Here is the second part of the LMGTE season review.
Round 2: 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
The next race was in Belgium at the magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Once again, the grid was expanded to include four WEC entries, with the no98 Aston Martin returning for the second time and joined by the no88 AF Corse Ferrari, the no54 AF Corse Ferrari and the no62 Red River Sport 488.
Richard Lietz claimed the pole position in Belgium in the no93 Proton Competition Porsche and Michael Fassbender continued his steep learning curve by taking the start at the head of the class field.
With full course yellows and two safety car periods, the sprint to the line went down to final part of the race. At the chequered flag David Perel crossed the line in the no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 13.6 seconds ahead of Emmanuel Collard in the no88 488, with the no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage of Augusto Farfus a lap behind the first two cars in third. Because the race by race entries don’t score points, the points for second and third were distributed to those cars who were eligible to score.
Round 3: Le Castellet 240
With the coronavirus resurging in northern Spain, the decision was taken to move the race scheduled for Barcelona to Le Castellet. Because there had already been one 4 Hours of Le Castellet on the schedule, the race was named Le Castellet 240, referring to the number of minutes the race would run over.
For the second race in a row a Proton Competition Porsche would lead the field, but this time it was the no77 911 at the front. The no93 Porsche was badly damaged in qualifying and failed to make the grid.
The race started behind the safety car after heavy rain earlier in the day and this caused the teams a dilemma on tyre choice as the track was wet but drying out. The race was interrupted by further safety cars and at the end of 240 minutes Matt Griffin in the no55 Spirit of Race 488 held a commanding 25 second lead over the no77 Proton Competition Porsche of Alessio Picariello in second, with Michelle Gatting bringing the no83 Iron Lynx Ferrari home in third for another podium finish.
Round 4: 4 Hours of Monza
After the first three races of the 2020 European Le Mans Series the no77 Proton Competition Porsche and the no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari were level on points at the top of the points table and Monza would prove to be the deciding factor of who would be leading the championship at the final round in Portugal.
The no60 Iron Lynx Ferrari of Andrea Piccini took the Italian team’s debut ELMS pole position, which was apt as it was the Italian team and driver’s home track, they did it at.
At the end of an eventful race the chequered flag was shown to the no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, with David Perel claiming the victory one lap ahead of the no77 Proton Competition Porsche, and the no83 Iron Lynx Ferrari claiming their third podium finish from four races.
Round 5: 4 Hours of Portimão
Heading to the final race of the season, the no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari held a slender seven-point lead over the no77 Proton Competition Ferrari, with both teams knowing that every point would be important to try and secure the Team and Driver titles.
The point for pole position went to the no60 Iron Lynx Ferrari of Andrea Piccini for the second time in a row, so the seven-point gap remained at the top of the leader board.
Once again safety cars and full course yellows had the teams changing their strategy and as the final 30 minutes approached the no77 Porsche held a commanding lead over the no74 Ferrari. There was more drama when Picariello pitted to change a rear tyre after their teammates in the no93 car had suffered a puncture. This cut the no77 Porsche’s lead down to 28 seconds but David Perel in the no74 Ferrari was unable to close the gap significantly enough before the chequered flag.
The two teams were tied on 99 points and they both had two wins, two seconds, one fourth and two pole positions from the five races. The crew of the no77 Proton Competition Porsche – Christian Ried, Michele Beretta and Alessio Picariello - were declared champions due to the fact they had won the first race of the season at Paul Ricard.
