VDS Panis Wins Eventful 4H Imola After Red Flag

Photo: MPS Agency

VDS Panis Racing became the third different winner from as many European Le Mans Series races this season by controlling an incident-packed 4 Hours of Imola.

Charles Milesi, Esteban Masson and Oliver Gray’s No. 48 Oreca 07 Gibson triumphed in a contest that was red-flagged for 20 minutes due to a four-car crash at Tamburello in the first hour, reset again ahead of the final hour by a virtual safety car, then interrupted by three full course yellows around the last round of stops.

They claimed victory by 8.856 seconds over the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca shared by Tom Dillmann, Nick Yelloly and Jakub Smiechowski, although potential penalties hang over both cars.

The VDS Panis team is under investigation for an alleged refueling infringement at its last stop, while Dillmann could face sanction for spinning Pietro Fittipaldi’s Vector Oreca into the Rivazza gravel moments before his own final service.

Gray had taken control following the red flag by passing Jamie Chadwick, whose No. 18 IDEC Sport machine had cycled to the front of the pack with a shorter pitstop, and built a commanding advantage that his team-mates would hold to the finish despite a rain shower that caused Masson to twice leave the road.

The Frenchman’s lead had been chipped back to less than 10 seconds by Yelloly towards the end of hour three when debris, from M Racing’s Ligier JS P325 Toyota that had suffered a right-rear puncture, required a VSC.

It set up a 53-minute sprint to the flag with four cars remaining on the lead lap, but Milesi kept his nose clean and never came under threat for his position.

Behind Inter Europol, Algarve Pro Racing’s No. 25 Oreca shared by Mattias Kaiser, Lorenzo Fluxa and Theo Pourchaire completed the podium after Maceo Capietto, Matteo Cairoli and Jonas Ried’s No. 9 Iron Lynx-Proton machine was hit with a drive through penalty resulting from a VSC infringement.

Manuel Espirito Santo, Enzo Fittipaldi and Pipo Derani rounded out the top five in their No. 47 CLX Motorsport Oreca, ahead of a close fight for the Pro-Am class honours.

In sixth overall, AO by TF’s Louis Deletraz, Dane Cameron and PJ Hyett beat the pole-sitting No. 77 Proton Competition crew of Bent Viscaal, Rene Binder and Giorgio Roda by 5.557 seconds after a close fight throughout the final hour.

Proton had lost time to changing the rear bodywork after damage inflicted by contact from Hyett on Roda at Variante Alta, although no further action was taken, but fought back ahead of the No. 20 APR Oreca which in Olli Caldwell’s hands had pressed Cameron hard during the third hour.

Alex Quinn, who shared with Caldwell and Kriton Lentoudis, survived contact from Mathias Beche’s No. 29 TDS Racing Oreca at Piratella in the closing stages to complete the podium. Despite coming off worse in the contact with a spin, Beche remained in contention to snatch victory on strategy but required an emergency service under the final FCY before pitting again on the return to green.

The championship-leading No. 18 IDEC Sport car had a difficult day following Chadwick’s brief turn at the front, scoring no points after Daniel Juncadella skated into the Variante Alta barriers.

Corvette Conquers LMGT3, CLX Motorsport Continues LMP3 Dominance

TF Sport made it a double success in the LMGT3 category, as Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Hiroshi Koizumi delivered a first ELMS victory for the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

The British outfit hit the front when Celia Martin’s Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R spun into the Villeneuve chicane gravel trap in the second hour, and largely controlled the remainder of the race.

It briefly lost its grip on the top spot when Andrade was overtaken into Tamburello by Matteo Cressoni’s Proton Porsche, but Eastwood was untroubled after the VSC as a three-way Ferrari battle raged behind.

Miguel Molina crossed the line second in the No. 74 Kessel Racing 296 GT3 he shared with Fran Rueda and Andrew Gilbert, but was initially demoted to third by a post-race five-second penalty for earlier contact with David Perel’s No. 55 Spirit of Race machine exiting Tosa.

However their runner-up finish was reinstated when Conrad Laursen, Davide Rigon and Charles-Henri Samani, who had provisionally inherited second in their No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari, were slapped with a 10-second penalty for a FCY infringement.

That demoted them to fourth, behind Perel, who along with Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron had crossed the line fifth. The Porsche Cressoni shared with Alessio Picariello and Christian Ried slipped from fourth on the road to fifth for an identical penalty to the one inflicted on Laursen.

In the LMP3 class, CLX Motorsport’s Ligier survived a drive-through penalty to score a third LMP3 win from as many races as trouble hit several of its rivals.

Paul Lanchere, Adrien Closmenil and Theodor Jensen finished two laps clear of their opposition, despite Lanchere being penalised for spinning the M Racing Ligier on the opening lap.

The No. 31 Racing Spirit of LeMan Ligier, shared by Marius Fossard, Jean-Ludovic Foubert and Jacques Wolff, finished a distant second after M Racing’s puncture ruled it out of contention and a stubborn door hatch thwarted the victory hopes of Eurointernational. Fabien Michal and Ian Aguilera still finished third.

RESULTS: 4 Hours of Imola

Source: Sports Car 365