Imperiale Racing will field Dmitry Gvazava and Ugo de Wilde in this year's Fanatec GT Europe Sprint Cup. The Italian outfit has made occasional appearances in recent seasons and will step up to contest the full five-round championship in the Bronze class with a Lamborghini Huracán.
Gvazava has already earned success with Imperiale Racing, winning last year's Italian GT Sprint Championship in the Pro-Am class. An experienced competitor, he has previously driven in Lamborghini Super Trofeo, the Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli and Championnat de France FFSA GT. He made his Fanatec GT Europe debut last term in a one-off appearance for Imperiale Racing at Misano (pictured below).
He will be joined by rising star De Wilde. The 21-year-old Belgian is also a former Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe racer and has competed in LMP2 and LMP3 prototypes. Prior to this he worked his way up the a single-seater ladder, winning races in French F4 and Formula Renault Eurocup.
“I would like to thank Imperiale Racing for giving me this opportunity," said Gvazava. "It is hard to find the right words to express how much I appreciate it. In 2009, I started following this championship, and for all this time, I dreamed of participating, and today the dream has come true!"
De Wilde add: “I am extremely happy to join Imperiale Racing for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup: I cannot wait to start the season and discover the Lamborghini Huracàn GT3 EVO2. There has been a great connection with Imperiale Racing: thanks to my partners, the team and Lamborghini for their help in making this project a reality."
Both drivers are at Circuit Paul Ricard this week for the Fanatec GT Europe Prologue. The Sprint Cup season launches at Brands Hatch on 4/5 May, though the Bronze class will not debut until the second round at Misano (17–19 May) due to limited garage space at the British track.