Monaco Increase Management contracted driver Lirim Zendeli will be back on the track in race action this weekend for the first time in 2025 when he gets behind the wheel of a BeDriver Porsche 992 GT3 Cup machine for the upcoming Porsche Carrera Cup Italia round at the Vallelunga circuit outside Rome.
The 25-year-old German-Albanian, who picked up the PCCI Rookie of the Year award last year after showing considerable speed and skill in his first season of GT racing, is no stranger to the German marque’s highly competitive one-make series, having raced on Italian circuits throughout 2024 for Ombra Racing-Centro Porsche Bergamo, finishing third overall in the final standings.
Zendeli thus returns to the championship for a prestigious wild-card race for the Milan-based team, but hopefully there will be a possibility of continuing the adventure in the future.
Talking about his return to racing this weekend as a ‘supersub’, Zendeli said: “I’m super happy, honestly, because there are some opportunities in life which you have to be grateful for. I’ve been talking to Darshan, the team manager of BeDriver for quite a while, and finally at some point, we came to an agreement. For sure, I’m very thankful to the team for giving me this opportunity and also for their very warm welcome. And also for Gandi (MIM CEO, Salvatore Gandolfo, ed.), I’ve been in conversation for a long time now about the future. I’m just grateful to take this opportunity to demonstrate my skills again. It’s the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia, I know the car and I know the circuit, so hopefully I can do well. BeDriver are one of the top teams in the championship, they have a cool new livery and they are super professional. Everything about the team gives me a very good feeling for the coming weekend. I’m a bit rusty because I haven’t been behind the wheel for some time, but we have a Thursday test before the race weekend, and I’m really looking forward to racing again.”
The schedule for Vallelunga’s second double-header round of the season will see Lirim take part in four hours of collective testing on Thursday afternoon, with one hour of free practice held on Friday and qualifying on Saturday morning at 10.25. Race 1, held over 30 minutes plus 1 lap, will be at 16.00 on Saturday afternoon, with race 2 on Sunday at 12.20.
