This weekend Audi works driver Benoit Tréluyer was getting acquainted with a new circuit, whereas Frenchman’s team mate Vittorio Ghirelli was discovering GT3 altogether. Both drivers had their efforts frustrated as the meeting at the circuit named after Enzo and Dino Ferrari yielded a lowly ninth spot on Saturday and a DNF on Sunday. The 3-time Le Mans winner showed his mettle in qualifying and in the early stages of round one, his pace nearly on a par with the Ferraris that sweeped Imola races courtesy of reigning champs Stefano Gai and Mirko Venturi. However, on lap five Tréluyer overshoot the Upper Chicane kerb and his R8 LMS spun dropping him to P10. The Frenchman quickly gained back his pace even recovering a couple of spots. A possible come back vanished, though: when Ghirelli took over he quickly figured out, to his dismay, that gearbox problems were surfacing.
Early on, Sunday seemed to bring a ray of sun as Ghirelli started well from row four moving across the field to sixth place on the opening lap, a spot that he managed to hold until the mandatory pit stop. As the first slew of time handicaps had been dished out to race one best finishers, Audi Sport Italia’s pit wall stored hope that Tréluyer could resume the race possibly aiming to P4, or even P3. Unfortunately the Frenchman could not finish lap 17 as he lost the rear end at the Tamburello corner and his car was beached in the run-off area. The Gordes, France-based driver was fresh from a run-in with bad luck at Monza a mere week ago: he was forced to skip the Blancpain GT opener as his WRT-built Audi had been collected by a rival crashing out at the first chicane during qualifying.
The Imola meeting translates in a very tiny haul of points for the Italian-French pair: they have picked 5 so far, whereas defending champions Mirko Venturi and Stefano Gai stand atop at 40. Needless to say, both drivers can’t wait to fire up the V10 engine again next month at Misano Adriatico…
