Vicky Piria returns to top step of the Italian GT podium with last lap charge in Imola
- RACERS
- 20 hours ago
- 5 min read
Vicky Piria returned to the top of the rostrum in the third round of the 2025 Italian GT Endurance Championship at Imola, taking a spectacular and hard-fought victory in the GT Cup Division-2 ProAm class alongside teammate Matias Russo in the SP Racing Porsche.
After misfortune at Monza, Vicky Piria returned to the top of the rostrum in the third round of the 2025 Italian GT Endurance Championship at Imola, taking a spectacular and hard-fought victory in the GT Cup Division-2 ProAm class alongside teammate Matias Russo in the #411 SP Racing Porsche 992 GT3 Cup.
It marked Piria’s return to victory, at one of Italy’s most iconic circuits, a track where she has traditionally made important strides in her GT career. The race win came in dramatic fashion, as the pair recovered from an unlucky mid-race setback that saw them fall one lap down due to a slow puncture and a ill-timed caution. Undeterred, Russo and Piria mounted a spirited charge, culminating in a last-lap overtake for the class win.
Piria, a former W Series racer with high-level single-seater experience, made the jump to GT racing in 2022; she was quickly competitive, scoring class podiums and wins. After narrowly missing out on the class title in 2023, where she finished as vice-champion, Piria has been racing part-time in both the Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse and the Italian GT Championship in 2024, alongside her commitments as F1 presenter for Italian broadcaster Sky F1. Despite her part-time schedule, she has continued to collect dominant class wins in both series — and in 2025, she made a full-time return to the GT Cup class of the Italian GT Championship with SP Racing, sharing the #411 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car with Argentinian driver Matias Russo.
Piria and Russo secured victory in the Italian GT Endurance season opener at Misano, winning in the GT Cup Division-2 ProAm class. Starting from second in class, they fought back to pick up right where Piria had left off — on the top step of the podium.
The second 3-hour race at Monza, however, ended in disappointment. Russo, who started the race, was taken out on the second lap after being hit at the first chicane, bringing their race to an early end before Piria even had the chance to get behind the wheel.
The third round at Imola was therefore a key opportunity for the duo to fight back. Still working on car setup, they started the weekend strongly by topping the timesheets in the GT Cup Division-2 ProAm class in the first practice session. Their 1:47.242 lap was an encouraging start, then improved in each following session as the team continued to fine-tuned the setup to suit both drivers’ different driving styles. By Free Practice 3, they had posted a 1:45.392, just over a tenth off the class leaders.
In Saturday’s three-part qualifying, Russo opened the session with a 1:45.398, placing second in class. Piria then took over for Q2 just as a rain shower hit the circuit. In challenging conditions, she set a first time on wets, then after a red flag interrupted the session, she returned to the track on slicks and delivered a solid 1:49.820, once again slotting into second in class.
Russo returned for Q3, which was red-flagged again due to a Ferrari engine failure, but managed to improve to 1:45.481 to qualify third in class. On combined times, the #411 Porsche would line up second in GT Cup Division-2 ProAm and 28th overall for the 3-hour endurance race.
The race began cleanly despite a packed 40-car grid. Russo held second in class off the line and quickly applied pressure to early leader Diego Di Fabio’s Ferrari. By lap 5, he made the move to take the class lead, just before Di Fabio suffered suspension failure and stopped on track, prompting a Full Course Yellow on lap 10.
Following the restart, Russo stayed out and began carving his way through the overall order, climbing as high as P15 overall while maintaining a strong grip on the class lead. As the first pit window opened, chaos unfolded: the #21 Audi found the gravel at Tosa and triggered another caution. Russo took the opportunity to pit and hand the car over to Piria, who rejoined from the class lead.
Piria initially settled into a solid rhythm, running laps in the 1:49s and gaining overall positions. But a slow puncture gradually reduced her pace just as a second round of incidents unfolded: a multi-car crash at Acque Minerali and a stranded Mercedes brought out another Safety Car.
The team pitted but an unfortunate timing left them trapped a lap down, with just under two hours remaining. Russo resumed for a double stint, now running third in class and a lap behind the leaders. Determined to recover, he began consistently lapping in the mid-1:45s, taking advantage of traffic and pit strategy to cycle back into the class lead as others stopped. Pitting again on lap 42, he remained in the car and stayed in the fight, putting in more fast laps and rejoining in third once the cycle was complete.
As the race approached the final hour, Russo handed over to Piria again on lap 55. Now second in class, Piria set out to catch Andrea Palma’s Porsche, closing an 11-second gap. She consistently matched or bettered Palma’s pace and posted her personal best lap of 1:46.4 just before handing the car back to Russo for the final run to the flag with under 30 minutes to go.
Russo rejoined second in class, now chasing Flavio Olivieri’s Porsche for the win. With less than 10 minutes left, the gap had closed to just a few seconds. As time ticked down, Russo reeled in the leader: in a nail-biting final lap, Russo launched a clean and decisive pass at Tamburello to take the GT Cup 2-Division ProAm class lead. He held off Olivieri in the closing corners to cross the line first in class and 17th overall, sealing a dramatic and deserved victory.
"It was an awesome race", Piria said. "We had a lot of bad luck as we lost a lap with a Full Course Yellow, because we basically got in right before the FCY came out and then everyone else pitted."
"I did a stint with a slow puncture, which made the car undriveable. Luckily most of the stint was under safety car, but there I slipped to second, and then with the Full Course Yellow we dropped back."
"In the last two stints, we recovered", she recalled. "I'm really happy because I closed the gap a bit to Palma, who was in the car at the time, and then Matias did really well, as he closed the last six seconds and managed to pass on the last lap. After such a tough three-hour race, I'm really happy."
The victory at Imola marks Vicky Piria’s return to the top step of the podium in the Italian GT Championship, cementing the SP Racing duo as one of the leading teams in the GT Cup field. After missing out on points at Monza due to an early retirement and narrowly missing out on scoring a higher haul of points at the 100-minute mark at Imola, Piria and Russo now sit third in the championship standings with 60 points.
With one round remaining — the season finale at Mugello on 12–14 September — they trail the second-placed trio of Calcagno/Corradi/Valori by just 7 points, and the class leaders by 12. After a brilliant fightback in Imola, Vicky Piria and Matias Russo remain in the hunt for a strong end to the season.
Additional reporting: Marco Albertini