Reports

Vallelunga 6 Hours Race Report

© Team WRC

The 6 Hours of Vallelunga Gold Cup were driven today on a cold but dry Vallelunga circuit, just north of Rome, Italy. The race started at 10am local time and almost immediately after the start the Courage C65 that started from pole position hit problems and dropped down the order. The Norma-BMW of WRC quickly inherited the lead, ahead of the EDM Motorsport Aston Martin DBR9.
In the first hour of the race the safety car came out on the track already when the F2 Motorsport Ferrari 360 Modena lost a lot of oil on the track, making it dangerous to race at full speed. As the safety car got back in again it was the EDM Motorsport DBR9 that was leading the race. The nr 7 WRC Norma-BMW took over that lead again shortly after the leaders had made a pit stop.

At the half way point of the race it was the Norma nr 7 that lead. The Aston Martin was in second place, while the nr 13 Avelon Ligier JS49 was in third. The Audisio & Benvenuto Courage had already been at this point.

As the second round of pit stops took place it was Hardman who replaced Leventis on the DBR9. The Brit put up the pace and reduced the gap to the Norma, now driven by Franco Ghiotto. The nr 25 Ebimotors Porsche 997 GT3 RSR took third place as the Avelon Ligier encountered problems out on the track. Not much later the Ligier came to a halt just outside the pit lane, after it had been in there for the necessary checks, and it was retired.

The Aston Martin was given the lead when the Norma went in for a pit stop, but it would not last long. Marco Didaio took over the Norma from Franco Ghiotto and was catching up on the Aston Martin. By lap 157 Didaio managed to overtake the DBR9 and the WRC Norma regained the lead in the race, with less than an hour to go. In the last round of pit stops the Norma briefly lost the lead to the Aston Martin, but the last pit stop from the EDM Motorsport team took more time than planned and the WRC team gets back ahead.

At 4pm the chequered flag came out as the Norma-BMW crossed the line to take victory at Vallelunga. The EDM Motorsport team took second place, after their touring car victory in the Silver Cup at Vallelunga last week, while the Ebimotors Porsche 997 crossed the line in third place.