23 July 2017
Spielberg, 23 July 2017 – Ferrari dominated at Spielberg on Sunday in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), which resumed after a break for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 488 GTE cars of Maranello customer teams occupied three of the top four positions, winning the 4 Hours in Austria.
Always fast. The Prancing Horse cars had monopolised the top spots right from qualifying, taking pole with the 488 GTE no. 51 of Spirit of Race crewed by Andrea Bertolini, Giorgio Roda and Gianluca Roda. The Ferraris were the only cars vying for victory and only just missed out on a clean sweep of the podium. The 488 GTE of JMW Motorsport, with Jody Fannin, Rob Smith and Johnny Cocker, shone in the first part of the race, leading after two hours followed by the no. 55 of Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and Aaron Scott. However, no. 51 was involved in a fight for third with Yoluk-Hankey-Thiim in the Aston Martin of TF Sport.
Finale. In the second part of the race, Aaron Scott in Spirit of Race no. 55 caught up with his fellow Ferrari drivers and then overhauled them to reverse the order of arrival in the 24 Hours of Le Mans when the British team had beaten their Swiss rivals. Cameron, Griffin and Scott finished 20 seconds ahead of the JMW Motorsport crew, while the 488 GTE no. 51 finished in fourth behind the Aston Martin. Yoluk-Hankey-Thiim top the championship standings six points ahead of Fannin and Smith, with the Paul Ricard, Spa-Francorchamps and Portimao rounds to go before the end of the season. The next round is at Le Castellet on 27 August.