- 0.05 seconds prevent pole position in both qualifyings
- All three Emil Frey Lamborghinis finish the first race in the Top Ten
- Duo Aitken/Lappalainen cross finishing line of the second race in P5
Misano (Italy), Misano, 4. Juli 2021
The third Sprint weekend of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe kicked off for Emil Frey Racing last Thursday with a private test session, followed by Free Practice and a Pre-Qualifying on Friday. As predicted by the weather forecast, the scorching sun began heating the asphalt of the Misano World Circuit early in the morning already. Another special feature of the race weekend was the fact that the race would be driven clockwise.
Qualifying 1
Straight from the start, Fontana (#14) reported a lot of dirt on the asphalt over the radio. Meanwhile, Costa at the wheel of the #163 Lamborghini delivered fast lap times but had one lap deleted for ignoring track limits in turn 8. Lappalainen at the #114 wheel was struggling with a slow puncture right at the start of the Qualifying, which forced him to do an early pitstop. Unfortunately, just when Costa (#163) was churning out his fastest lap time, he had a contact with the Mercedes #88, which cost him the chance at the pole position. Costa finished his Qualifying in P3. Lappalainen with the #114 managed to climb to P21 after his tire issue. Fontana (#14) secured P11 for his starting position.
Race 1
Temperatures on the thermometer rose to 31 degrees Celcius at the grid of Misano. Straight away, Costa at the #163 wheel gained one position and secured P2 by overtaking an Audi. After only 5 minutes, the first Full-Course-Yellow Phase was ushered in. The #14 and #163 crews both went for a pitstop with their Lamborghinis in Round 14. Bad luck for the #163: A failed restart and a lot of traffic in the pit lane caused for a valuable 10 seconds to get lost. Having been on his way to a podium, the #163 returned to the track with several positions lost. One lap later, the #114 as well went for their pitstop. Feller (#14), meanwhile, struggled with understeering. Aitken in the #114 delivered solid sector times and managed to gain 13 positions, finishing the race in P8. In the meantime, Feller in his #14 overtook Siedler (#163) who was having major issues with understeering. Feller and Tereschenko at the wheel of a Mercedes were fighting it out for the Silver Cup victory, but unfortunately, Feller landed narrowly in P2 after crossing the finishing line, reaching P8 in the overall ranking.
Qualifying 2
A lot of lap times were deducted due to exceeding track limits. Siedler (#163) exceeded track limits in Turn 13, which led to one lap being deleted. The #163 continued to struggle with too much understeering and finished the Qualifying in P20 only. Aitken delivered a brilliant performance at the #114 wheel by churning in consistently fast sector times. In the end, he missed the pole by only 0.053 seconds. Feller at the #14 wheel wasn’t able to make the most out of his tires and landed in P13, coming in 0.54 seconds behind the pole.
Race 2
Emil Frey Racing was preparing their wet tires as clouds started to appear right in time for the second race. The start went without any major interruptions. Only Siedler was touched by the Audi #99, which caused him to lose 3 positions, falling back to P23. Feller gave it his all and gained three positions in the first seven minutes. The rear tires on #114 with Aitken behind the wheel suffered premature tire wear. Nevertheless, he was able to keep his brilliant pace. Siedler behind the #163 wheel was struggling with heavy understeering, just as he did during Qualifying. At the opening of the pit window, it was the #14 Lamborghini that went in first. During tire change, the right front tire got stuck, which cost a lot of valuable time. Costa took over the #163 after a flawless pit stop and driver change in Round 17. Lappalainen took over the #114 and was set to defend Aitken’s position in the Top 5. Unfortunately, the Finnish driver lost valuable time during car release. Though Costa (#163) managed to gain a lot of positions, he struggled with the handling of the Lamborghini in every turn. Fontana gained one position after overtaking the #188 Aston Martin. One out of three Lamborghinis of Emil Frey Racing therefore concluded the race in the Top Five.
