Gilles Renmans wrapped up an excellent weekend at the Mugello International Circuit. The Belgian driver participated in the second round of the 2025 Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo Sprint to gain familiarity with the Ferrari 296 Challenge, the car he competes with in the Ferrari Challenge Europe. For this event, Renmans entered with AF Corse, supported from Double TT Racing and DAV Racing team #177. Although the championship allows for two drivers per car, Gilles opted to race solo in the first division Pro-Am. The championship format included two qualifying sessions to determine the grid for the respective races. Renmans secured eleventh place overall for Race 1 with a time of 1:49.768. For Race 2, he improved his time to 1:49.345, allowing him to start from eighth position.
Saturday’s race was very positive for Renmans. After an initial stint where he held ninth position, Gilles mounted a splendid comeback in the second stint, climbing to sixth place overall. On Sunday, starting from the fourth row greatly benefited the AF Corse driver. In addition to a fantastic start, an incident involving three cars propelled the driver from Halle into third position, putting him in contention for a podium finish. Unfortunately, he received a 1.887-second penalty for a pit lane irregularity. A late-race safety car, which also led to a red flag and an early end to the race, caused the penalty to drop Renmans from third to fifth place, costing him a podium in his season debut.
Renmans earned a total of 18 points from the weekend. More importantly, he had the opportunity to get back behind the wheel of the Ferrari 296 Challenge and gain valuable experience for the Ferrari Challenge Europe. His next race in that series is scheduled for next week at the Barcelona circuit, on July 19 and 20, 2025.
©2025 Gilles Renmans