Both Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus cars (701 and 702) started the first four hours of the race in great shape. Starting from 13th and 11th on the grid respectively, the drivers were able to pick off the competition one by one, with both cars holding top spot at points during the race.
Car 702 was initially driven by Jeff Westphal who moved up the grid all the way to the top spot before switching driver duties with Andreas Simonsen, who after a number of laps also bought the car back into the pits in top spot before handing over the reins to Thomas Mutsch. He continued to race well and 702 finished the first four hours in second spot, which is where it will start the remaining eight hours of racing tomorrow.
Car 701 also had a great start driven by Manuel Lauck, followed by Franck Mailleux. At just past the halfway mark he had moved up to second place before handing over driver duties to Felipe Laser. Within the last hour Felipe managed to get up to pole position but with just 40 minutes to go, there were some technical issues so the car was brought into the pits. Unfortunately it couldn’t be fixed by the time the race closed, and will start tomorrow with a 10-lap penalty.
All competitor cars are now positioned on the main straight ready to start racing again tomorrow at 09.30 for the remaining eight hours.
Jim Glickenhaus, Team Owner, was happy with the progress and said: “The Mugello 12H is very much a development race for us ahead of the main event at the Nurburgring 24 hours. We have built this race car from a blank piece of paper and it’s great to see it doing so well with a great team of drivers. I’m confident 701 can make up a number of positions tomorrow – we still have 8 hours of racing after all.”
Jeff Westphal who raced 702 said: “I drove for about an hour and 40 minutes today and the car was very consistent so we could pick off the other cars as they started to struggle. It was great to be in pole when I came in to the pits. We are in a good spot for the rest of this race, we just need to keep going. It’s a long race, we still have eight hours left so we can’t take any risks.”
Franck Mailleux who raced 701 said: “Mugello is very much a test race for us so I’m not too disappointed about how we did in this four hours. In racing we ofte experience mechanical issues, but nevertheless we still have some work to do. Indeed, the car is not yet at the standard we require, but I’m sure that with some more time on track tomorrow we will make it right.”
Paolo Garella, Programme Director said: “Today has been a fantastic result for both cars and I’m very happy with what we achieved, especially the final position of car 702. We still have some work to do to reach the level of reliability we need but we are confident we can achieve this with the hard work and dedication that the team always delivers.”