Following back to back titles in GTE AM, the team is making the step to the PRO category
From GTE to GT3, from AM to PRO. We will see a Tomelli ERT car on the grid in Season 6 as well and they have a feeder team too! In fact, the team has joined forces with Wildfire Racing to form GR Wildfire, which will be competing in the AM category with a Mercedes. What or who is the link between these two team? We could say he is Giancarlo Rossi. Although he is not racing (for the moment, at least) in Season 6, Giancarlo is the Team Manager of GR Wildfire, but most importantly he massively contributed to Tomelli’s title run last year. We had a little chat with him to preview the championship for both teams.
First of all, congratulations on winning the GTE AM championship in Season 5. Following two consecutive seasons there, moving to PRO for Tomelli was just a matter of time: what are the team’s expectations in the upper category?
Thank you. Last season in GTE-AM has probably been more useful for me rather than for the other guys, as coming back to esport after a long time, I did not know what to expect. In fact, despite our good pace, we had some ups and downs, but I feel like winning the class was a deserved achievement. Of course, this year we are not front runners for the title, but in some races here and there we could do our thing and be solid throughout the season.
From GTE to GT3, from Ferrari to Mercedes. How are you feeling with the new car?
Personally I am happy with GT3s. Aside from the excellent BOP it looks like the cars actually have different characteristics on each track, so this is a very important factor. Our Mercedes GT3 is a completely different car compared to Ferrari GTE, also because it is the first GT3 we are driving after a long time. We are working on it by taking part to other championships and with the help coming from our feeder team GR, which is doing an excellent job in collecting data.
Who do you consider as front runners in GT3 PRO and AM?
I feel like the front runners in PRO might be Satellite, if they put the right effort in the championship they might have that something extra when it will count the most.. ARMS are bringing pace and a lot of experience. In AM I would keep an eye on Carloni, if they manage to set up the car as they wish they can be fast. Same goes for MR, a fast team throughout the past season, even though they have probably been a little bit more inconsistent. Let’s see and most importantly forza Tomelli and GR!