Imola: In the starting blocks

With 38 cars on the starting grid, comprised of 11 LMP2s, 13 LMGTE and 14 GTC, the 4 Hours of Silverstone saw 2012 champion Thiriet by TDS Racing take the championship lead at the end of the 118 laps of racing.  The No.46 Morgan Nissan of Pierre Thiriet, Ludovic Badey and Tristan Gommendy finished just 3.8 seconds ahead of the No.34 Race Performance ORECA 03 Judd, which was itself just another second ahead of the No.43 NewBlood by Morand Racing Morgan Nissan. Suffice to say that once the safety car went back in, the last 22 minutes of the race were exciting and thrilling for everyone.  

The safety car was deployed following a crash involving the No. 38 JOTA Sport Zytek Z11SN.  Leader during the second and third hours of the race, Simon Dolan was at the wheel when he became involved in an accident in avoidance of a GTE competitor.  His car had contact with another LMP2, the No.50 Larbre Competition Morgan Judd, sending it hard into the wall. Dolan was not injured but all hopes of a second successive home victory for the British team flew out of the window.

In the LMP2 class the last 22 minutes took on the appearance of a sprint race and saw a non-stop battle between Thiriet by TDS Racing, Race Performance and NewBlood by Morand Racing who finished in that order on the podium. In the LM GTE category there was a real battle between Ferrari and Porsche, a race finally won by the Italian AF Corse team and the No.55 F458 Italia of Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin (2013 LMGTE Champion) and Michele Rugolo. They finished just 4.5 seconds ahead of another Ferrari, the No.72 SMP Racing entry driven by Andrea Bertolini, Viktor Shaitar and Sergey Zlobin. The No.76 IMSA Performance Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Raymond Narac, Nicolas Armindo and David Hallyday picked up the points for third place. Finally in GTC, the most populated of the categories, there were three Ferraris on the podium. Newcomer to the ELMS, Team Ukraine (managed by AF Corse), took its first podium of the season with Andriy Kruglyk, Sergii Chukanov and Alessandro Pier Guidi at the wheel of the No.96 F458 Italia GT3. They were ahead of 2013 Champions SMP Racing by only 7.3 seconds, the No.73 driven by Monegasque Olivier Beretta and Russians Anton Ladygin and David Markozov.  On the third step of the GTC podium was another new team, Formula Racing. The No.60 F458 was in the hands of a 100% Danish crew consisting of Jan Magnussen, Johnny Laursen and Mikkel Mac.

Imola Preview

The second round of the European Le Mans Series - The 4 Hours of Imola - will be held at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Famous for hosting the Formula 1 Grand Prix of San Marino for 25 years, between 1981 and 2006, the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is located in the town of Imola – around 40 kilometres east of Bologna. Known above all as a very fast circuit, the layout underwent modifications in the 1990s that transformed the Tamburello and Villeneuve corners which slowed a little the cars' speed. Today the track is 4.9 km long with 9 right-hand turns and 13 left-hand turns and it is one of the few race tracks on which competitors must alter their driving style as it runs anti-clockwise. The Imola track is renowned as being difficult to conquer and technically very demanding, requiring a high level of driving skill. 

Last year Imola welcomed the European Le Mans Series in May, a race won by Thiriet by TDS Racing ahead of the A450 of the Signatech Alpine team and the Morand Racing Morgan Judd. In LMGTE Ram Racing took first and third places on the podium, second being credited to the Italian AF Corse team. In GTC newcomers SMP Racing took the big prize followed by AF Corse's F458 and the BMW Z4 of Ecurie Ecosse.

All the teams are fired up and ready to get back on track on 17 and 18 May, at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.