The qualifying sessions which determined the starting grid for the 4 Hours of Monza, valid as the second round of the European Le Mans Series, took place early this afternoon. At the end of the fifteen minutes dedicated to LM GTE class cars, the Ferraris of Spirit of Race and Kessel Racing had conquered the second row, while the other three entrants in the event occupied positions from sixth to eighth.
BoP effect. Matthew Griffin, in the Spirit of Race number 55, finished his lap in 1:47.395, some 73 milliseconds ahead of Andrea Piccini, at the wheel of Kessel Racing's number 60. The two Ferraris recorded a lap of one second slower than Matteo Cairoli’s Porsche 911 RSR in pole, which bears witness to the very negative effect of the BoP applied to the Ferraris on the eve of the event.
The 488 GTE of the Luzich Racing team, winner at Paul Ricard and with official Competizioni GT driver Alessandro Pier Guidi at the wheel, will set off from the third row in front of the twins of JMW Motorsport, seventh thanks to the performance of Jeffrey Segal and the whole Kessel Racing team crew, eighth with the best time from Michelle Gatting of 1:48.418.
Tomorrow the race. The results of the qualification and the restrictions imposed by the BoP, based on results from the French first round, will mean the Ferraris have their work cut out at the 4 Hours of Monza, even on home soil, in the race which gets underway tomorrow at 12:00. The red will nevertheless battle on.