4H Imola - JOTA Sport contnues domination, Ferrari on pole LMGTE and GTC

Ferrari on pole position inLMGTE and GTC on the Autrodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari

It's a beautiful day at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari today, Sunday, May 18.

The 28 cars which make up the LMGTE and GTC classes took to the track at 9h45 for a 20-minute qualifying session.  Following some jostling for position between the No.72 and 81 Ferraris it was ultimately the Swiss Kessel Racing team which took the top spot thanks to a lap time of 1:39.920 set by Matteo Cressoni in the yellow No.81 Ferrari.  Andrea Bertolini gave it everything and finished just three tenths of a second behind with the No.72 SMP Racing entry.  On the second row of the LMGTE grid will be two other Ferraris, the No. 54 AF Corse entry driven by Marco Cioci which will line up alongside the second Kessel Racing car.

In GTC it will be the new Danish Formula Racing team which will start from class pole position. Dane Mikkel Mac claimed the fastest lap of 1:42.082 aboard the red and black No.60 Ferrari F458 Italia GT3.  Two more Ferraris follow – AF Corse's No.95 (Cedric Sbirrazzuoli) and the No.71 SMP Racing (Luca Persiani) – by less than five tenths of a second.  While the Ferraris are making their presence known, of note in fourth and fifth places places is the qualifying performance within the same second as the Italian cars of the No.98 McLaren MP4 GT3 driven by Kevin Korjus and the No.93 Porsche 997 GT3R of Pro GT by Almeras. For the record, the fastest qualifying time in the 2013 LMGTE category was set by Matt Griffin at the wheel of the class champions' Ferrari 458 Italia (1:41.994). In GTC, it was the Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 GT3 of Peter Kox who posted a lap of 1:43.752. Suffice to say that the cars and drivers are quicker today under very similar weather conditions to last year.

JOTA Sport continue à dominer les essais qualificatifs en ELMS

For the record, the fastest qualifying time in the 2013 LMGTE category was set by Matt Griffin at the wheel of the class champions' Ferrari 458 Italia (1:41.994). In GTC, it was the Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 GT3 of Peter Kox who posted a lap of 1:43.752. Suffice to say that the cars and drivers are quicker today under very similar weather conditions to last year.

In the premier class of the European Le Mans Series, we can look forward to some great track action later today if qualifying was anything to go by.  

The nine prototypes were not bothered by traffic as they had the track all to themselves, and they put on quite a show by reeling off laps which went quicker and quicker as the clock counted down to the chequered flag. 

Pole position was claimed for the second consecutive race by JOTA Sport, the No.38 Zytek Z11SN Nissan in the hands of Portuguese Filipe Albuquerque.  The British car's lap of 1:33.974 surpassed its own 2013 qualifying record by 0.6s, and JOTA will start 0.6s ahead of the No.46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Morgan Nissan, that entry in the hands of Tristan Gommendy (1:34.658).  Nelson Panciatici was the first to get close to the 2013 reference time (1:34.343 set by JOTA Sport's Oliver Turvey) but the No.36 Signatech Alpine A450 will now start from third on the grid.

The 14h00 start of the race will be given by Briton Allan McNish.  Meanwhile, fans can meet their idols during the autograph session being held in the pit lane.

Timing and live streaming can be found on www.europeanlemansseries.com