The second round of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) arrives at Imola this weekend and nine Ferrari 458 will take to the grid.
By far the most popular car in the GTE category is the 458, Ram Racing have entered two cars for Silverstone pole sitters Johnny Mowlem and Matt Griffin and a second for American hot shots Gunnar Jeanette and Franck Montecalvo. JMW have one car for Andrea Bertolini and Joël Camathias. After a difficult round at Silverstone, AF Corse return with two cars for Mallegol, Bachelier and Blank and Perazzini, Cioci and Leo.
“The Silverstone race was largely influenced by the disastrous weather and by the intervention of the safety car during the whole last stint,” said AF Corse boss Amato Ferrari. “In GTE, some unlucky accidents compromised the race of our two cars.”
Four 458 GT3 cars will line up for the GTC category with three cars from Russian team SMP Racing and one from AF Corse to be driven by Andrea Rizzoli and Ferrari Challenge Europe front runners Lorenzo Casé and Stefano Gai. The pair will miss this weekend’s round of the Challenge at Brno, sacrificing their first and second positions in the Trofeo Pirelli championship.
“In the ELMS our objective is clear;” explains Ferrari. “We want to win the GTE & GTC categories with our Ferrari 458 GT2 and GT3 cars.” The three hour race is flagged off at 16:00 on Saturday 18 May at Autodromo Enzo& Dino Ferrari.
