The #7 Toyota took the lead ahead of the #50 Ferrari at Monza, after a tight race that saw them leading from the third hour onwards. Excellent third place for Peugeot, which redeems a difficult season so far
It was a hot race due to the temperatures, but the battle for victory was largely played from a distance. In the end Toyota prevailed, with the #7 car of Mike Conway, José Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi taking the lead after two hours of racing and maintaining control from there, although always having to push hard to avoid pitfalls of the Ferrari #50 of Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Fuoco. Started from the front row, these two cars were the protagonists of a duel played first up close and then on the stopwatch, which however saw the Japanese winner with a 16 second lead. Deserved third step of the podium for Peugeot, which demonstrated with the 9X8 number 93 driven by Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne and Paul di Resta that it had overcome the difficulties and was finally competitive. Too bad for the other Redhead of Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado, touched at the start by Buemi’s Toyota and forced into a great comeback race that finished in fifth place. In the championship the Japanese gain among the constructors, where the advantage points rise to 26, while among the drivers the advantage of the number 8 is 23 points over its sister company and the Le Mans winner Ferrari.
Busy first hour
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At the start there was immediately the first twist: Sébastien Buemi with the Toyota number 8 did not get away very well, he immediately lost third position in favor of Jensen’s Peugeot #93 and was slipped outside by Giovinazzi at the first chicane: the the Swiss pulled away late, blocked and hit the Italian’s Ferrari, sending him into a spin. Antonio was forced to restart from the middle of the pack, while Buemi was eighth behind the Porsches as well. Peugeot seems very fast and on the eighth lap he moves up to second place. After 15 minutes, another twist: the Gte-class Aston Martin #777 ends up in the wall under braking by the Ascari and has to be recovered, thus bringing in the safety car. The accident was caused by a clumsy lapping by Buemi, who closed the Japanese gentleman driver Satoshi Hoshino causing him to end up on the grass. The Swiss thus suffers a one-minute stop & go which is added to the ten seconds due to the accident with Giovinazzi, thus crashing one lap from the lead. After the restart, the great protagonist is the Dane Mikkel Jensen, who with a great braking on the outside in the first chicane also overtakes Conway and stretches to the top. The following lap, Molina also passes the #7 Toyota. The situation thus crystallizes until the first round of stops.
Challenge for two
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After the first hour, the #93 Peugeot lost ground and returned to the midfield. In the meantime, with the safety car on, a group of cars attempted an alternative strategy to the leaders which cyclically brings them ahead during the various stops. In the second hour Miguel Molina in the Ferrari #50 controls the situation and defends himself energetically from the attack of Conway, who comes to his senses towards the end. After the driver change, however, Toyota seems to have another pace and in the following two hours José Maria Lopez puts almost 30 seconds between himself and Nicklas Nielsen. The last part of the race sees Antonio Fuoco chasing Kamui Kobayashi with fast laps. In the final stages, the Calabrian driver first sees the gap reduced to less than five seconds thanks to a safety car intervening to recover Proton’s #99 Porsche 963, then he has to make up a 21-second gap again due to a different strategy with the tyres, but in the end he has to give in to the fresher tires of the Japanese in the last half hour. Behind them is the comeback of the #51 and the #8, the two great protagonists of Le Mans. They finished fifth and sixth, both affected by penalties after the finish line: 45 seconds for the Ferrari and 50 for the Toyota, the first for a contact with a GT during the lapping phase and the second for a violation of the Bop regulation. The Peugeot #93 then takes the podium, author of an exemplary race by all its drivers.
The other classes
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In the Lmp2 category, Jota’s car #28 triumphed with David Heinemeier-Hansson, Oliver Rasmussen and Pietro Fittipaldi, always fast and close to the top. Bitter retirement half an hour from the end for the #31 car of Wrt, which consoles itself with the third place of the #41 twin of Andrade, Deletraz and Kubica. Second finishes the Alpine #36 of Canal, Vaxivière and Milesi. Difficult race for Prema, who finished seventh and ninth between accidents and penalties. In the Gte class instead Porsche occupies the three steps of the podium: the #77 of Dempsey-Proton Racing with the crew Ried-Pedersen-Andlauer wins ahead of the #60 of Iron Lynx (Schiavoni-Cressoni-Picariello) and the #86 of GR Racing (Wainwright-Pera-Barker). The fourth place finish is enough for the crew of Corvette #33 (Keating-Varrone-Catsburg) to become champion with two races to spare. Fifth place for the Iron Dames Bovy, Gatting and Frey, while the best Ferrari finished sixth with the #83 Richard Mille AF Corse (Perez Companc-Wadoux-Rovera).
July 9, 2023 (change July 9, 2023 | 23:51)
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