Ferrari on AC at Imola

"It was a good race and a bad race rolled into one event,” summarized Sergey Sirotkin. This week-end, Ferrari drove at home on the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, around a hundred kilometers from the headquarters of the Italian brand.

She wanted to show off the muscles in her den as soon as the GT World Challenge Europe, to validate the manufacturer's massive involvement in the championship.

Pillar of GTE for years, Ferrari had for a long time shunned the series badged SRO. It was only represented by independent teams in Pro-Am or Am Cup, with a line-up too light to aim for the top.

Much to the dismay of fans. The philosophy began to evolve in recent years when the manufacturer fielded an almost official car in Endurance Cup, under the aegis of SMP Racing. The investment was rewarded with success at Silverstone and a second place overall at the end of the year.

This season, Ferrari is pulling out all the stops. Two quasi-official cars for AF Corse and SMP Racing and five house drivers plus the ex-driver of Formula 1 Sergey Sirotkin. This time, Ferrari is aiming for the title and victory at the 24 Hours of Spa.

But the Italians had a strange opening weekend. Completely absent from the tests at the start of the meeting, they appeared in qualifying. The #488 AF Corse Ferrari 3 GT51 Evo started from the front row.

At the start, James Calado was able to maintain his position but quickly created a traffic jam behind him, as he lacked pace. “It wasn't easy to race because the car didn't perform as well as the others because of the balance of performance. » regrets the British pilot.

Third at the end of the first stint, amid chaotic refueling under full course yellow, the two Ferraris took the lead after an hour of racing.

The moment of glory did not last long, as the No. 51 was penalized with a drive through.  “Unfortunately there was a communication problem with the full course yellow, I was not able to slow down in time, like many others. We had no luck. » Calado notes.

No. 72 fared no better. “The second refueling did not go as planned, says Davide Rigon. We all entered the pit lane at the same time. For this reason, Sergey was unable to stop in a good position and had to move the car to refuel.

The episode cost us a minute and a penalty as a result. But the race was already compromised. We lost a podium that we could have easily achieved. »

In the end, the No. 51 finished in seventh place and the No. 72 in twentieth. “ Between the penalty, the balance of performance and the blue flags not always respected, we can be satisfied with collecting points” analyzes Alessandro Pier Guidi, a bit frustrated after the race.

Too bad, the fans were not present in Imola. They would have had their share of emotions.

Discover the full report of the GT World Challenge Europe at Imola in issue 2271 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.