South African racer David Perel and his Italian co-driver Miko Zanardini driove their Peresoft Obox Bonaldi Lamborghini Gallardo to victory in the second race of the weekend’s third Italian GT Cup races to retake the championship lead, bouncing back after the car was taken out of race 1 following Perel pitting it in pole position.
Practice and qualifying went perfectly for the duo with Perel putting the Lamborghini on pole position Saturday morning. “I am so, so happy — this is my first pole position!” a delighted Perel explained. “Qualifying has been so close over the last two races and I wanted to do it so badly that it’s been keeping me awake at night! “But the car felt great and I stayed focused — it’s a great feeling.”
But the glory was short lived when Zanardini was forced off track while avoiding an accident in race 1, crushing the Lamborghini’s front splitter and snagging the wheel, forcing its retirement. “What a pity,” David rued. “We lost the championship lead but we’re still in the hunt.”
That proved quite prophetic as Perel fought his way back to the front and handed the Lamborghini over to Zanardini in a lead it would not relinquish until the finish. Perel also set the fastest lap of the race to tick all the boxes and the win also saw the duo re-take that championship lead.
“I cannot put into words how happy I am,” Perel concluded. “This is a crucial win for our championship aspirations. “Huge thanks to my team Bonaldi and my sponsor Peresoft.”
