Imola ELMS Preview – Round 2
Imola at springtime. 38 cars on the ELMS grid. Simply a delicious prospect this weekend and if the second round of the 2014 ELMS season is half as good as the first at Silverstone a month ago, then another real treat is in store for competitors and fans alike this Sunday.
The most intriguing news in the last month came this week as reigning champions Signatech confirmed their switch from Michelin to Dunlop rubber. It will be interesting to see if Nelson Panciatici, Oli Webb and Paul Loup-Chatin are more of a competitive proposition at Imola, although the team are inevitably playing down their chances as no testing opportunities have yet arisen on the new Dunlop compounds.
Silverstone victors Thiriet by TDS Racing were buoyed by a superb performance from each of its driver’s last time out in their Morgan-Nissan. DSC had predicted the day before the race that the team probably had one of the strongest driver line-ups on the grid. While not particularly headline grabbing; Pierre Thiriet, Ludovic Badey and Tristan Gommendy have shown efficiency, consistent pace and, as yet, no hint of a mistake. They will be there or thereabouts again this weekend, hoping to replicate the teams win at the same venue 12 months ago.
Jota Sport had a tumultuous first round last month. On home ground and at the scene of their victory in 2013 they were fully in control to make it a Silverstone double. That didn’t happen after the incident with the Rugolo driven Ferrari and a mere point for a fabulous pole, courtesy of Harry Tincknell’s sublime lap, was all they came away with. This must have been all the more galling after a dominant performance up until that stage, especially as Simon Dolan completed perhaps his best performance, all bar the final lap of his triple stint. Again Felipe Alburquerque will join Dolan and Tincknell at Imola meaning that the immaculately prepared white Zytek-Nissan will surely be among the favourites.
One very disappointing aspect of Silverstone is that we didn’t get the anticipated Jota v Murphy Prototypes battle in the final hour. But for a very harsh start infringement penalty and then a puncture in the first hour, Greg Murphy’s team would surely have been right there at the end of the four hours.
Sensational pace from all three drivers during the recovery phase from both of the incidents mentioned above was little consolation for the Dublin based squad but there were several key aspects that can be drawn upon coming in to Imola. The speed of Alex Kapadia was a revelation, as was the assured manner of Rodolfo Gonzalez recovery from the start penalty. Stir in to that Karun Chandhok’s pace and it could ensure that the green section of the Italian tricolour flag could be fluttering proudly in the Emilia-Romagna region come Sunday evening.
Despite initially confirming Kapadia in the team for Imola, Nathaniel Berthon is a late addition to the squad this weekend. The rapid GP2 race winner showed scintillating speed with a brief cameo at the Pau Ricard test last month and has done a deal to race alongside Gonzalez and Chandhok at Le Mans too. Kapadia, although naturally disappointed, took the decision with typical professional grace and is expected to get another well-deserved chance with the team later in the ELMS season.
New Blood by Morand make the short trip over the Alps from their Marly base in Switzerland aiming to better their 3rd place at Silverstone.
“Victory is definitely within reach, now we have to grab it!” confirmed team owner Benoit Morand. “We analysed the Silverstone race and great work has been completed by my team to optimise these details. As far as the drivers are concerned, we will keep on providing them with all the support they need. Christian (Klien) is the team leader, supporting the talented Gary (Hirsch) and also Romain (Brandela), who was the great surprise at Silverstone.”
Brandela indeed performed better than expected which ensures that this team are a very real title protagonist in 2014. Klien will be keen to put behind two errors (one in Free Practice and one in Qualifying) as he heads to a track that he knows well from his F1 days with Jaguar and Red Bull.
Greaves Motorsport field a single Zytek-Nissan entry this weekend for Tom Kimber-Smith and Matt McMurry. Chris Dyson is absent citing a business commitment stateside but will rejoin the team for Le Mans.
The emphasis for the team so far has been mentoring McMurry, as he makes the giant leap to become an LMP2 driver and become the youngest ever driver to compete at Le Mans. If you have met or seen McMurry drive, it is churlish to call him a mere ‘kid’ because his demeanour, focus and professionalism are that of someone twice his age. The stints he completed at Silverstone, without significant mistake was remarkable, and it is a credit not only to him but also the Greaves Motorsport team, in particular engineer Peter Weston and his team mates Chris Dyson and Tom-Kimber-Smith.
TK-S was, as you would expect, very rapid at Silverstone. Imola will be a track his talents can have the freedom to express themselves this weekend. His qualifying run should be essential viewing on Sunday morning.
Race Performance so nearly pulled off an unlikely victory at Silverstone with their Oreca-Judd. Much of the kudos should be given to team owner Michel Frey, for while he is well short of Franck Mailleux on outright pace the Swiss showed great fortitude and skill in holding off Gommendy for so long in the final 30-mins sprint to the flag. Don’t forget that this came after a fearful shunt at the Paul Ricard test and then another Mailleux inspired excursion at Becketts in Free Practice. It was a credit to the small but very capable team that they harnessed a runners-up position from those nadirs. Imola is likely to be a different matter though. But the team are more than capable of picking up pieces should they fall from the top table once again.
A tough debut was experienced by the Sebastien Loeb Racing Oreca-Nissan at Silverstone and like Signatech the team suffered on exploring any inherent pace in the car. Whether this was all due to the tyres is unknown but certainly Jan Charouz was adamant that there was much more to be un-locked, in terms of pace, as the season progresses. Vincent Capaillaire is on a steep learning curve in 2014 but the Le Mans resident kept his nose clean at Silverstone and built up confidence nicely.
Pegasus Racing suffered the only non-accident inflicted retirement at Silverstone when it unaccountably ran out of fuel, stranding it on track. The enthusiastic and family run team who won the 2011 Formula Le Mans titles will be hoping for an upturn in both procedural basics and performance at Imola this weekend. Team owner Julien Schell I again joined by Nicholas Leutwiller and Jonathan Coleman.
If the overall battle at the front is highly anticipated this weekend then the LMGTE race should provide just as much, if not more excitement. A thrilling race at Silverstone saw a titanic Ferrari scrap between AF Corse and SMP Racing, with the former winning out as the impressive trio of Matt Griffin, Duncan Cameron and Michele Rugolo took maximum points.
A late race clash between Bertolini and Marco Cioci settled things in AF Corse’s favour on that occasion but the SMP Racing squad are intent on spoiling the AF Corse teams home race with Bertolini and team mate Viktor Shaitar intent on revenge.
AF Corse outnumbers everyone in the LMGTE field as they have four Ferrari 458 entries including the AT Racing entry for the Talkanitsa father/son partnership. This entry could be a good dark horse for class honours as Pierre Kaffer continues his role with the team as he again joins the Talkanitsa’s.
Michael Lyons was one of the true stars of the Silverstone round leading commandingly in the early stages and showing exceptional pace. Along with Marco Cioci and Piergiuseppe Perrazini, young Lyons should revel at Piratella, Acque Minarale and Rivazza, all corners that will suit his committed, staccato style.
Another AF Corse entry is #65 Ferrari 458 Italia, which will be campaigned by Peter Mann, Lorenzo Casé and Raffaele Giammaria.
Among the others to watch out for in this class will be the Kessel Racing pair of Ferrari’s, especially in the hands of Matteo Cressoni and Giacomo Piccini. Both featured strongly at Silverstone but eventually fell away after a combination of pit issues and bitty mechanical issues.
JMW Motorsport had a fine weekend at Silverstone in their newly Michelin shod Ferrari 458 Italia. Daniel McKenzie gave the team a great platform early on for an eventual 5th place in class, showing a lot of promise. George Richardson also gave an accomplished performance on his International sports car debut and the other ‘Dan’ in the team – Zamparelli – gave the team additional experience in getting performance from the Michelins after so long with Dunlop rubber.
Hoping to take the challenge to the Ferrari’s on their home turf will be the Porsche contingent which is represented by IMSA Performance and Gulf Racing. The former got amongst the 458’s all too briefly at Silverstone with Nicolas Armindo reminding everyone of his latent talent, setting up an excellent 3rd place class finish.
Gulf Racing will be aiming for much better pace form its older spec 911 GT3 RSR, but in all reality the Porsches, although better suited to the tighter circuit, are not expected to challenge the Ferraris over a race distance. It’s a great shame for the potent combination of Adam Carroll, Mike Wainwright and new comer Ben Barker, but their day will hopefully come later in the season.
Gulf again enters their Aston Martin V8 Vantage for team owner Roald Goethe, Stuart Hall and Dan Brown. Like their stable mates they will be hoping for much more than they got at Silverstone.
Resisting obvious geo-political quips, the GTC class turned out to be a battle royal between Team Ukraine and SMP Racing at Silverstone. This time, the Ferrari from the smaller of the two nations, won it. It was good to see that any bellicose attitudes were confined to their respective countries and not the race track or paddock at Silverstone. The spirit between the two teams was actually good and it was hoped to be an on-going scrap as the season progressed.
Team Ukraine’s Andriy Kruglyk and Alessandro Pier Guidi formed an excellent partnership, while Sergii Chukanov did a solid job to ensure a perfect start for the small but focused and well-drilled team. Sadly it has been reported that the team has been a late withdrawal from the event with the reason unclear. Let us hope that politics has not had any part to play in this and that the excellent spirit of the ELMS can shine through a difficult situation.
SMP Racing is back up to three cars in the GTC class at Imola as Boris Rotenburg returns along with Mika Salo and Maurizio Mediani. This trio will be very strong this weekend, as will the Beretta/Markazov and Anton Ladygin 458.
Hoping to make up for the ignominy of failing to start the Silverstone race from a well-earned pole position will be the #71 SMP entry of Kiril Ladygin, Luca Persiani and Aleksey Basov. These three drivers will have an added intensity to their efforts this weekend.
Formula Racing’s all Danish line-up meanwhile for Silverstone has changed with Andrea Piccini replacing Jan Magnussen for this one
The non-Ferrari challenge is likely to come from the Crubile Porsche, certainly in the hands of Emmanuel Collard, who showed blistering commitment in his stints last time out. The brace of ART Grand Prix McLaren MP4-12s will be aiming to get in amongst the top Ferraris after a decent 5th and 7th place finish at Silverstone. With Kevin Korjus in #98 and Alex Brundle in #99 the team have two excellent, quick and youthful assets on their side.
Team Russia by Barwell managed to iron out niggling technical issues at Silverstone to grab an excellent 4th place. Jonny Cocker, the Dorian Gray of endurance racing, impresses with his maturity and steering of the nascent project. Leo Machitski and Timur Sardarov both demonstrated sensible and progressive stints to contribute to an excellent first round result for the ambitious team.
Changes to driver line ups at Imola include Andrea Piccini stepping in for Jan Magnussen at the Formula Racing Ferrari 458 Italia team.
And Ye Gods! Will we see Kolo Aluko at Kessel Racing? The Nigerian was scheduled to race at Silverstone and even signed on. Then there was no sign and it was not until raceday morning that the Kessel Racing team seemed to know whether he was going to turn up or not. He didn’t. Let’s hope we see Kolo in the car at Imola this weekend in the #81 LMGTE entry.
Imola is of course the final significant sports car race before Le Mans. There will be plenty of nervous team principals hoping that their cars emerge unscathed with just 14 days to go before the official test day. All of the LMP2 runners at Imola have entries for the big race and with some significant accidents already this season there will be inevitable sighs of relief come Sunday evening.
FIVE HOT TOPICS TO LOOK OUT FOR AT IMOLA
- How quickly will Signatech get to grips with the switch from Michelin to Dunlop rubber?
- Will Nathaniel Berthon be as quick over a long stint as he was over a short one, as he was at the Ricard test?
- Who will be the all-important ‘silver master’? Dolan? Frey? Hirsch?
- How will the new Dunlop ‘soft’ compound fare and at what temperature will it start to drop-off necessitating mediums?
- Can anyone infiltrate the Ferrari’s in LMGTE or GTC?
DSC will have live coverage @dscracelive on Twitter of Free Practice 2, Qualifying and the race which is scheduled to begin at 14.00 cet on Sunday. All the regular news, views, photos and insights from the track will be available on the site as well.
Sam Smith
