Third podium for Kessel Racing at the 4 Hours of Imola

After Rinaldi Racing's win, a Ferrari is back on the ELMS podium at the 4 Hours of Imola, round two of the European Le Mans Series. Revelling in the result are the trio Kimura-Schandorff-Jensen.

Difficulties. It was a track not conducive to teams equipped with Maranello machinery, who struggled to fully exploit the potential of their 488 GTEs. Any fears that the seven Ferrari entries may have had prior to the race were confirmed in the final finishing positions, with the cars effectively out of the running for the race victory.

Contact. After finishing second in qualifying, Iron Lynx's 488 GTE, crewed by Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy, was the only car to offer any real challenge to Oman Racing's Aston Martins, which claimed a one-two at the end of the four-hour race. Regrettably, a collision resulting in a puncture, with Michelle Gatting behind the wheel, forced the no. 83 Ferrari to slip down the order.

Podium. The baton for the best of the Maranello crews thus passed on to the Kessel Racing-entered 488 GTE driven by Takeshi Kimura, Frederik Schandorff and Mikkel Jensen. The trio secured an excellent third place, albeit one lap adrift of the winners, ahead of the other Ferrari cars belonging to Spirit of Race, JMW Motorsport, Iron Lynx and Rinaldi Racing.

Schedule. The European Le Mans Series remains in Italy for the forthcoming round, the 4 Hours of Monza, set to take place on July 3.