It was a hot fourth round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in Imola, Italy, on Sunday, with burning sunshine and temperatures exceeding the 30-degree mark. Augusto Farfus kept his cool and performed an excellent double stint to consolidate the lead of his no. 55 BMW M3 GT in the GTE class. His fellow BMW Team Schnitzer driver, Jörg Müller, had started from pole position and defended this place, while Farfus then even managed to pull away from the opposition with a row of good lap times.

Over the majority of the race the BMW drivers were in full control, as the second car with number 56 was running in second place. However, then bad luck struck in various ways. While the BMW of Dirk Werner and Pedro Lamy was knocked back by a problem with the air conditioning, the radio had stopped working early into the race on Farfus’ car.

Just when the crew was busy repairing the no. 56 BMW M3 GT car, Müller had to pit on lap 159. Due to a collision with a prototype, the valve of the right front tyre was damaged. As Müller couldn’t let the team know that he was heading into the pits, the mechanics didn’t have time to make the necessary preparations stipulated in the regulations for the stop. Therefore, the Race Director decided to give the car a one-minute stop-and-go penalty. Müller and Farfus lost the lead and ultimately took the chequered flag in third.

“We proved again in this race that we can really push with the BMW M3 GT,” commented Farfus. “Unfortunately this wasn’t enough today to secure victory. I think this is what you call a chain reaction. Nevertheless, we should focus on the positives. The car is great, and with temperatures as high as today, the Dunlop tyres perform even better.”