Bitter-sweet emotions as Singaporean Sean Hudspeth scores 4th place at Imola for the second round of the European Le Mans Series.
P4 for Singaporean Sean Hudspeth at the second round of the European Le Mans Series in Imola. After a really hectic race with multiple yellow flags, full course yellows and safety cars, Sean and the JMW Motorsport team managed to a pod the chaos to claim some solid championship points.
“To be honest, we had the pace and potential to finish on the podium this weekend but we had a few issues in the race. First of all, we made a collective decision to start my stint on the soft compound tyre which seemed like the right decision after the race simulation we did in free practice 1 on Friday. However, it was much hotter during the race on Sunday so I tried to save the tyres at the start of my stint but they eventually fell off a cliff anyway and I lost a lot of pace. As a result, I was like a sitting duck towards the end and we lost one or two positions which potentially could have been avoided if we had been on the medium compound tyre. Furthermore, there were no FCYs (Full Course Yellows) or safety cars during my stint which would have helped to preserve the tyres. The team therefore, had to pit me early and sent Matt out on the mediums which worked really well.
Also, for some reason the drink system wasn’t working and we had radio issues which lead to some misunderstanding with the blue flags. Nevertheless, all things considered, I think we can be happy about the result given how competitive this championship is. Fourth in GTE and the 2nd Ferrari is a great performance. The Aston Martins which finished first and second were in a compltetely different league with a much higher top speed due to the BOP (Balance of Performance) so I hope that they change it for the next race to make it a level playing field.
It’s always amazing racing in Italy and I’m looking forward to coming back for the next race in Monza in a few week’s time.” – Sean