LM P2, good strategy by Thiriet by TDS Racing
First win for an Oreca-05 Nissan, all championships considered this year. Indeed, the trio Mathias Beche, Pierre Thiriet and Ryo Hirakawa did a superb race blending stratey and weather. Decidedly, the Imola circuit bodes well for the French outfit who already there won last year. This team will be one to watch at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 18th and 19th). It is ahead of the current leaders in the ELMS championship, Giedo Van der Garde, Simon Dolan and Harry Tincknell (official Ford driver in the World Endurance Championship) in G-Drive Racing's No. 38 Gibson 015S Nissan. Setting up the Silver driver from the outset, the British team's strategy paid off. The podium was rounded out by the car that clinched the pole, Dragonspeed's No. 21 Oreca 05 Nissan driven by Nicolas Lapierre, Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley. As usual, the French driver reduced the gap in the lead before passing the baton to his teammates.

Another car shown well, especially early in the race, by holding second place for a very long time: the No. 23 Ligier JS P2 of Panis Barthez Competition driven by Paul Loup Chatin, Fabien Barthez and Timothé Buret. Unfortunately, Buret was affected by difficult track conditions and ended up in a gravel trap.

LM P3, United Autosports doubles down
After a successful free practice, United Autosports' No. 2 Ligier JS P3 won at the race and padded its lead in the championship since Alex Brundle, Michael Guash and Christian England had already won at the opening 2016 ELMS round at Silverstone. This car is ahead of the Eurointernational Ligier JS P3 driven by Giogio Mondini, Andrea Roda and Marco Jacoboni, who clocked the second time in qualifying. The third step on the podium was claimed by the Panis Barthez Compétition team and its No. 16 Ligier JS P3 which held the lead of the race for quite awhile.

LM GTE, Porsche uncontested
The No. 77 Porsche, entered by Proton Competition and which clocked the best time yesterday, won in the class. Wolf Henzler, Michael Hedlund and Robert Renauer dominated the race, ceding the lead to no other. The German car was ahead by nearly a lap of the JMW Motorsport No. 66 Ferrari F458 Italia (Andrea Bertolini, Robert Smith and Rory Butcher). Another Ferrari F458 Italia (AT Racing's No. 56) took third place. This team was supported by official driver Davide Rigon, winner at the first two round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with AF Corse.

Note the forfeit in this race of the No. 60 Ferrari F458 Italia of the championFormula Racing team since Christina Nielsen had an incident during Saturday morning's free practice. The Danish driver was unhurt, but the damage was too significant to be able to take the start of the race. 

A large number of the players in the European Le Mans Series, especially in LM P2, will now head to Le Mans for the 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 18th and 19th). As for the others, they will benefit from a long break before the 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring (Austria) which will take place July 17th.

David Bristol / ACO (at Imola) - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO 

Photo: IMOLA (EMILIA-ROMAGNA, ITALY), AUTODROMO DINO E ENZO FERRARI, 4 HOURS OF IMOLA, SATURDAY MAY 14 2016, QUALIFYING. Heading into the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the No. 46 Oreca 05 Nissan has just won at the Imola round, therefore placing in the provisional standings of the 2016 European Le Mans Series.