The Danish duo Martin Jensen and Dennis Andersen got the 2015 BlancPain Endurance Series off to a great start.
The Ferrari-pair had high hopes after a promising preseason of testing, and the build-up to the season premiere at Autodromo di Monza saw more promise.
The black and white #17 Ferrari 458 GT3 qualified a strong sixth overall on the Italian track. A cautious start saw Dennis Andersen letting some of the quicker cars from the Pro-category past settling in a position just outside the overall top ten.
A staggering stint by Martin Jensen saw the #17 Ferrari climb the ranks into the top ten, and more important, into the top five of the Pro/Am class. The final pitstop kept the Danish car in touch of the top cars of their category, and a 14th place finish overall and fifth among the cars with pro- and amateur driver pairings meant the goal for the season opener was reached.
The overall winner was the debuting Lamborghini Huracán of Palmer/Babini/Mul. The Pro/Am winner was second overall. The #19 car was later excluded for a technical breach.
Next race is at Silverstone (UK) on 23-24 May 2015.
Top five in BlancPain Endurance Series round 1, Monza (I) (TBC)
1 Rinat Salikhov, Norbert Siedler Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 458 Italia
2 Jean-Karl Vernay, Robin Frijns, Laurens Vanthoor Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra
3 Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia
4 Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick, Steven Kane M-Sport Bentley Bentley Continental GT
5 Frank Stippler, Stephane Ortelli, Nico Müller Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS
14 Dennis Andersen, Martin Jensen Insight Racing Denmark Ferrari 458 Italia
Martin Jensen, teammanager and driver:
“That was good fun! It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, some smaller things have made it difficult for us during the weekend. We had to change the gearbox Saturday evening, so we didn’t know where we would be come Sunday.
Dennis had a totally new experience today – he got to start the race from where you can actually see the startline, and starting from the very sharp end, he found himself among a lot of quick cars. He drove a good stint and handed over to me in a very quick pitstop. I was able to get the car into the fight for the podium, but when Dennis again took over, he got back out in the middle of heavy traffic. A late safety car period didn’t help us, but we got through – a solid reward to the guys after their hard work Saturday evening.”
Dennis Andersen, driver:
“We managed to get a good result today, although this weekend brought us some challenges. The gearbox problems plagued us all Saturday, but the mechanics worked hard, and luckily the car was in good shape Sunday.
Martin qualified fantastically and drove a great stint – I still need to work on my first stint and my general race craft, but the team made some super pitstops and I got the car home in fifth in Pro/Am – a lovely way to start the season!”