AF Corse close to podium in first Road to Le Mans

The Road to Le Mans’s double challenge is the most important of the Michelin Le Mans Cup season. While fewer in number than in previous editions, Ferraris took to the Circuit de la Sarthe in the colours of Spirit of Race and AF Corse.

Contact. After Cedric Sbirrazzuoli’s excellent third place in qualifying, Spirit of Race’s 488 GT3 Evo 2020 was knocked out after a few metres, unable to avoid the LMP3 of 24-7 Motorsport, driven by Louis Hamilton-Smith, which spun after contact with another car.

Comeback. The second Maranello car, fielded by AF Corse, set off from the fourth row with Gino Forgione. It moved up two positions at the start before settling into sixth until the driver change. The experienced Andrea Montermini staged a very impressive comeback, closing the gap with the top four and challenging for the podium. However, just as the Italian was about to attack Kasper Jensen’s Honda, the Danish driver’s violent braking before entering a slow zone forced him to swerve sharply to the left, ending up on the grass, his view blocked by a billboard.

In the sprint. After clearing the obstruction, the Italian closed the gap to the cars in front and moved up, albeit briefly, to third place. However, he missed out on the podium to Jensen by just four-tenths. The Porsche of Ebimotors won the race. The second Road to Le Mans race will run on Saturday 11, at 11:20am.