Laura van den Hengel to make Italian GT debut at Mugello

Laura van den Hengel will make her Italian GT debut at Mugello, partnering with Ian Rodriguez in a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car for SP Racing during the third round of the Sprint series.

Photo credits: Fotospeedy

Laura van den Hengel will make her first appearance in Italian GT at this week's round in Mugello, which hosts the third race meeting of the Sprint Championship.

The Dutch racer, who is also contesting her first full-time campaign in GT racing in the GT Cup Open Europe, will thus return behind the wheel of a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car and will partner Ian Rodriguez at SP Racing.

"Making an unexpected return to Porsche this weekend to compete in the Italian GT Cup at Mugello with SPRacing", Van den Hengel commented. "Massive thanks to Gullwing Insurance and Eugenio Pisani for this opportunity."

Van den Hengel made the step up from karting at the end of 2023, entering two rounds in the GT Cup Open Europe series aboard the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car, in a significant step up that still resulted in impressive performances in the two contested rounds in Paul Ricard and Monza.

She then signed with Mertel Motorsport in an all-female team for the full 2024 campaign, where she teamed up with Spanish driver Alba Vazquez. The duo, sharing a Ferrari 488 Challenge, showed promising speed in the AM class at Portimao and Hockenheim, often battling around the class podium position - before their most productive weekend to date at Spa Francorchamps gained them their first top five in class. While an unfortunate weekend at Paul Ricard was marred by technical issues that took them out of contention in both races, Laura will return to the Mertel Motorsport Ferrari at Barcelona.

Taking advantage of the summer break, Van den Hengel will therefore make the most of the opportunity to make an appearance in the Italian GT Cup class, teaming up in the #145 Porsche with Guatemalan Ian Rodriguez - who has also partnered Tatiana Calderon in last year's LMP2 campaign.

Under the banner of Padova-based SP Racing in a fourth car for the team, the duo will tackle the challenging Mugello circuit on the weekend of 23-25 August, for the third round of the Sprint series.