Imola, Italy, 17-18 May 2014
The second round of the 2014 European Le Mans Series was held
at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola over the weekend
of 17 – 18 May, whose great elevation changes as it swoops
through the hillside, were in sharp contrast to Round 1 at the
virtually flat Silverstone circuit. The event attracted 38 entries and
37 starters, after Team Ukraine didn’t appear, to a do battle in
three classes over a beautifully warm and sunny weekend. There
were 9 starters in the main LMP2 class, and 14 each in the two
GT classes, LMGTE for GT2 specification cars, and GTC for GT3
specification cars. In terms of numbers Ferrari 430s in both GT2
and GT3 form were the largest in number, filling nearly half the
grid with 18 starters.
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The Friday was given over to technical checks and preparation,
with no on track activity, whilst Saturday saw two practice
sessions, one morning and one afternoon, together with the
Porsche Carrera Cup France support race, practice and qualifying
sessions. Qualifying for the 4 Hours of Imola, to give the race its
correct title, took place on the Sunday morning, with separate 20
minute sessions for the sports prototypes and GT classes. The
GT class runners were the first on track, and the session saw a
fierce battle for supremacy in the LMGTE class between the # 81
Ferrari 458 GT2 Kessel Racing entry driven by Matteo Cressoni,
and the similar # 72 SMP Racing entry driven by Andrea Bertolini,
with the former taking pole by 3/10th of a second. In the GTC
class it was another Ferrari that claimed pole position, the Danish
# 60 Formula Racing 458 GT3 entry driven by Mikkel Mac, from
the similar # 95 AF Corse entry driven by Cedric Sbirrazzuoli and
the # 71 SMP Racing example of Luca Persiani. In the LMP2
category, it was the car that claimed pole position at Silverstone,
but then crashed out late in the race, the # 38 Jota Sport Zytek
Z11SN-Nissan driven by Filipe Alburquerque, that once again took
the qualifying honours. Second fastest was the # 46 Thiriet by
TDS Racing Morgan-Nissan driven by Tristan Gommendy, 0.6sec
in arrears, with the # 36 Signatech Alpine driven by Nelson
Panciatici 3rd quickest.
The race was started by recently retired Audi star Allan McNish,
and immediately the pole sitting # 38 Jota Sport Zytek
Z11SN-Nissan leaped into the lead, chased by the # 36
Signatech Alpine, which made up a place off the grid, and the rest
of the field. Despite heavy pressure from his LMP2 pursuers,
Harry Tincknell kept the # 38 car in the lead through to the first
round of pit stops, with the car being taken over by Simon Dolan,
who dropped to 5th in class after a minor incident, whilst
Paul-Loup Chatin led in the Signatech Alpine, which looked
splendid in its historic metallic blue and Dayglow orange livery.
The close battle between the front runners continued unabated
through to the second round of stops, with the Signatech Alpine
still holding a slender lead. The stops saw the # 46 Thiriet by TDS
Racing Morgan-Nissan driven by Pierre Thiriet emerge in the lead,
chased by the # 43 Newblood by Morand Racing Morgan-Judd
with Romain Brandella at the wheel.
The pendulum really swung between the LMP2 runners for the
remainder of the race, with a mix of fortunes, incidents, punctures
and penalties mixing up the order. As the race entered its closing
stages it was the # 38 Jota Sport Zytek Z11SN-Nissan driven by
Simon Dolan that led, but he was being hounded mercilessly by
the # 43 Newblood by Morand Racing Morgan-Judd driven by
Christian Klein. He found a way through with 14 laps remaining,
but couldn’t open a gap of any consequence, although he
appeared to have enough in hand to take the win. It wasn’t to be,
as with around 5mins remaining the car suddenly lost power and
stopped out on the track, apparently with engine failure, as the #
38 car, with Simon Dolan probably unable to believe his luck,
swept by and on to victory. After the misfortune at Silverstone the
win no doubt boosted the team’s spirits, whilst 2nd place was
taken by the #24 Sebastien Loeb Racing Oreca 03-Nissan of
Capillaire/Charouz, and the final podium spot went to the # 36
Signatech Alpine A450 of Chatin/Panciatici/Webb.
The battles were just as fierce in the two GT categories, although
the pole sitting LM GTE class # 81 Kessel Racing Ferrari driven
by Matteo Cressoni managed to establish a reasonably
comfortable cushion to the pursuing pack, but behind him there
were some fraught battles going on, with the sister # 80 car
picking up suspension damage, and the # 55 AF Corse Ferrari
had to stop to get loose rear bodywork fixed, both after contact.
As the race progressed the early advantage of the # 81 car was
eroded, in no small part due to a mid race safety car period, and
it was exciting viewing in the closing stages as it was hunted
down by the # 72 SMP Racing Ferrari in the hands of Andrea
Bertolini, who was driving like a man possessed, carving great
lumps of time out of the leader as the clock ticked down, passing
to take the class win on the last lap of the race. The final spot on
the LMGTE podium went to the British # 66 JMW Motorsport
Ferrari of McKenzie/Richardson/Zampieri, whilst Ferraris filled the
top five places in the class.
In the GTC class it was the # 95 AF Corse Ferrari entry driven by
Cedric Sbirrazzuoli that made the best start, to lead from # 60
Formula Racing example driven by Mikkel Mac. They were
chased by the # 71 and # 73 SMP Racing Ferraris, and eventually
the battle came down to one between the Formula Racing
example and the pair of SMP Racing cars, with the Danish # 60
trio of Laursen/Mac/Piccini taking the class laurels from the # 73
SMP example of Beretta/Markozov/A. Ladygin, with the # 71
SMP Ferrari of K. Ladygin/Basov/Persiani taking the final class
podium spot, giving Ferrari its second full podium of the day
Text / Images ... Keith Bluemel
05/2014
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