Photo : Sebastien BASSANI (ACO)

 

On Saturday, November 30, near the end of the 6 Hours of Bahrain, final round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship, Gianmaria Bruni was not driving. As his teammate, Toni Vilander was racing on track, the Italian Bruni was playing with his daughter in the AF Corse pitbox. You would never know that in a few minutes, as the chequered flag flew, Bruni would become GT Drivers world champion thanks to victory in the last race of the season. It is a well-deserved title that caps off a great career, without forgetting the immense pride for any Italian racer to win a championship driving a Ferrari!

Factory driver for the Prancing Horse, Gianmaria Bruni, 32, is one of the more successful GT specialists, with two class wins at Le Mans, in 2008 with the Risi Competizione F430 GT, and in 2012 with the AF Corse 458 Italia. Last year, he was one of the crowned drivers for AF Corse and Ferrari in the FIA World Endurance Championship's LM GTE Pro class and once again fulfilled his role in 2013. After two wins (6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and 6 Hours of Sao Paulo) shared with ex-F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella, the duo didn't race together for the season finale in Bahrain. This did not however prevent Gianmaria Bruni from winning for the third time this year, this time with Toni Vilander, leading to a solo title after an impressively consistent season: he finished among the top five in LM GTE Pro in all eight races.

The FIA World Endurance Championship drivers titles were also awarded to Loïc Duval, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish in LM P1, while the FIA Endurance Trophies for LM P2 and LM GTE Am were won by Bertrand Baguette-Martin Plowman-Ricardo Gonzalez (OAK Racing) and Jamie Campbell Walter-Stuart Hall (Aston Martin Racing) respectively.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translated by Rainier Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo : LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, QUALIFYING, JUNE 20, 2013. Longtime Ferrari GT driver, Gianmaria Bruni had a near perfect 2013 season in the FIA World Endurance Championship.