The second round of the Endurance Cup saw both tales triumph and devastating woe. After yet another thrilling endurance race, there are plenty of new and exciting talking points to discuss, with results both good and bad, and a championship battle that runs neck and neck at the top. In this article, we go behind the scenes from the 6 Hours of Monza. 

Florian Bonjour – #333 Virtualdrivers by TX3

The #333 Nissan team have found themselves on the cusp of a podium place but have unfortunately fallen short on two unlucky occasions. The most recent event at Monza saw Florian Bonjour of Virtualdrivers by TX3 held up in lapped traffic and losing third place as a result. However, Florian is quick to point out the positives as well as the incredible speed of his competitors. 

“If we talk about the Hungaroring race, for us it was a good result, especially when we look at the high level of the Split 1. From my point of view, we didn’t have the best car for this race but Maxime did a really good job during the quali and we have amazing race pace. In the end, the gap with the 3rd place was really close but….. So I think that I can’t do more and we are satisfied with the final result. For me and Simon, it is our first big European competition so we are happy with that.” 

“For Monza, it is a different situation…again Max [Vedy] did an awesome job especially in the race. Simon [Duterme] was sick and Max had to do 3 really good stints. At the start of my first stint, I was a little bit too slow and the Audi and Ferrari were closing the gap on us but at the end of my stint, I was pretty fast so the gap became more stable. I made a big mistake at the pitstop (put 120L of fuel instead of 80-90 to finish the race) and missed my pit placement, so I lost 2nd place when the Audi went out of the pits.”

“After I overtook him rapidly and tried to make a gap, but my car was too heavy so I couldn’t follow the rhythm of Jardier and Garcia. I think you could see that on the live stream a backmarker lifted off the gas when I was just behind him… [so] I finished in the wall and my car was so damaged that I lost seconds per lap only in the straights so my race was dead. But to be honest when I see the speed of Jardier and Garcia…I don’t think that I had the capacity to defend my 2nd position in a regular fight.” 

Unfortunately, according to Bonjour, the team may be set to face further challenges at the next round at Laguna Seca, meaning that a podium is seemingly still out of reach for the time being. 

“I don’t think [a podium is possible for Laguna Seca] because Maxime and myself will be absent and I don’t know who will race with Simon. But I hope for them that they can defend our position in the championship.”

While Bonjour doesn’t absolutely see the team as realistic title contenders, he remains optimistic. 

“Again I don’t think that [we will be championship contenders] because some of us will be absent again at the next race so it will be difficult to defend our position. But we will see.”

Matteo Blotto – #194 Racing Line Motorsport 

As mentioned in the race report from the 6 Hours of Monza, it seemed that some teams fell into the supernatural clutches of the “qualifying curse”, where teams that started towards the front of the field were unable to translate their pace in qualifying into a final race result. One such team was the #194 Racing Line Motorsport crew. Starting 2nd, the 6 Hour endurance race saw them drop down the order with a final finishing position of 17th. Driver Matteo Blotto attributes the Mercedes’ fuel mapping and BoP to their gradual slip down the order. 

“The car was excellent in qualifying and was very balanced, in the race the Mercedes used map 2 and the bop affected the pace a lot.” However, while the team fell to poor fortune on this occasion, Blotto remains hopeful that the team can convert their pace in qualifying to race pace and finish strong at Laguna Seca. 

“Yes, I think we can do it.” 

“We aim for a top 5 [at Laguna Seca].” 

However, Blotto still seems slightly uncertain when it comes to the newly introduced Sim Grid specific BoP measures. 

“For qualifying, it is excellent while in the race it depends on various factors.” 

James Parker – #888 CDA/DAL/ACR 

The #888 Aston Martin crew had a very eventful second round. The team put on an incredibly impressive show, carving their way through the field from 21st to a final position of 7th. Driver James Parker certainly takes note of his team’s incredible resilience for their incredible performance. 

“Overall the performance of everyone was fantastic given the difficult circumstances, we really felt a podium was achievable. Just before qualifying, Van Ommen mentioned his wheel had broken when he had been scheduled to do both that and the start of the race. This meant Darren [King] had to step in at the last minute with no practice which is why it was a difficult session for us, even though we ended up just 2 tenths off pole.”

“After my first stint, [Jan Willem] Van Ommen mentioned that he thought he had fixed his steering wheel issues so he wanted to do the second stint, however when he jumped in the car, we found out his issues had not been resolved, his wheel rotation was all wrong and he had a massive dead zone.”

“Given he had to complete one stint to satisfy the regulations, it meant our progress from P21 to P14 in the first stint was reversed and we proceeded to lose 4-5 places and 36 seconds in lap time over the hour. He dealt with the issue fantastically though and kept it out the wall whilst driving to a pace that minimised our time loss. 

The same can be said of Darren’s last stint where he put in qualifying lap after qualifying lap and got close enough to really take advantage of the incident between Ganz and Piffet.”

While some drivers often find themselves frustrated trying to fight their way through the field, Parker seemed to enjoy the experience. 

“Yes, what a fight it was. Our car was excellent through Ascari and Parabolica onto the pit straight, but we lost a lot in the straights with a lack of top-end so it meant we had to get inventive with our overtakes. Obviously, the less time you lose fighting your way through the pack the easier it makes your race, and it definitely cost us a lot of time in the first stint where I ended up in a big DRS train for 20 minutes. 

But at the same time, the fights were incredibly enjoyable and on the whole very fair. I particularly had a fantastic tussle with the Unicorns Of Love BMW and the Rennwelten McLaren in my 2nd stint, where both cars were extremely difficult to pass and needed some experimentation to make a move stick.” 

Ultimately, it has ultimately not gone to plan for the #888 team in the first two rounds. As such, Parker is hoping for a podium at the next round at Laguna Seca. 

“Yes, we are very disappointed not to have two podiums or top fives from the first two races, to be honest…..For Laguna Seca, we will definitely be aiming for the podium at least, we just need to ensure we have a strong qualifying performance as track position is critical with how hard it is to pass there. But it will be tough with how many Porsches there are on the grid, which is the favoured car there.” 

Yaroslav Shevyrtalov – #41 LADA Sport ROSNEFT

At the end of 6 hours of racing, the #41 Aston Martin crew would ultimately take the checkered flag. It was not all smooth sailing, however, with on-track battles and door-to-door skirmishes along the way. Driver Yarosalv Shevyrtalov acknowledges that the team experienced some challenges, but they did not present any great degree of hardship. 

“…it was a tough race, but I think it was not the hardest win of my career.” 

Shevyrtalov credits his success to the team’s car choice and their ability to take advantage of the BoP.

“Choosing a car [was what set us apart from the rest of the field]. We had a very big advantage due to the fact that we didn’t have a weight penalty. Plus, the Aston Martin works very well with the tires.” 

LADA Sport ROSNEFT’s victory at Monza puts them on equal points with the first-placed team in the championship, the #121 Odox Motorsport Audi. At this point in the championship, Shevyrtalov believes winning the championship is certainly possible. He also believes that as long as the BoP remains the same for Laguna Seca, he believes that another victory is possible. 

“Yes, I think we can win this Championship.” 

“Right now I can’t say exactly, but I think if BoP will be as in Monza, maybe we will [win] again.” 

With the checkered flag fallen at Monza, the Endurance Cup circuit moves on to Laguna Seca. The championship fight is developing into something truly spectacular, and other interesting sagas will continue to play out as the season progresses. You can catch the next round of the Endurance Cup on SimGrid’s YouTube Channel.