Panis Racing and Iron Dames top 4 Hours of Imola

ELMS

Jul 7

Third round of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) championship at Imola with a thrilling race in each class. Panis Racing wins overall and the Iron Dames LMGT3 class.

Panis Racing wins on appeal

📷 Courtesy of European Le Mans Series. #65 Panis Racing Oreca leading the LMP2 pack.

After initially being disqualified and then reinstated on appeal, the 4 Hours of Imola official winners are the #65 Panis Racing Oreca crew of Manuel Maldonado, Charles Milesi and Arthur Leclerc.

Deletraz, Kubica, Edgar second

Edgar in the #14 AO by TF Oreca took the lead after 95 minutes of racing. Kubica took over to keep P1 during his stint. The final pit stop was fatal for AO by TF with a slower stop and a delay on Deletraz’s out-lap costing them the lead. The trio Jonny Edgar, Robert Kubica and Louis Deletraz with #14 AO by TF crossed checkered flag second of the 4 Hours of Imola.

Felipe Drugovic, R. Cullen and S. Richelmi in #10 Vector Sport Oreca ended second.

S. Alvarez, V. Lomko and T. Dillmann with #43 Inter Europol Competition end third despite facing a technical issue before the start and had to take the start from the pitlane.

Iron Dames win in LMGT3

After taking a third consecutive pole position in the European Le Mans Series, Iron Dames stormed to a hard-fought victory in the 4 Hours of Imola, with the #85 crew of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, and Michelle Gatting delivering the team with its second ELMS win after Portimao in 2022.

Sarah, who claimed pole position on Saturday, started the race but unfortunately lost the lead on the opening lap after being overtaken by the #59 Aston Martin Vantage of Derek Deboer. The Belgian remained resilient, however, and quickly reclaimed first position 10 minutes into the race before opening a 12 second advantage.

After losing the lead to the #59 in the pitlane at the end of the first stint, Sarah again fought forward to reclaim first place at the start of the second hour and built up a strong advantage before handing the car over to Rahel with two hours and 25 minutes remaining.

Rahel rejoined the race in fourth but picked off her LMGT3 rivals one by one to retake the lead at the mid-point, but received a 10-second time penalty at the start of the penultimate hour for a Full Course Yellow infringement.
The Swiss racer served this penalty when she entered the pitlane for the final time with 47 minutes remaining. Opting for a strategic fuel-only pitstop, Rahel gave the wheel to Michelle, who set out to seal victory after resuming the race in the lead.
Running with old tyres, however, Michelle faced immense pressure from behind but remained firm, and by fending off countless overtaking attempts from Valentin Hasse Clot in the #59 Aston Martin, sealed a spectacular victory.
As a result of the win, the #85 crew now holds third place in the LMGT3 Standings, only three points adrift of first. The 2024 European Le Mans Series will resume on 25 Augustwith the Four Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

SARAH BOVY: “I had a good battle with Derek [Deboer] at the start. He took a bit more risk than me, but I managed to find an opening after he made a mistake, and I retook the lead. I was then able to open a bit of a gap, but he got lucky with the Full Course Yellow in his first pitstop. That meant I had to do the job all over again, and I got it done just before another Full Course Yellow. For me, racing is about fighting, and we had a good battle which I really appreciated. Winning on track is the best feeling you can have and I’m super proud of the entire team today. We did the best job we could have done, both on the track, and off it.”
RAHEL FREY: “Today is a race we can be very proud of because we showed once again that regardless of the circumstances we are in, we always try to do our best. We proved that again today. We didn’t break under immense pressure, and this makes me very proud. The race was very intense from start to finish, but we had a brilliant car to work with and I’m super proud of the entire team.”

MICHELLE GATTING: “The final stint was incredibly intense, but I got into the zone very quickly and I felt at one with the car. In that situation, it was basically all or nothing and Valentin [Hasse Clot] but a lot of pressure on me. It was difficult at times, but I kept cool, and I knew that I had Sarah and Rahel with me, and the whole team behind me. Winning is such a good feeling, and it gives us the boost we needed this season, especially after a few races which haven’t gone our way.”Source: Iron Dames