Matteo Cairoli’s season debut was steeped in memories from the past in the Sprint round of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship (CIGT), held over the weekend of July 11-13 at the Mugello International Circuit. The 5,245-meter track is one of the most admired in the world, and a warm summer round on the calendar saw high temperatures add another variable to consider in physical preparation and car setup.
Cairoli made his season debut in the ACI Sport series, pairing German Florian Scholze in the Mercedes AMG GT3 of Antonelli Motorsport. Not only a car well-known from Matteo in 2025, but also a throwback to the past in the colours of Marco Antonelli’s team, the outfit that accompanied Matteo in the epic 2014 Carrera Cup Italia, ended with the title. The Italian driver’s technical skills were on display right from the first qualifying session, in which Cairoli recorded a best time of 1:44.997 – 0.6 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher – securing himself pole position for Race 1.
At the start of the first 50 minutes + 1 lap race, Cairoli kept the lead under heavy braking at the San Donato corner. Despite setting a fast lap in the opening stages, the AMG GT3 struggled to keep the pace – especially because of tire degradation in the second half – after handing over the wheel to his teammate, with a BMW clearly helped by the B.o.P. Nevertheless, Scholze held on until the final corner, sprinting to the finish to defend third place in the Pro-AM class.
Race 2 saw the German driver on board for the start, while Cairoli took over for the second part of the session. Race control called a safety car with 10 minutes to go, but the Como-based driver found himself struggling once again with a lack of top speed, having to settle for ninth place overall and fourth in his class.
Matteo Cairoli will be back in the Mercedes AMG GT3 for the next round of the GT World Challenge Europe – Endurance Cup at the Nürburgring, scheduled for the weekend of August 29-31.
Matteo Cairoli
“It was a truly exciting weekend. I found the same spirit I had 11 years ago, and it’s great to be back with Antonelli Motorsport at Mugello, where we have created fond memories. I’m happy with my qualifying lap, even if it wasn’t perfect, but above all with the work we did over the weekend: we improved the car session after session, despite having to make up for a lack of speed on the straights. I hope to return to the CIGT in the future.”
