The SMP Racing crew of Mikhail Aleshin, Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina, won the three-hour Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup race, which took place on May 12 in Silverstone, England.
In the qualifying session, the Ferrari 488 GT3 car #72 was 10th fastest. Mikhail Aleshin started the three-hour race and immediately set a good pace. Throughout the entire race, the crew gradually regained the position, successfully completed a series of pit stops, and at the end of the race, was able to be among the leaders and finish first.“I want to congratulate the entire SMP Racing team and everyone in our team!” SMP Racing driver Mikhail Aleshin commented. “Finally, SMP Racing won in this championship and this is also the first victory in this championship for Ferrari in the last six years. The racing weekend wasn’t flawless, I made a mistake in the qualifying session and we started only from the fifth row, although we definitely could have a chance for the first three. But in the race, everything went the way it’s supposed to be, and although the pace was not always the best in the pack, we became the leaders in the last minutes. Everything went our way today, we will continue to fight for a win in the next races.”
“We had a very good race. In the morning qualifying, we were able to drive a good lap,” Davide Rigon commented. “I would like to thank our whole team, engineers, SMP Racing. We had an amazing strategy and a really good car. Honestly, I think we deserved a victory for a long time. We put a lot of effort like, of course, like any other team, but often we were unlucky in this category of the championship. And we are very happy today. Mikhail and Miguel did a great job today. It was my stint in the end, I had new tires and was able to push and catch Lamborghini. I'm very happy that I made it to the finish line, because I had some problems with the tires in the end. I would like to thank my teammates and my whole team. We have done an amazing job today.”
SMP Racing driver Denis Bulatov, who drives the Ferrari 488 GT3 car as part of the German Rinaldi Racing Team, started from 48th position, but by the end of the three-hour race he was able to rise to the 13th position.
The third round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup will take place on May 31 - June 1 in France at the Paul-Ricard circuit.