An exciting comeback in the final part of the race, only to reach a fifth position in the Lmp2 class, which does not reward the true merit of the Lola B09 Coupé of Andrea and Giacomo Piccini and Ferdinando Geri, in the second round of the Le Mans Series Championship, a 6-hour race which took place at the Spa Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium.
The main penalizing factor of the race was the pit stop to which Andrea Piccini was forced after only half an hour from the start, after taking his car up from sixth to third position. The problem was most likely an issue with the rear dampers, and kept the car in the pit for a couple of laps, after which it re-entered the race in last position.
In addition to that, during Ferdinando Geri’s stint, a sudden electrical black-out, which continued even after the generators had run out, caused a further 30-minute stop to the race.
At the most challenging moment, Giacomo Piccini took to the wheel and registered the fastest lap time of the trio, with 2m10.300s, and began the difficult climb back up, which was then perfected by Andrea. As per his first stint, the rain accompanied Andrea’s last hour on the track, during which the 32-year-old Italian showed some spectacular driving on the 7004-metre track, recording his best lap time of 2m10.500s, but most importantly regaining 2 laps in 60 minutes, with lap times comparable to those of the major category, ranging from 10 to 15 seconds per lap.
Andrea showed all his great talent at the wheel, driving amazingly on slick tyres, which he used from beginning to end. “The best response that has come out of the Spa race – commented Andrea with satisfaction – is the exceptional performance of the Pirelli tyres, which have proved to be more than reliable. A certain regret remains, for yet another race where we could have competed for the podium or even a win, but I am sure that our day will come soon!”
The win went to the Ginetta Zytec, driven by the current champions, Miguel Amaral and Oliver Pla, ahead of the Lola Hpd driven by Erdos, Newton and Wallace and the two Pescarolo Mazdas, driven by Moreau-Hein and Lahaye-Nicolet, which preceded the Lola driven by the Piccini brothers and Geri by only 8 seconds. Which in turn means that, given the last lap times, just one more lap could have meant fourth place: yet another irony in a day that certainly cannot be defined negative, but that did claim its victims: the other Racing Box team’s Lola, driven by Filippo Francioni, was involved in an accident at the start of the race, as was the Acura Honda driven by Leventis, Watts and Kane.