Tigani: Abu Dhabi Class Win “Bodes Well for the Future”

Tigani Motorsport’s Pro-Am class victory in the Gulf 12 Hours “bodes well for the future” amidst its rapid expansion with Mercedes-AMG according to team boss Nathan Tigani, who said the team learned important lessons in its first race outside of Australia.

The No. 44 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, run under the Geyer Valmont Racing banner and driven by Marcel Zalloua, Sergio Pires, Brendon Leitch and Jayden Ojeda, finished sixth overall in the 12-hour race at Yas Marina Circuit.

In the process, they beat Enrico Fulgenzi Racing and HAAS RT to the class victory in the Pro-Am category, matching the target set by team owner Tigani at the start of the weekend

“Not bad at all,” Tigani told Sportscar365.

“Class victory was the goal, anything else other than that was a bonus.

“First time here, we probably didn’t execute as well as I probably would have liked, even though the result ended up falling our way.

“It bodes well for the Bathurst 12 Hour, bodes well for the future. It’s a good way to start.”

The No. 44 Mercedes-AMG crossed the line 15.308 seconds ahead of the No. 17 Enrico Fulgenzi Racing Porsche at the end of the second, four-hour segment on Sunday night.

That lead margin came down significantly in the closing 30 minutes as the No. 44 Mercedes-AMG lost lap time due to a broken splitter, which the team attempted to fix on multiple occasions using duct tape.

“The splitter was obviously delaminated,” Tigani said.

“I think maybe contact at the start of the race or something along those lines. Whatever reason it was, it started to come apart.

“But it didn’t look like it was going to completely disintegrate, which we were just praying and hoping, fingers crossed, that it would make it to the end, and it did.

“But the car was behaving like a pig. But luckily, Brendon and Jayden are world-class.

“Their first stint in the first half of that back end of the race set us up for victory and we just had to bring it home from there.”

Tigani labeled his eponymous team’s first race outside of Australia as a learning experience, hinting there is “room for improvement” having competed against several top European squads.

“Car performance is one aspect I think you will focus on, but I guess from a team perspective I learned a lot,” Tigani said.

“So did everyone else. Just the way they execute certain strategies and the drivers executing their roles, from tire guys to everybody.

“Just the whole team, the whole kind of machine. These guys are seasoned and they’re well oiled and they’re seamless.

“So we were okay first time but definitely room for improvement and we’ll work on that once we get back to Australia and get ready for Bathurst.”