Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory Programme drivers take fourth in Imola

Genesis Magma Racing’s trio of Trajectory Programme drivers scored their third consecutive fourth place finish in the European Le Mans Series at the 4 Hours of Imola. Sharing the #18 IDEC Sport-run ORECA 07, Jamie Chadwick, Laurents Hörr and Valerio Rinicella were a race-long factor in the battle for the podium places in a race contested in hot conditions.

Late-race charge secures strong finish

At his home race, Italian Rinicella was given the responsibility of the first race stint for the first time, taking the rolling start from the seventh on the grid earned by Hörr in qualifying. After the drop of the green flag, he was able to make quick progress, rising to sixth after the opening lap – making up one of the places with an audacious move to the outside at Tamburello. Unfortunately, his stint – which earned him the vote as LMP2 driver of the day – was frequently interrupted by multiple Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car periods, and Full Course Yellows for different incidents on track.

He handed the car over to Jamie Chadwick from third position, during one Virtual Safety Car period. Following the restart, the British driver found herself in the middle of a battle for the podium positions. After initially having to resist pressure from those behind, she was able to start making a challenge of her own to retake third position, though she held fourth when the IDEC Sport team made their strategy call to become one of the first LMP2 teams to make their final driver change stop to install Laurents Hörr behind the wheel.

The German renewed Chadwick’s challenge for the podium places. However, in his haste to keep in touch with the top three, he made minor contact with an LMP3 car – damaging the slower car and incurring a five-second penalty.

The news did nothing to dampen Hörr’s efforts to improve his position after returning to the race after a slow final pitstop in sixth. For the final 30 minutes of the race he chased the fourth place car, finally making the move – repeating Rinicella’s outside move from earlier in the race – with seven minutes remaining. Continuing his charge, he was able to open up a ten-second advantage in the final minutes to secure a third consecutive fourth place finish for the Trajectory Programme crew. 

Post Race Quotes - #18 IDEC Sport Oreca 07

Valerio Rinicella said: “I really enjoyed doing the first stint. There was a lot of traffic. At the start I tried to be on the safe side, to finish at least the first lap. I tried to be careful because it’s a four-hour race and I didn’t want to take any risks but then started to push to gain some positions. I got some bad traffic during Full Course Yellow and Safety Car periods that created some gaps to the cars in front, but overall I think we managed to make up some good places and start to fight for the podium. I’m happy with the work we did. For me, the car was fantastic. I’m just happy to enjoy the hot weather in Imola for my home race. I don’t really like this track, but I changed my mind with the Prototype. With the traffic and the speed, it’s a fantastic track.”    

Jamie Chadwick said: “It was quite a challenging stint for me. It was my first time doing the middle stint, but I enjoyed it after Valerio did a great job at the start. Racing at Imola is always about track position, so starting from seventh was always going to be a bit tough. We put Valerio in for the start and he did an amazing job and got us up to P3. I was able to consolidate that, but it’s hot out there and it’s tough managing tyres and the constant traffic. We had a couple of issues and Laurents picked up the penalty in his stint, but he did a great job with a tough charge to make up for it and get us back to fourth place again, which seems to be the story of our season so far this year.”

Laurents Hörr said: “The temperatures today were really tough, but the car was probably the best it has been all weekend. The five-second penalty was unfortunate, but I take the blame for it. I saw an opportunity, but I think there was some miscommunication between me and the LMP3, but you have to learn from this. I know I had the pace, but it’s so difficult to overtake around Imola. When I was able to get past him, I pulled away ten seconds in five laps, which showed the potential we had in the car today without some of the other issues, which lost us some time in the pits, which maybe cost a chance of a podium.”

Genesis Magma Racing Sporting Director Gabriele Tarquini said:

The Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory Programme drivers put in a strong performance to be part of the battle for the podium places for almost all of the 4 Hours of Imola. Valerio Rinicella did very well in his first time starting an ELMS race. He was the fastest driver on track and was able to put the car in contention for the podium, despite having to work through a number of interruptions. Jamie Chadwick was put in a very difficult spot during her stint – having to both defend and attack at the same time – but she kept her composure, including through traffic, to put the team in a position where they felt strategy could make the difference. Unfortunately, the penalty put the podium out of reach, but Laurents reacted well to react to the news and did what he needed to do to take the best result that was available from the weekend.