TF Sport Corvette wins ELMS race at IMOLA for 2nd year in a row

Charlie Eastwood (Ireland), took the LMGT3 class win in the # 33 Z06 GT3.R shared with Blake McDonald and Alec Udell (USA).

They completed 119 laps during 4 hours at the 3.05-mile Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari track in the San Marino district located 25 miles east of Bologna.

McDonald qualified the Corvette on pole but “flag-to-flag” victory is never assured, especially in longer races with pit stops, caution flags and “happenings” as we race “wags” have come to understand.

As the race unfolded, the # 33 Corvette fell behind the # 62 Team Qatar Mercedes-AMG and the # 77 Proton Competition Porsche 911.

McDonald moved up to second at the Tamburello corner before turning the car over to Eastwood on the final pit stop, winning on fresher rubber by 1.8 seconds.

The lone Corvette beat five Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo, three Porsche 911 GT3 R, two Aston Martin Vantage AMR, two McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo and one Mercedes AMG LMGT3.

A record crowd of more than 16,700 was on hand for the weekend.

Goodyear chose Blake McDonald to receive the LMGT3 Wingfoot award.

The multi-color TF Sport # 33 was a repeat winner from last year, then the silver # 82 piloted by Eastwood, Rui Andrade (Angola) and Hiroshi Koizumi (Japan).

TF Sport looks to extend their lead at SPA in Belgium on August 22-23.

Photo credits: TF Sport, ELMS, Jack Wilson