Monza, Italy – The Solaris Motorsport comeback on the International GT Open European scene ended with two solid performances of the Corvette Z06R. Francesco Sini and Marcello Puglisi conquered in Italy a sixth and a seventh place in the two races, showing a great race pace and the fastest pit stops of the entire racing weekend, a great recognition of the hard work made by the Solaris guys at home.
Competitive and fast in the two free practice session, characterized by an unstable weather that mixed rain and sun, the Solaris Motorsport Corvette signed a good tenth best time in Q1 with Marcello Puglisi, that started in the 70-minutes Race 1. The American coupè, back for the occasion to the #12, after a good start surprised all the GT Open circus with the fastest pit stop of the race. Spectacular and intense the battle with Balfe Ferrari, ended with the sixth place under the checkered flag. Q2 saw Francesco Sini signing the seventh time on a semi-wet track after the huge rain of the night. The Corvette was again protagonist in the Race 2, fighting a lot for the top positions, with a eventful battle for the Top 5 with the Ramos-Parente McLaren and the Rugolo-Lathouras Ferrari. Thanks to another very fast pit stop, the Italian Corvette finished the race in P7, after coming under a controversial overtake in the last laps of the race.
“It was a whole good weekend, the Corvette showed itself competitive also in an European contest as the GT Open. We expected to be in favour on the straights, but with this balance we had everyone the same top speed. The rain came in these days mixed all the cards, but we can say to be satisfied of what we showed.” said Francesco Sini, who wants to underline the amazing job of his crew. “I want to congratulate with all my guys for the outstanding job during the pit stops, the first one was the fastest of the entire weekend..simply the best! The race were tuff, we fought a lot on track with many rivals, things didn’t go on the way we should want always, but the most important thing is that we never give up and probably we enjoyed all the fans!”
“We may reach a result a little bit better with a pinch of more luck, but we can say to be decisively satisfied. The guys were simply amazing during the pit stops both on Sunday and Saturday and helped us to fight on the top positions. – said Marcello Puglisi – The BOP probably took a little advantage to the other cars than our Corvette, otherwise we have could point to fight for the podium. The most important thing is to have showed our continuous improvement, the team, with the right newcomers, is growing up a lot during these months and the results on track told us we are on the right way. The races were very hard, sometimes on the limit, but we were always protagonists and it counts.”
“Monza was a good test of all of us, to oil better our team and understand where and how operate in 2016.” commented Solaris Motorsport Team Principal Roberto Sini – “This year we did a lot experiments and we learned a lot, growing up all together, drivers and technicians, race by race. Francesco a Marcello were very determined during the races, we never made a mistakes despite of the tricky battle and the track conditions. Furthermore, our crew did an outstanding job during the stops! We are already working on the next season, we want to race with a new and more competitive car in order to comeback to fight for the victory!”
Massimiliano Palumbo

Misano Adriatico, Italy – In Misano World Circuit the Solaris Motorsport Corvette Z06R ended the Race 1 in points, one more time after the Vallelunga round, and closed a tricky Race 2 in P13, recovering some positions from the starting grid. No break for the Italian team, that it’s already on the way to Monza for the International GT Open round, once again with the Corvette and the Francesco Sini and Marcello Puglisi talent.

In Misano the Solaris Motorsport Z06R used the two free practice sessions trying different solutions of setups on a track with no landmarks for the Corvette and with very variable grip conditions due to the unstable weather conditions that characterized the sixth round of the Italian GT Championship. Thanks to a good progression session by session, Sini almost entered the Top 10, far just 0.06 seconds, in the Q1 while Puglisi conquered the 8th row in the Q2.

The first race of the weekend was definitely eventful, after a good start Sini fought hard with Berton’s Ferrari and Biagi’s Porsche all the stint long, taking advantage of the safety car period to move up the driver’s change stop. When the race resumed Puglisi was able to pass quickly all the lapped drivers and to defend the position from the Camathias 997 attacks in the final laps,conquering the ninth place under the checkered flag. In the Sunday Race, the Trescore Balneario native driver made a great start, gaining 5 positions in the first laps. At the end of a tricky race due to some setup problems, the Corvette passed under the finish line in P13. A not satisfying result, but the Solaris Motorsport guys can console with a weekend without technical problem that permits them to look positive to Monza round.

“They were two difficult races but the result in Race 1 tells us we are on the right way. It’s a tricky season, we still have to work, but something of good begins to come.” commented Francesco Sini, ready to rejoin the GT Open, where he debuted in April with the Corvette: “I’m really happy to be back in the GT Open! I’m excited to race in Monza, in the Italian round in May we gained the second step of the podium and we arrived so close to the victory. Now we come back knowing better the car, but it will not easy to repeat the same results, the level of the championship is very high. Furthermore, accord to the weather forecast it may rain and all can become harder.”

“With all these slow corners, Misano maybe is one of worst track for our Corvette, but despite this we were able to score some points once again. It’s a good signal. Obviously we cannot be satisfied about it, but we are working in the right way.” said Marcello Puglisi, and about Monza he adds: “The Autodromo Nazionale is always a special race for me, I was born not too far from here, it’s my home race. Track should be in favour to our car, after a lot difficult races we can reach some positive result and score an important goal for our season. I’d like to give to the Solaris guys a great result to thank them for their efforts. I raced in the GT Open in the last years, it’s a tuff championship and I know the the battle for the top position will be very hard.”

Roberto Sini, Solaris Motorsport Team Principal: “Misano was a tricky weekend but it brought a lot of good news. But we have to be already focus on Monza. It’s a last minute opportunity and we take it immediately. To be back in an european championship and to fight with new opponents is always very exciting. We worked hard all the season on the car and we are more ready respect the race in May. But this year we learned we can take nothing for granted. And the weather can be a further variable.”

The International GT Open weekend in Monza will start with two free practices session on Friday, October 2nd, scheduled at 12:40 and 4:30 PM. The green light for the Q1 is on Saturday morning at 11:05 AM and the 70 minutes ‘endurance’ race will start at 4PM. Same scheme on Sunday, with the qualifying session at 9:40 AM and the green light for the 60 minutes ‘sprint’ race at 2 PM. Both the races will be live streamed on the International GT Open website: www.gtopen.net

Massimiliano Palumbo

Vallelunga, Italy – The fifth round of the Italian GT Championship was strange for Solaris Motorsport. The team was very competitive in Vallelunga, showing great performances but, once again, also really unlucky. Blocked by a gearbox problem in qualifying, Francesco Sini and Marcello Puglisi capitalized the great potential of their Corvette Z06R, staging two huge comebacks from the back of grid, a sign that the work made by Solaris guys at home led to the right results. Before the Misano round, Solaris Motorsport will be at the International Abruzzo Circuit in Ortona for an open door weekend dedicated to all the racing fans.

Solaris Motorsport’s Vallelunga round started well in the practices, thanks to an impressive fifth time during the FP2, a performances that gave good hopes for a positive weekend for the #22 Corvette. Unfortunately the good news ended soon, when an unexpected gearbox problem forced Sini and Puglisi to skip qualifying and relegated the Italian duo to the last spot on grid in both races in order to let the Solaris Motorsport technicians solve the problem and get the car ready.

All the good things seen in practice came back strongly in the two races, in which Sini and Puglisi were protagonists of two amazing comeback, delighting the fans with bold overtakes and a race pace that could have brought them in the Top 5, with the chance to aim at the podium, if the Corvette could start from a better position on the grid. Puglisi started well in Race 1, beginning the recovery that brought the Corvette to a final seventh place at the end of the race with Sini, who took the wheel during the pit stop. Unfortunately, the Italian driver was forced to stop the due a problem at the rear left tyre during the last lap, failing to take an important and deserved checkered flag. Shook off the disappointment, the Sunday race saw another huge recover for the black #22 Corvette, that ended this time in P9.

“It was a difficult weekend, not having the chance to do the qualifying avoided us all the possibilities to stay on top of the standings. As we demonstrated during the races, the Corvette was pretty competitive,” commented Francesco Sini. “This year we don’t have luck, that’s racing, it means it’s all experience for the following seasons. Next year we want to be ready and race with a competitive car and a winning couple of drivers. In this track we could be on top, at least we delighted all the fans with our overtakes! We put on a good show!”


“We can’t do anything against bad luck. We had the right pace to stay easily in the Top 5 and with a bit of luck we could have fought for the podium. It’s the sad part of our sport. The most important thing is to have lapped consistently fast and have been competitive in both races. We did a lot of kms and experience for the future.” said Marcello Puglisi. “Wanting to be optimistic, I can say I enjoyed my self recovering positions, even if it’s disappointing not to have the chance to fight for better positions as we deserved.”

Roberto Sini, Solaris Motorsport Team Principal, tried to be positive after the Vallelunga round: “We were competitive, the car posted good lap times and, excluding the problem to the gearbox, which came in the worst moment, the car lapped with continuity. Marcello and Francesco did their best, they never gave up and did what you expect from a race driver: full gas flag to flag! It’s a difficult season, maybe unfair because with a bit of more luck we could reach different results, but it’s definitely important to gain experience for 2016.”

Solaris Motorsport will welcome all its fans on September 19th at the International Abruzzo Circuit in Ortona, for an open day with all its cars and the chance to take some awesome laps on the track with the 2014 Euro V8 Series Champion Francesco Sini.

Massimiliano Palumbo

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