14 May 2017
Monza, 14 May 2017 - The 458 Italia GTE no. 66 of JMW Motorsport couldn't have had a happier ending to its racing career when it competed in its last race on Sunday. The car, which made its debut six years ago with a victory, won the 4 Hours of Monza, the second round of the European Le Mans Series, held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.
The start. The race got off to a good start with the 488 GTE no. 55 of Spirit Of Race in first with Matt Griffin, Duncan Cameron and Aaron Scott. Unfortunately the white and green car was soon forced to retire due to a technical problem. The Ferrari's withdrawal left room for its rivals and it was from here that the 458 Italia no. 66 began its ride to glory. Jody Fannin, Jonathan Cocker and Robert Smith didn't put a foot wrong in driving to victory in the car's final race. From the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for which JMW Motorsport qualified by finishing second in last season's ELMS championship, the British team will be using a 488 GTE.
The other Ferrari. The other Ferrari, Spirit of Race's no. 51, crewed by Gianluca Roda, Giorgio Roda and Andrea Bertolini, also enjoyed a positive race. They finished in fourth but, with a bit of luck, in the end they could have been in condition to grab a podium ahead of the Aston Martin of Beechdean AMR driven by Ross Gunn, Andrew Howard and Darren Turner. The overall win went to the Oreca of G-Drive Racing with Memo Rojas, Eyo Hirakawa and Leo Roussel.