Datum: 24.07.2021 · 24h Le Mans

WEC-guest-appearance at the 6 hours of Monza

The first race of the new Rinaldi Racing Ferrari F488 GTE of Pierre Ehret on the occasion of the inaugural 6h of Monza, ended with a 13th class position for the trio Pierre Ehret, Christian Hook and Jeroen Bleekemolen. The team completed a total of 184 laps with the new car in the third round of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship at the traditional Italian venue. Due to a time penalty imposed after the race, they lost 2 positions in the GTE-Am class which was featuring a strong field of 16 cars, but this did not detract from the success of the test event from the team's point of view.

"I did a double stint at the beginning of the race, while Christian and Jeroen took turns in the car afterwards. Unfortunately, due to a yellow phase, my driving time didn't quite match the prescribed minimum driving time. The missing 5 minutes and 5 seconds were added to the final result. But since the main purpose was to test the new Ferrari under racing conditions and we were only guest starters anyway, we accepted the penalty", Pierre Ehret explained after the race.

The team completed an otherwise solid race. With the exception of a slight brake defect - a stone jammed in the brake caliper, which made an additional pit stop necessary - the race went according to plan. The crew did not experience any spins or other problems.

"Our crew has to deal with the problem that both myself and Christian, who started here for the first time on a GTE, are both bronze drivers, while most teams only have one amateur and 2 professionals on the car. Christian had to race against the full pros once in his stint. In such a situation you can only hope for FCY's and safety cars to improve your position. At least we were able to prepare for the Le Mans appearance under race conditions and didn't break anything in the process."

The next race with the car for the drivers and the team will be the 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans on 21-22 August.