At the end of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the smiles and hugs in the Isotta Fraschini Duqueine household were aplenty, with visible satisfaction on the faces of every single member of the Italian-French team as they opened bottles of red wine to celebrate a historic achievement.
We are talking about the Cinderella of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Type 6 LMH-C which represents the challenge of ‘David vs Goliath’ in the HYPERCAR Class, but capable of completing the longest race of the season, as well as the most prestigious and difficult, without having previously tried for so long.
Yet Jean-Karl Vernay, Antonio Serravalle and Carl Bennet reached the finish line in 14th position, 9 laps behind the winning Ferrari #50 and with the only regret – if one can call it that – of having come close to the very first point achieved in the official Constructors’ classification .
The only time lost involved a brief stop in the garage to repair the hybrid prototype #11 following a slight contact with another car, while at a pit stop the slow restart of the engine caused people to sweat from the cold for a few seconds , only to quickly get back on track.
#11 Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini Type6-C: Carl Wattana Bennett, Jean-Karl Vernay, Antonio Serravalle
Photo by: Marc Fleury
“The first stint on slick tires on a damp track went very well and the car was excellent, I tried to keep it on the track given the rather treacherous conditions, I didn’t want to take any risks”, commented Vernay at the end of his first driving session .
“The lap times were good, considering that I found traffic after a few laps, but the situation is interesting and the important thing is to be able to improve.”
Subsequently the wheel passed to Serravalle and Bennett, with Vernay returning to work for 3 hours on Sunday morning and for the final laps, when the car.
“Apart from when we were behind the Safety Car, a rather boring situation, for the rest everything went well and even the lap times satisfied me, promising well and showing what we wanted. A sign that the car is going very well, if we keep considering where the others are. We are very happy”, concluded the transalpine.
The checkered flag was in the sights and this was taken, but also a certain growth in terms of time trial; the Type 6 at Speed-Trap was one of the fastest, but suffered a lot in the more driven sections – such as sector 3 – not having enough aerodynamic load having reached the maximum inclination of the rear wing.
#11 Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini Type6-C: Carl Wattana Bennett, Jean-Karl Vernay, Antonio Serravalle
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
An aspect that can be re-evaluated and updated with a development token for next year, but the 3″ gap per lap on a track of over 13km makes the top management of the Milanese company go home happy.
“What can I say? A respected plan and a culmination of the work of these years. After three races of development and preparation, this was the result we wanted: a flawless race, with only thoughts on tires and fuel and zero problems”, underlines Claudio Berro, Motorsport Manager of Isotta Fraschini.
“A Tipo 6 LMH Competizione conceived by a fabulous group of technicians from Michelotto Engineering, impeccable management on the track by the Duqueine team and drivers who made no mistakes and who I thank for allowing this unique result for Isotta Fraschini.”
“Congratulations also to Ferrari for the victory and podium obtained and also to Lamborghini for the solid debut result. Five Italian cars in the first 14 places, a result that rewards Italian excellence in the high performance automotive sector. I can only add that they are truly happy with this weekend!”.
Claudio Berro, Isotta Fraschini Sporting Director
Photo by: Isotta Fraschini
Motorsport.com had the opportunity to have a chat with the manager himself, taking stock of a situation that now awaits a turning point, also at a management level at the top levels of the company.
“Honestly, after the races in Qatar, Imola and Spa-Francorchamps I was happy, the only disappointment remains not having completed the race in Lusail because it was one of our objectives. But it could have been a first race, considering that we arrived with few tests and only the Prologue behind us, and a car that is still immature”.
“Imola and Spa went according to plan, following what was the preparation for Le Mans, that is, improving the car race by race and trying to reap the benefits of what has been done. But on every track there is always something to learn , even on the Sarthe, which is a very fast track, we were among the fastest and we want to understand why, given that the lap times were not top-notch.”
“But the leaders are in an exceptional balance, even in terms of BoP, and on a track of over 13km, having 12 cars in 1 second highlights this particularly. Let’s remember that the gaps must be calculated in proportion to the length of the track; for us it is 3 seconds it means we have improved a lot and have come a lot closer.”
“Moreover, if you find traffic in the more driven sectors of Le Mans you lose a lot, which happened to us with LMP2 and LMGT3 during timed testing, so the gap could actually have been even smaller.”
#11 Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini Type6-C: Carl Wattana Bennett, Jean-Karl Vernay, Antonio Serravalle
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
As mentioned, getting to the end was the primary objective, but not at all a given given that the longest event the Tipo 6 managed was the 6h of Spa.
“We had never done the 24-hour endurance test, practically the longest race was the one in Spa, but on an engine level we are happy because there have never been any problems and I was very confident, even if the hybrid part always leaves many unknowns , even for those who have been here for a long time.”
“A lot of work was done in order to try to finish the race, possibly without losing hours or laps due to long pit stops to resolve problems.”
“As mentioned, what mattered was getting to the checkered flag by setting the race conservatively and trying to make the most of all the drivers, even completing three stints in a row if they didn’t experience fatigue, as well as with regards to the tyres, on where there was no great degradation”.
Isotta Fraschini’s problem, as we had already highlighted some time ago, is the lack of training on the track. Michelotto Engineering built and homologated the car, but Duqueine took it over without organizing any test sessions outside of race weekends for now.
And this will be even harder in the summer, given that the materials will be sent to Brazil for the 6h of Sao Paulo and then will travel to Austin, Fuji and Bahrain for the remaining scheduled races.
Furthermore, with only Vernay dictating the way, for the whole team it’s about going beyond the limits in order to achieve something.
“Once Le Mans is over we will send all the materials directly to Brazil; as there is only this example of car, we will try to have the drivers train on the good quality simulator we have with Michelotto Engineering”.
“Serravalle and Bennett are very young, and Vernay is the only expert to compete with. He would like to have someone of his level to compete with, even stronger, because that way he can grow more; to be the only reference for Sometimes it’s a bit limiting.”
“Technically there is the possibility of building a second car, now we have a new structure on a financial level and so let’s see if we can make the second leap forward. The first was to get to Le Mans and we achieved it.”
#11 Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini Type6-C: Carl Wattana Bennett, Jean-Karl Vernay, Antonio Serravalle
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
Finally, with Berro we took stock of the situation also with a view to 2025, when the starting grid of the FIA WEC will be expanded to 40 cars, with 20 registered in the HYPERCAR Class. On paper, it seems that someone will have to step aside to make way for new arrivals, such as a second Lamborghini and Cadillac, as well as Aston Martin.
“For a further Type 6 LMH-C we are ready from a technical and operational point of view, but for the moment we know that each manufacturer will have to have two cars on the track and it has not been specified whether with a single team or even with two different teams manage them”.
“This would change the scenarios a lot, also for the possibilities of collecting revenue, so we will have to understand how to manage the issue because having an additional team that can help financially support the program is important.”
“Personally, I agree to have two cars per manufacturer, but I would prefer them to be in the hands of two different teams for track operations, which can refer to a single Sporting Director and Team Manager provided by Isotta Fraschini. It is right that everyone has an opportunity on both sides, we will see how the regulations will be written.”
“Furthermore, we will also need to understand how many seats there will actually be available out of the 40 declared; Aston Martin will arrive and therefore if all today’s manufacturers confirm their registration we will become 20 in the HYPERCAR Class, with no space for private teams. At the moment everything is up to evaluate”.
To conclude, here is the comment from Alessandro Fasina, President of Isotta Fraschini: “I consider this day a starting point and not an arrival point, it is a result resulting from great passion and competence. Particular thanks to Michelotto Engineering, to the pilots and to Duqueine team for the great work done both on the track and at home.”
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