Monaco Increase Management-contracted driver Lirim Zendeli will have an excellent chance to shine in the pre-season official GT prologue at the Paul Ricard circuit this week after earning a testing runout in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO for the GSM Racing team.
Over the scheduled two days of testing at Le Castellet in France, which take place on 5-6 March, the 24-year-old German-born Albanian will undergo an evaluation for Andrea Grillini’s Monaco-based team in view of a drive in the 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge.
The test for Lirim has been organized by MIM CEO Salvatore Gandolfo, who has managed him since 2022, and it is an opportunity for the only Albanian driver currently racing in top-level competition to showcase his potential in international GT racing, which is becoming an attractive alternative for up-and-coming drivers of all nationalities.
“I’m going to do the official test with GSM Racing in Paul Ricard, we were talking about it just two days ago and now it’s official! It’s a very good opportunity as it’s one of the tracks I know pretty well, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can do with a GT car. I’m a driver who can adapt to new situations, I think it was one of my strong points in my career in single-seaters. I’m very happy if I can put all this talent and experience into a GT car and hopefully make it good in GT.”
“I’ve been doing all the FIA series from F4 to F2, last year we did America which was completely different, with the atmosphere and the tracks, but it was a very nice experience. For me, I’m just happy to get the opportunity to finally make some steps towards being a professional racing car driver and it’s also more realistic from my point of view at the moment to make a career in GT racing.”
“I’d just like to say I’m very happy to get this opportunity. Gandi knew already that I can be a very fast driver who just needs good surroundings; he helped me stand up again, get a deal in America and I’m very thankful that there is someone like that. It’s not easy when you’re on the way up, but we did big steps winning races and the championship, then I went to F2 and suddenly you stop. If you don’t drive for one whole year in motorsport people tend to forget about you. Gandi didn’t, so now he’s trying to get me a way back to people knowing my name again.”
“I know the GSM Racing team, but everything has happened quite fast so I’ll find everything out when I get to Paul Ricard, but for the moment I’m just happy to be going to Le Castellet.”
The prologue for the Fanatec GT World Challenge at Paul Ricard will take place over two days with seven hours of track time available on each day, while the opening round of the championship will be at the same circuit on 4-5 May.
