Different protagonists, but the result remains the same: two Ferrari crews once again finished on the Race 2 rostrum of the Road To Le Mans at the Circuit de La Sarthe. The same had previously occurred in Saturday’s first 55-minute race in the fourth round of the Le Mans Cup. In Race 2 the #74 Kesssel Racing-run Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 entrusted to Michael Broniszewski and David Perel and the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing entry with Christopher Froggatt and Jonathan Hui finished in second and third places.
The start. The surprises started as early as the reconnaissance lap with Nicolas Leutwiler and Julien Andlauer’s Porsche 911 GT3 going off-track, destroying the front end in the process; this immediately led to their withdrawal, while the rest of the competitors were forced to start behind the Safety Car to ensure on-track safety.
As racing recommenced, Iron Lynx’s Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, in the hands of polesitter Rino Mastronardi, kept command of the race, chased by Hiroshi Hamaguchi’s Lamborghini Huracán GT3, while third position belonged to Michael Broniszewski in the Kessel Racing Ferrari, being hounded by Christopher Froggatt of Sky Tempesta Racing in another Prancing Horse car. Some twenty minutes in, an overtaking move handed the lead to Lamborghini while third place went to Froggatt who had overhauled Broniszewski just moments before the yellow flags came out, triggered by contact between two cars.
Driver changes. The race order got a reshuffle with the driver swaps. Caldarelli in the Lamborghini hung onto the lead, while David Perel at the wheel of the #74 Ferrari 488 GT3 of Kessel Racing found himself lying second, moving ever closer to his opponent. Hui, who in the meantime had replaced Froggatt, now held third position, too far from the leading pair, but with enough advantage to keep his pursuers safely in check.
Giacomo Piccini dropped precious seconds during the driver change and emerged back on track in sixth position. The driver in the Iron Lynx livery attempted a pull-back but the gap remained too great.
The finish proved to be a thriller. Perel tried every which way to get past Andrea Caldarelli right down to the wire, but when the 55 minutes of racing wound up, he was left to settle for runner-up. On the lower step of the podium were the Hui – Froggatt pairing. Fourth were Kessel Racing’s Murat Cuhadaroglu and Nicola Cadei and fifth Iron Lynx’s Rino Mastronardi and Giacomo Piccini who managed to gain a position overtaking team-mates Claudio Schiavoni and Andrea Piccini. Seventh place was claimed by the third Iron Lynx car handled by Murod Sultanov and Paolo Ruberti and eighth place went to John Hartshorne and Oliver Hancock of Kessel Racing. The Spirit of Race duo Rodrigo Sales and Gunnar Jeannette closed out the rankings, crossing the finish line tenth.
Next date. The fifth round of the Le Mans Cup championship is scheduled at Monza on October 10th.