The Swiss squeezed the Audi on to the grass so Antinucci pulled off his gloves to claim back P2. The Italian-American was incorrectly penalised 25 seconds for the manoeuver, which knocked him down the order to third. Audi team mates Filipe Albuquerque and Marco Bonanomi were thus promoted to second, and they went on repeating this result from the morning race in the second race. Antinucci, who started from Row 10 in race 2 (both GT2 and GT3 positions combined) had a brilliant start, but on Lap 3 he was punted from behind. The rear-end of his R8 was damaged by a strong hit from a GT2 Ferrari. Although Antinucci salvaged P4 in class all the way till the mandatory pit-stop, the car was eventually retired during its final stint, due to over-heating.

RICHARD'S TAKE
"For sure my family and fans in the grandstands and within the Audi team did not fall asleep during my stints here! Sunday morning I worked my tail off to keep the pace of the leading duo, although they may well have had better cars at this venue. I think our fight for the win could have been fair to the checker, but I caught a slow puncture which put us out of contention with just 1 lap to go!
The second race was compromised too soon when I was tagged into a spin by a GT2 Ferrari. Sadly the exhaust was damaged, the gauges lit up like Christmas trees, but in spite of this I could still post some pretty decent lap times. Too bad the car could not last through my team mate Gian Luca Giraudi's stint.
I took an intercontinental flight to race again with my Audi Sport Italia friends. I see this team as a great opportunity for my career and feel honored to have been called back to replace no-one less than Dindo Capello. I’ll be ready for the next chance as well!
Ciao from Rome!"

The Rome, Italy-born driver finished the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights season as runner-up to Raphael Matos, who's then moved up to the major open-wheel series joining series Luczo Dragon team. Team 3G will be on track with Richard Antinucci driving the #98 Curb/Agajanian/Team 3G entry in the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen on July 3-5. The Camping World IndyCar race at Watkins Glen will be broadcast live on ABC at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.