Munich (DE), 4th October 2016. On Tuesday, Alessandro Zanardi (IT)
started the decisive preparation phase for his maiden race in the BMW
M6 GT3 with a successful day of testing in Mugello (IT). The BMW brand
ambassador and BMW works driver will return to the same venue on 14th
to 16th October 2016 for the season finale in the Italian GT
Championship, driving a BMW Team Italia car that has been modified
specially by BMW Motorsport. This will be Zanardi’s first competitive
GT race since the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps (BE) on 25th and 26th
July 2015. On that occasion, he shared driving duties in the BMW Z4
GT3 with BMW DTM drivers Timo Glock (DE) and Bruno Spengler (CA).
To ensure that they have the best possible preparation for the
season-ending race weekend in the Italian GT Championship, Zanardi,
BMW Team Italia and ROAL Motorsport team – supported by BMW Motorsport
engineers – were testing on the 5.245-kilometre long circuit in
Mugello, 40 kilometres north of Florence (IT). The Italian took the
opportunity to familiarise himself with what is a new BMW race car for
him. Sunny weather and temperatures reaching 21 degrees Celsius
provided the team with ideal conditions to make some adjustments to
the set-up for the BMW M6 GT3 ahead of the mid-October race weekend.
“That was a first for me in many different ways”, said the Italian
driver after testing was completed. “It was my first time in a race
car for more than a year, my first time in Mugello for many years and
my first time in the BMW M6 GT3. The outcome of this test was
excellent. The car worked well and we were able to fully concentrate
on the set-up. The breaking mechanism I use worked well and it was
relatively easy for me to reach the speed I expected to reach. I’m
very happy with the result of the test day. Now we have some work to
do with the engineers from BMW Motorsport. We will analyse the data we
collected to finalize our preparation for the racing weekend.”
Zanardi celebrated his return to motorsport in 2014 after a four-year
hiatus, competing for ROAL Motorsport that season in the Blancpain
Sprint Series in a modified BMW Z4 GT3. Previously, he had contested
105 FIA World Touring Car Championship races between 2005 and 2009 for
BMW Team Italy-Spain – claiming victory on four occasions. His last
race appearance was at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in July 2015,
driving the number 9 BMW Z4 GT3 in a special Michael Vaillant design livery.