Last weekend the Team Russia by Barwell crew made their way to a very hot Imola in Italy, for the second round of the European Le Mans Series. After finishing a very impressive fourth position at the opening round at Silverstone in April, the team’s BMW Z4 GT3 was ready to compete with the highly competitive 14-car GTC grid once again. It was by no means going to be an easy feat for the team as the circuit is much more suited to the Ferrari and mid-engined cars which are predominant in the GTC class for FIA homologated GT3 machinery. Even with the challenges they faced, Team Russia by Barwell drivers, Leo Machitski, Timur Sardarov and Jonny Cocker managed to bring home more valuable points in 9th place to add to their score from Silverstone.

With the Ferrari currently enjoying an advantageous FIA Balance of Performance (BOP), after receiving weight and engine restrictor breaks last season, and there being nine examples of the ‘Prancing Horse’ in ELMS, we had a tough challenge on our hands at a track like Imola. Further playing into the hands of the Ferrari teams was the fact that all GTC cars have to carry and additional 40kgs of ballast weight – over and above their BOP ballast weight – according to the ELMS regulations. This takes the BMW Z4 up to a weight of 1300kgs – a huge 110kgs over the original weight that the car was designed to carry. Designed as a lightweight but relatively low powered GT3 car, the Z4 is thus much more disadvantaged by having to carry this extra weight than the more powerful Ferraris. The two free practice sessions on the Saturday gave the drivers plenty of time in the car and therefore, they were able to give feedback to the team so they could make adjustments and get the correct set up for the challenging Italian circuit. After a lot of hard work, the Surrey based team managed to get the car well balanced for the qualifying session on Sunday morning. During this session Pro driver Jonny Cocker set a time which would have beaten last year’s pole time by a tenth of a second, but this year the BMW Z4 GT3 was placed 11th in class.

Experienced GT racer Leo Machitski was the chosen driver to begin the Four Hours of Imola race on Sunday afternoon. Leo got off to a great start in blistering hot conditions, but was able to get the car into a steady rhythm, and managed to start working his way up the grid, including picking off three GTC and GTE cars in one lap and managing to manoeuvre his was around several spinning Ferraris. After just over an hour Leo climbed up to 7th in class and continued to run very well for the remainder of his double stint.

Racing at the famous Imola circuit was bound to be tough, as it was the first time there for all of the Team Russia by Barwell drivers. But even with this relative lack of experience, Russian driver Timur Sardarov managed to guide the BMW Z4 GT3 around the demanding corners and coped very well as he was put under pressure by the high volume of traffic during his stint. At several stages during his run, he was swamped by cars of all classes and did a fantastic job to stay on the circuit and bring the car back P9 in class, for Leo to once again take the wheel. Due to the excess weight of the car, both Leo and Jonny had to manage high brake wear and reduce their pace accordingly during the final stints, but guided the BMW Z4 to a very respectable P9 in class at the chequered flag.