Third place in the Pro Am class and eighth overall for Andrea Piccini in the 2014 24 Hours of Spa at the wheel of the Ferrari 458 GT3 together with the other italian driver Michele Rugolo and the australians Steve Wyatt and Craig Lowndes. The four AF Corse drivers have completed the team “day of glory”, which won with Andrea Bertolini, Marco Cioci, Niek Hommerson and Louis Machiels. It was a race not disturbed by the rain, which had only a marginal appearance on Sunday morning, but by the many incidents that have affected the initial hours of this event. The real battle on track started on the evening of Saturday, when Andrea Piccini and his team mates began to recover from the 16th position: Andrea completed a double stint during the night overtaking many opponents and after, also Michele Rugolo helped the car to climb up in third place in its class (and tenth overall) at 4 am, half way of 24 hours. The morning looks really promising: even through the game of the pit stop, the Ferrari of Piccini, Rugolo, Wyatt and Lowndes finds itself as leader at 10 am then settle again in third position – there’s means changing brakes – and maintain it until the end, with Andrea Piccini who performs a stint in the morning and the last two around midday. Between the two AF Corse cars was placed, securing the place of honor, the BMW Z4 of the british line-up formed by Oliver Bryant, Alasdair McCaig, Andrew Smith and Alexander Sims. Andrea Piccini adds a new positive result after the win in 2012 in a track that he likes so much:
“I also remember that just half an hour from the start, when I was driving – comments Andrea Piccini – there was a little contact with a Mercedes which has a slightly penalized the body, but it is also true that the team didn’t make mistakes, the pit stops were fast and precise, working in the best way as always. Unfortunately, it was not possible to use the strategies studied before the race because the safety car entrances have been disrupted plans. The reasons for satisfaction, however, are many.“