Scuderia Praha will enter three drivers for the 1000 km Paul Ricard race; Stéphane Kox will join Jiří Písařík and Matteo Mallucelli on the Ferrari 488 GT3. The trio aims to fight for the podium in the Pro-Am class.
The Kox name is very familiar with Scuderia Praha, as Peter Kox drove multiple seasons for the team. Now his daughter Stéphane will take seat as the third driver, alongside regulars Jiří Písařík and Matteo Mallucelli for the third round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup at Paul Ricard. The French circuit provides perfect place for a 1000 km race that starts in the afternoon and ends in the night. Given the length of the race, the team wanted to expand the driver line-up up to three drivers. After evaluating various possibilities it was the young Dutch who got the chance to test with the team. Her performance over the test confirmed her qualities behind the wheel and she is a very welcomed new member of the team for the Paul Ricard race. The weekend can provide an interesting indirect competition for the Kox family, as Stephane´s father Peter will be driving the WRT Audi R8 in the Pro class.
In the meantime, Matteo Malucelli is one of the busiest drivers at the moment driving Risi´s Ferrari 488GTE at the 24h of Le Mans the weekend before the third round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. The Italian will have just four days to rest and to be ready for the Paul Ricard event, but the team is certain that they will arrive in good shape.
Stéphane Kox: “I am so grateful and it is an honor that Scuderia Praha gives me this opportunity. We’ve had two very productive test days, and the cooperation with the team went very well. To be racing at the highest level in GT sport is a real challenge. Nevertheless I’m confident that we can deliver a very strong job next weekend. I’ve known Scuderia Praha since I was about 11 years old. At that time I came to support my father. Now, 11 years later I will drive their Ferrari myself! This is such a special feeling.”
Ivo Horn, team principal: “We tested Stéphane over two days at Paul Ricard and she did a very good job, considering limited experience with GT3 cars. She improved within each run, did strong and also consistent lap times and her feedback was very good. For sure Peter is a great teacher and he’s perfectly able to tell her how to drive. We are happy to give her a debut chance in the Blancpain GT Series and we are confident that she will do the job. We want to wish Matteo all the best for the Le Mans 24 hours. He will just have a few days to recover before our race, but driving is easy for him, so he will be in good shape with fresh experience in relation to driving in the night. Also Jiří´s driving has been improving all the time, as he gets used to the highly competitive GT racing which is typical for the Blancpain GT Series. Seen all this, we’ll aim high for this race.”