At the end of a race brillantly led, the Thiriet by TDS Racing team won the 3 Hours of Imola. The team is taking the lead of the championship! An important result before the 24 Heures du Mans (22nd-23rd June)!
During the qualifiying session on Saturday morning, Mathias Beche, back in the team, qualified the car in the second place at some tenths of pole position. The Swiss driver was in charge of the start. Being on the dirty part of the track, he prefered to let the 2nd place to an opponent rather than colliding with him. For 40 minutes, Mathias, 3rd , put the pressure. At the first pitstop, thanks to the team pulling together amazingly, he gained two positions ! Mathias Becher went back on the track as a leader and kept this place up to mid-race as he handed over to his team-mate, Pierre Thiriet !
Second after the pitstop, the French driver caught up the leader, the Zytek n°38, rather fastly. Ten minutes later, during the overtaking of a belated car, Pierre plunged inside the bend and caught up to the first place back! A superb overtaking of the young driver ! Then, he increased his lead with more than one minute ahead of his pursuer. In the 83rd lap, Pierre went back to the pit for the last time. After it, he was still leading the race. The coast was clear through the first victory of the season for the Thiriet By TDS Racing!
At the end, the Beche / Thiriet duet won with 46 seconds ahead of their pursuers. Mathias has marked his return within the team with the best way and Pierre has been stronger than ever. The opponents are now warned. The team is there to keep its titles and it will go on in Austria on July 19th after the break of the 24 Heures du Mans!
Mathias Beche : “I am thrilled to win at Imola. The weekend was a bit restless and we had to work hard to be competitive. After being the fastest in rainy conditions, we had only 30 minutes on the dry track to set up the car. With things developed last winter, especially on the tyres and even if I know the car, coming back when the championship has already started is not easy. People were waiting for us and the level of competition is high. We started with a set-up with a lot of downforce and it was impossible to overtake the leader during my first stint. I decided to follow it while saving my tyres. The team perfomed very well in the pit and I quickly took the lead. Then Pierre did two great stints. The target is reached, we are leaving Imola as the leader of the championship. We have explored new means of work and we will have to go on developping the car if we want to keep the lead. I would like to thank the Thiriet by TDS Racing team as well as Jacquie and Michel !”
Pierre Thiriet :“It was just perfect! Mathias had a good start and did a great job. I handed over to him and I caught up with Dolan in the traffic. He arrived on a Ferrari, he just left a little space. I did not think and I weaved in and out. Then, I increased the gap because he struggled to keep up with my rythm. After the last pitstop, I managed my consequent lead, I just did well. I especially paid attention to the traffic and I took no risk when I arrived on the GTs. When it happens like this, there is nothing to say! “
Xavier Combet, team manager : “I am simply delighted. Everything went well, the car was consistent and easy to drive. Mathias did his job, there is nothing to say and Pierre was exceptional especially with his overtaking on Dolan. This victory is very important for the whole team. We won and we are taking the lead of the championship. The hardest remains to be done. We are going to keep unfazed and go on being dynamic. Bring it on now with the 24 Heures du Mans, hence a different team but everybody is motivated! “
Source : Thiriet by TDS Racing