Review: Round 3 – 4 Hours of Imola
The driving combination of Jamie Chadwick, Dani Juncadella and Mathys Jaubert and Genesis Magma Racing team members will take valuable lessons from a frustrating weekend at the 4 Hours of Imola. The drivers and the IDEC Sport team missed out on points, finishing a frustrating 11th in the LMP2 class. Qualifying and the race at the event, the third round of the European Le Mans Series, were run in changing conditions, complicating the weekend. Still, the drivers all showed good pace, only for a promising performance to be derailed by a single, costly mistake.
Missed opportunities in mixed conditions
Drivers and team worked well during the test sessions and two free practices to perfect the balance and performance of the car, finishing FP2 fastest overall after an excellent early lap from Juncadella during a run simulating qualifying.
However, a thunderstorm shortly before qualifying turned the session into a lottery as the track dried rapidly in the closing minutes. Though his early laps made him a contender to take the #18 IDEC Sport-run car’s first pole position of the season, the grid order was largely decided on the final lap of qualifying, with Juncadella’s best time shuffled back to ninth fastest.
Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory driver Chadwick started the race and did well to keep out of trouble during some typically fractious opening exchanges on the tight confines of the Imola circuit. She held twelfth in class when a multi-car accident brought out a red flag. When racing resumed, a clever strategy call by Race Engineer Mathieu Leroy – opting to only take a small splash of fuel – put Chadwick in the race lead. Though she lost the top spot after becoming stuck in traffic, Chadwick remained in second place when she handed the car over to Juncadella.
The Spaniard struggled for grip in the worst of the conditions. However, he and the team made the correct decision to stay on the same warm set of slick tyres while other teams opted to stop for wet tyres and ultimately lost time. Juncadella was fifth overall, moments away from stopping for new tyres when he made a rare error at the Variante Alta, skating off with 1-hour, 45-minutes remaining in the race. He was able to return to the pits, where the team quickly replaced the nose of the car, before sending Juncadella back on track.
The incident dropped the team to twelfth in the LMP2 class, but they refocused for the rest of the race. They took advantage of the numerous Full Course Yellow and Virtual Safety Car periods to practice procedures. Mathys Jaubert started his stint following a Safety Car period, running behind the leader – but laps behind due to the earlier issues. Undaunted, the Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory driver again showed great pace, as he matched – and even bettered – the times of leading driver, gaining a place on track as he did so, to finish 11th in the LMP2 class.
Though the result cost the IDEC Sport squad their lead in the class standings, the Genesis Magma Racing team members and all three drivers will learn valuable lessons from the mistakes and missed opportunities of the weekend to be better prepared for the next round of the ELMS season at Spa-Francorchamps (August 22-24).
Post Race Quotes - #18 IDEC Sport Oreca 07
Jamie Chadwick said: “Obviously, where I was starting, it wasn’t so easy as track position is quite critical at Imola. When you're further back in the pack, it's always a little bit trickier. I was around a few of the pros, so lost a few positions, but part of the game is not making any mistakes in the traffic, which we saw from a few others. After the red flag, the team did a great job with the short pit stop to filter out with good track position and into the lead after the Safety Car. I lost the lead, but still had a reasonable stint, strong enough to slot into second which was nice.”
Daniel Juncadella said: “In the mixed conditions we made the right choice to stay on slicks, many people pitted for wet. Staying out was the good option, but I was not felling very comfortable, and felt I was struggling for pace. It was looking good for a top five result, but unfortunately, I made a mistake that I can't really understand. I need to look back and see what I did wrong. It was a small mistake with a big consequence because it threw away a good result, even though we were not the strongest today. I'm sorry to the team and my teammates. This is the kind of weekend where lots of things happen and there's a lot to analyze which you can use in the future.”
Mathys Jaubert said: “I gave everything to try to gain one lap because we were three laps down, but the other drivers were on same pace and it's difficult - you can't overtake someone who is laps in front and then block him. My stint was just about staying out of trouble, and we got a bit unlucky with the last yellow, but I had the opportunity to pit but didn't because we had miscommunication with my Race Engineer. We win together, we lose together, and we are here to learn, so we have many things to take away from this weekend. We had some good things, strong pace of all good practice and sim qualifying – good things for sure.”
Genesis Magma Racing Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said:
The 4 Hours of Imola has been a difficult weekend for the team and our drivers, especially after the excellent start to the European Le Mans Series season. However, we have always looked on this season as an opportunity for us all to learn, and there are many lessons we can take away from the weekend for things we can do better as a team. Jamie, Mathys and Dani all showed great pace throughout the weekend, and the team still made a lot of the right decisions on strategy, but the difficult conditions showed that there are still things we can work on. We will take those lessons on board, both for the rest of the ELMS season, and for 2026 as we continue to prepare for the FIA World Endurance Championship.
