FURTHER UPDATE – Panis Racing were reinstated to the race win on 24 July – ELMS Imola Decision 31)
UPDATE: AO by TF’s #14 ORECA 07 Gibson of Robert Kubica, Jonny Edgar and Louis Deletraz has inherited the overall 4 Hours of Imola victory after the Panis Racing team was penalised post-race.
The #65 ORECA has dropped to fifth after being handed a drive-through converted into a 35-second time penalty. The penalty was dealt because Milesi was found to have accelerated “too soon, anticipating the end of an FCY.”
It means that the #14 ORECA, which led in the final hour until a slow out lap dropped the car to second after its final stop, has claimed its first victory of the 2024 season.
Behind, the Vector Sport ORECA has risen to second, and the #43 Inter Europol crew has taken the final podium place.
The penalty is not subject to appeal.
This was not the only penalty of note to be published post-race.
In LMGT3 the #97 Grid Motorsport By TF Aston Martin was also handed a drive-through converted into a 35-second time penalty for track limits. This dropped the car from fourth to fifth.
And Kessel Racing’s Ferrari which came home third was handed a 35-second penalty for overtaking the Iron Lynx Lamborghini at Turn 7 under double-waved yellows.
This means that the #57 trio were demoted to fourth, promoting the Iron Lynx Huracan to third.
Original report: Panis Racing’s #65 ORECA claimed a dramatic victory in today’s ELMS 4 Hours of Imola, after a late lead change at the final round of pit stops.
The French team, which started the race from pole, was in the mix throughout. Manuel Maldonado and Arthur Leclerc enjoyed a fault-free performance before Charles Milesi’s run to the flag.
In the closing stages though, it looked as if AO by TF’s #14 ORECA of Jonny Edgar, Robert Kubica and Louis Deletraz would power to victory after a quicker second pit stop saw them take the lead from their Panis Racing rivals.
But a slower final stop and a delay on Deletraz’s out-lap would cost the team the lead with the end in sight. Deletraz was unable to catch and pass Milesi with time expiring, eventually finishing 11 seconds adrift.
With today’s result, Panis Racing’s #65 trio have become the third different crew in three races to win a race this season, on a day in which multiple title contenders in the hotly contested LMP2 class faltered. It’s also the first sportscar victory for both Leclerc and Maldonado.
“It feels good to be back on the top step on the podium. The team gave us a great car all week since the test,” Milesi said after the race. “The race pace was great at the end, as well as the strategy. We lost out to the safety car, but we managed to take the lead back.”
A second-place finish for AO by TF will feel like a disappointment after a particularly strong run from Edgar and Kubica. But it was another standout performance for the team, which now has two podium finishes in a row to build on after a tough start to the season in Barcelona.
Behind, Vector Sport enjoyed its best result of the campaign after a topsy-turvy run through the race.
Ryan Cullen was quick early and ran in the top three but lost time when he was run off the circuit and later suffered a spin. However, the team held its nerve and made gains through the smattering of Full-Course Yellows and a saftey car period called for an incident involving the #37 COOL Racing ORECA.
Felipe Drugovich was pushed hard and managed to hold off Tom Dillmann in the #43 Inter Europol ORECA which started from the pit lane, securing second in the final moments of the race.
IDEC Sport’s ORECA took fifth, Job van Uitert finishing at the back of a three-car train battling for the final podium spot.
It was yet another thriller in LMP2, with door-to-door action and drama striking key cars. And while there weren’t as many major incidents as expected, a key talking point beyond Panis Racing’s victory was the number of title-contending crews that hit trouble or failed to feature at the sharp end.
The #37 COOL Racing ORECA, which won the opener in Spain, has fallen to seventh in the standings after its second retirement in a row, Paul-Loup Chatin crashing out of the race after suspected contact with the #4 DKR Duqueine.
Algarve Pro Racing’s 2023 title-winning #25 ORECA lost out too, finishing off the lead lap and eighth after pitting just before the safety car.
The #22 United Autosports ORECA that finished third at Barcelona and fifth in Le Castellet also struggled and finds itself sixth in the points after a 15th-place finish.
As a result, it’s extremely tight at the top, with the #43 Inter Europol ORECA holding a slim five-point advantage over the Panis Racing crew, and a six-point lead over the AO by TF crew who have risen to third. It’s truly game on with 12 hours of racing remaining.
In the other classes, there was high drama all the way to the end.
Algarve Pro Racing’s #20 ORECA won LMP2 Pro/Am after gaining time on pit lane when it came in for its final splash. Alex Quinn led home Matthieu Vaxivere in the #83 AF Corse example.
It all came together for APR’s #20 crew – a combination of speed and strategy making the difference. Kriton Lentoudis took the start and had a clean run before Richard Bradley battled his way through the middle stint.
Rising star Quinn, entrusted with the job of bringing it home, soaked up pressure from behind and crossed the line just 3.6 seconds ahead of the AF Corse crew.
“We had a good car since Thursday and we carried that on into the race. Our strategy was very clever and ultimately for the majority of the race we were on older tyres than the cars around us but the pace was good. It was tough with the traffic but I enjoyed it.
“It was tricky in the final laps because I was on my final warning for track limits. So I had to manage risk versus reward,” Quinn said.
Like LMP2, Pro/Am’s title race is now extremely tight, with Richard Mille by TDS holding a three-point lead over AF Corse with its third-place finish. Algarve Pro Racing’s winners have made considerable gains, they’re up to third and just 13 points off TDS.
The big loser was the pole-sitting Proton Competition ORECA. It finished eighth after being run off the circuit and into the gravel by Duqueine’s car at Rivazza and is now 23 points back in the title race.
Eurointernational took its first LMP3 win of the season after the Duqueine teams (DKR and WTM by Rinaldi), which had the edge on pace and locked out the front row in Qualifying, failed to finish on the podium.
Adam Ali and Matthew Richard Bell would finished up 13 seconds clear of the chasing pack in a Ligier 1-2-3.
Behind the winning car the battle for second raged through the final hour, with Gillian Henrion and Matthieu Lahaye coming to blows in the final 10 minutes. The final pass came at Tamburello, Henrion putting the Virage Ligier ahead of Ultimate’s JS P320.
RLR’s #15 Ligier finished fourth ahead of the WTM by Rinaldi Duqueine, which gradually faded as the race wore on.
LMGT3 saw Iron Dames score its first LMGT3 victory of the season after a titanic battle for the entire race with Racing Spirit of Leman and its #59 Aston Martin Vantage.
It went down to the wire, with Michelle Gatting steering Iron Dames home on old tyres. She was masterful in fending off Valentin Hasse Clot following the final round of stops. The decision to stay on ageing Goodyears at the end was crucial, it saved valuable time and ensured the team clung onto the lead after serving a 10-second time penalty for an FCY infringement.
The final battle was tense, with nothing to separate Gatting and Hasse Clot, who made contact on multiple occasions.
In the end, the Dane prevailed, with Hasse Clot needing to watch his mirrors on the final lap to prevent a hard-charging Daniel Serra from getting by in Kessel Racing’s rapid Ferrari.
“We have worked very hard for this, we have come close this season but finally we made it. We got a reward and we are going to celebrate,” said Rahel Frey.
“I really wanted that win, it was all or nothing, Valentin made it difficult, it was a bit on the edge at times,” added Gatting.
There were battle scars aplenty on the leading cars. The rear end of the Iron Dames Porsche took damage, while the front and rear of the Aston looked very second-hand after Serra took the diffuser and boot structure off in an attempt to get past.
Off the podium, Grid Motorsport by TF’s Aston looked to have turned a corner en route to fourth. Lorcan Hanafin held third after the final Full-Course Yellow in the fourth hour and briefly looked quick enough to snatch second.
Iron Lynx’s Lamborghini claimed fifth and leads the championship with zero race wins but a string of consistent finishes.
The 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is next after a summer break on August 25th.
