The IDEC SPORT Mercedes #17 finished the Imola 12-Hr race in fifth position and fourth in the leading category thanks to the consistency of the three drivers. The Porsche #75 finished 13th and 4th in the SP2 category. Both IDEC SPORT cars just missed out on the podium in this event, but scored some vital points for the championship.
The IDEC Sport cars did not make it to the podium, even though for a while they had it within their sights. Car #17 was leading the overall rankings for almost two hours, while car #75 was forced to stay in the pits for twenty minutes or so because of a collision with the front wheel. In spite of that handicap, the Porsche made it to fourth position in the SP2 category.
They had hardly enough time to recover from the Le Mans 24-Hour race, but the mechanics in the IDEC Sport team managed to refit the Mercedes AMG GT3 with a new chassis. They managed to do this in a very short space of time, so that the car would be ready on time.
Italy and the Emilia-Romagna region lived up to their reputation, as the sun was out this weekend. Dimitri Enjalbert was in charge of qualifying on the Mercedes AMG GT3 and Romain Vozniak on the Porsche CUP 991. Although the session was interrupted by a red flag, Dimitri Enjalbert managed to get #17 into seventh position thanks to a lap of the Imola circuit in 1.44:727, just 1.583 seconds from the leader. Romain Vozniak went on the attack around the fifteen bends in the 4.9 km track and finished in second place in the SP2 category and 16th overall.
The start was on Friday 30th June at 1300hrs GMT. From the start of the race, Dimitri Enjalbert managed to move up a spot. The IDEC Sport driver worked hard to keep up the pace and was ready to grab any opportunity. When he handed over the wheel to Patrice Lafargue, the Mercedes AMG was leading the pack. “It was a complicated start at Imola as it isn’t really a straight line. You have to brake hard. I nevertheless moved up a place and stuck to a steady pace,” explained Dimitri just after his first relay. “I kept the tyres and that paid off as I was one of the fastest on the track after that. It remains an endurance event and you must not push hard all the time.”
With the series of pit stops, the trio of Patrice Lafargue, Paul Lafargue and Dimitri Enjalbert were in eighth place when the race was interrupted, four hours after the start. David Abramczyk, Romain Vozniak and Stéphane Adler kept up the pace and left their #75 in 16th place in the paddock.
They got going again on Saturday 1st July at 0900hrs GMT. The drivers in the Mercedes kept going, but the Porsche suffered a collision with the front right-hand wheel. In spite of some good work by the mechanics, Stéphane Adler only got going again twenty minutes later in 20th place overall.
At the end of the race, the two IDEC Sport cars felt the pressure on them. Dimitri Enjalbert and Stéphane Adler managed to block the way and stay in the same position to the chequered flag. The AMG #17 crossed the finishing line in fifth place. The 991 #75 just missed out on the podium finishing fourth in the SP2 category and 13th overall.
While the Maxi Trimaran IDEC SPORT approaches the finish of The Bridge, Patrice Lafargue’s team will be heading home and preparing the Ligier LMP2 for the third ELMS meeting of 2017: the 4-Hour race on the Red Bull Ring on 22nd-23rd July.
