After the race in Assen / Netherlands and the subsequent summer break, the teams of the BOSS GP Racing series headed south at the beginning of October. When entries closed, it was already clear that there would be a very large starting field in Tuscany with 24 cars. HS-Engineering from Austria had taken a break in Assen, but both Dallara World Series V8 T12s were entered for Mugello. The Brazilian ex-Formula 1 driver Antonio Pizzonia with the more powerful 4.5 liter Gibson engine in the Open Class and the Irishman Paul O’Connell with the 3.5 liter V8. The French ZIG-ZAG team brought two well-known Auto GP racers to the start in the Formula Class, the Monegasque Nicolas Matile and the Frenchman Jean-Christope Peyre.
Jean-Christope Peyre (FRA), ZIG-ZAG Motorsport, Lola Auto-GP.
There was also a reunion with Giancarlo Pedetti (ITA), who this time drove a GP 2 from Scuderia Palladio. The Czech Vladimir Netušil will be taking part in this Formula Class for the first time. He dared to switch from a Formula 3 to the GP2 of the Italian team MM International Motorsport. The large field of starters was also joined by the 2022 BOSS GP Super Lights champion, Andreas Hasler from Austria, who brought his Dallara World Series V6 T08 to Tuscany after a long, technical absence.
In the two free practice sessions, which were run in changing conditions, Ingo Gerstl (AUT) from the Top-Speed team in the Toro Rosso STR1 F1 and Antonio Pizzonia duelled. Gerstl drove the fastest time in FP1 with 1:30.422, Pizzonia countered as the fastest in FP2, but with 1:31.513 he could not match the Austrian’s time. Behind them was an Italian GP 2 trio with Simone Colombo, Massimiliano Cuccarese (both MM International Motorsport) and Marco Ghiotto (Scuderia Palladio). Newcomer Vladimir Netušil was surprisingly strong, making himself noticeable behind this trio after the two free practice sessions and thus in the front field of the Formula Class. An exciting qualifying session was to be expected – and that’s what happened, but with a significant delay, because the morning fog persisted and was so thick that it was not possible for any of the racing classes present in Mugello this weekend to start on time. The first drivers, the Alfa Romeo Revival Cup, only took to the track two hours later than planned.
The delays in the schedule caused by the heavy fog did not dampen the mood of the participants of the Boss GP Racing Series (in the picture from left: Paul O´Connell / HS-Engineering, Ingo Gerst / Top-Speed and Andreas Hasler / Hasler Motorsport).
The fog then quickly cleared and the weather improved. This meant that much better lap times were possible in the BOSS GP qualifying session. Due to the large field of starters, the 30-minute qualifying session was again split into two groups this time. First 10 minutes for the fastest from the free practice sessions and then 18 minutes for the rest of the field after a changeover phase.
The best in each class in qualifying:
| F1 Class: | Ingo Gerstl (AUT), Team Top-Speed, Toro Rosso STR 1 F1 |
| Open Class | Antonio Pizzonia (BRA), HS-Engineering, Dallara WS V8 T12 4,5 |
| Formula Class: | Simone Colombo (ITA), MM International Motorsport, Dallara GP2 |
| Super Lights Class: | Stephan Glaser (SUI), Jo Zeller Racing, Dallara WS V6 T08 |
Dominating this year’s BOSS GP Super-Lights class: Stephan Glaser (SUI), Jo Zeller Racing, Dallara WS V6 T8.
Due to the delays caused by the fog, PNK as the organizer had to tighten up the schedule enormously in consultation with the race management and the BOSS GP organization. All series organizers helped very enthusiastically to get all the planned races through. For race 1 of the BOSS GP, which started almost an hour late, the race duration had to be shortened by two minutes.
Class results BOSS GP race 1:
Race 2 on Sunday went ahead as originally planned. In the formation lap, the two Formula 1 cars with Ingo Gerstl and Ulf Ehninger (GER), ESBA Racing, Benetton B197 F1, were at the front. Behind the second leading car was the rest of the field, led by Antonip Pizzonia and followed by an armada of GP2 drivers from the Formula Class. Since some preliminary decisions could be made in the individual classes with regard to the overall victory, exciting duels and interesting fights for the individual positions in the points were to be expected. And that’s exactly what happened. Positions were changed for laps.
With two race wins in Mugello, Simone Colombo (ITA, MM International Motorsport, Dallara GP2, pictured at the front) is getting ever closer to the previous leader of the BOSS GP Formula class, Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio, Dallara GP2) in the points ranking. The decision for the overall victory in this class will probably be made on the Misano weekend at the beginning of November.
Class results BOSS GP Race 2:
Since the BOSS GP F1 class will not be taking part in the finale in Misano at the beginning of November, Ulf Ehninger has been declared the overall winner of the F1 class for the second time. The same goes for Antonio Pizzonia in the BOSS GP Open Class. There is no title decision in the remaining two BOSS GP classes. Here, both the overall victory and the placings behind it are still open. An exciting BOSS GP finale can therefore be expected in Misano from November 1st to 3rd.
Overall winner of the BOSS GP F1 class for the 2nd time after 2022: Ulf Ehninger (GER), ESBA Racing, Benetton B197 F1.
Was able to repeat his BOSS GP overall victory in the Open Class from last year: Ex-Formula 1 driver Antonio Pizzonia (BRA), HS-Engineering, Dallara World Series V8 T12 4.5.
Standings BOSS GP Racing Series – all classes
Gallery PNK Racing Weekend Mugello
Report: Black/SMW MEDIA
Photos: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP