Page 100 - Classics Issue

The busy paddock is always a great place to catch up with the teams, all the big boys have their hospitality units there where you can sit down and read a copy of Paddock Life with a shot of espresso. Being in Italy naturally the Monza paddock was very glamorous, the glorious sunshine set the tone of the day and beautiful girls, stylish Italians and super sexy cars, like the Daytona Spider made for a great day as we had lunch on the terrace of the Blancpain Hospitality centre chatting with some of their executives about the series so far and looking at their fne range of watches.The frst full endurance race of the season was this 3 hours of Monza, the Mercedes has shown great pace in Misano, the Ferrari 488’s were consistent as ever but as the chequered fag dropped it was the noise that overcame all emotions…You can almost close your eyes and by the feel and sound identify each of the cars individually, the low guttural raw is from the Bentley, similar in pitch, but distinctively different to the AMG Mercedes. The Audi R8’s V10 has howling sound while the Ferrari 488 scream is slightly dulled by the turbos from the sound of the older 458’s. Aston Martin’s V12 has its own voice too as does the BMW which although not as dramatic looking, but maybe it is purring with the sound of reliability. Then there is the pole positon Huracan which sounded exactly like its name suggests… like the howling wind of a perfect storm.The GRT Grasser Racing Team’s bright green Huracan dominated the full 3 hours from the front of the grid giving Christian Engelhart the top step of the podium, with the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 and Mercedes AMG of HTP motorsports taking the next two steps. So a massive improvement for Grasser from a disappointing 9th in Misano. He certainly found the sweet spot here in Monza.Next round Brands Hatch.....