The 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series, finished with a splendid Ferrari hat-trick. This extraordinary result mathematically seals the drivers’ and teams’ titles for Maranello, although the identity of the winning Ferrari team and driver will be decided at Portimão.
Second place. Thanks to a second win of the season for François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Alessio Rovera, the AF Corse crew moved to within 20 points of the championship leaders, today’s runners-up Miguel Molina, Matteo Cressoni and Rino Mastronardi in the Iron Lynx 488 GTE. The Ferrari of Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey and Sarah Bovy claimed its first podium of the season, seizing third in the final minutes of the race courtesy of a splendid pass on the Proton Competition Porsche.
Duels. Interrupted by two Safety Cars and three Full Course Yellows, the race offered numerous highlights and great duels that set the LMGTE class alight. The six 488 GTEs on the Ardennes track showed their potential in the middle stages, taking the lead and fighting fierce duels with the Porsches and Aston Martins. In this respect, we should mention the “Iron Dames” in the #83 Iron Lynx Ferrari, with Ferrari Challenge Europe leader Michelle Gatting among the most combative at Spa along with Sarah Bovy.
Contacts. The Iron Lynx team rounded off its excellent result with fifth place for Claudio Schiavoni, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Paolo Ruberti, who preceded the JMW Motorsport 488 GTE, which collided with a Nielsen Racing LMP3 in the early stages. The Spirit of Race Ferrari was forced to retire. With six minutes of the first hour to go, the Algarve Pro Racing LMP2 with Menchaca at the wheel crashed into an adversary. It then made a dangerous re-entry, cutting across the Ferrari, then driven by Cameron, who was passing at that point, making retirement inevitable. The result considerably complicates the title chase for the trio of the British driver, Matt Griffin and David Perel.
Appointments. The final round of the European Le Mans Series, which will decide the LMGTE class drivers and teams champions, will take place on the magnificent Portimão track on 24 October.