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There was a point in Sunday’s four-hour race at Mugello, the penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series, where Inter Europol Competition headed both the LMP2 and LMP3 fields. Ultimately, third in both classes would be the reward, on a race weekend where it was very much a case of mixed fortunes.

The #43 title-challenging trio of Sebastian Alvarez, Vlad Lomko and Tom Dillmann endured a trying race weekend. Just two points shy of their nearest championship rivals ahead of the event, starting ninth and finishing seventh was far from ideal. This means that heading to Portimao, six points behind.

While the #43 lacked the turn of pace required to make progress at this relatively tight circuit, the #34 of Clement Novalak, Ollie Grey, and Luca Ghiotto could and did.

A strong qualifying session from Ollie meant that the #34 Oreca lined up on the outside of the second row for the long run to the first turn. Clement started the race, and his drive to the front was decisive and quick, beginning with an around the outside for third from the rolling start for P3.

Two further moves brought success, and the Gold-graded driver had comfortably moved to the front of the field by lap five.

This was a position he would retain despite multiple safety cars that kept eroding his hard-earned advantage. After 90 minutes, Clement enjoyed a 15-second lead at the front of the field. Ten minutes later, a slightly slower driver change – just six seconds – under safety car meant that Ollie exited the pits for the start of his stint in fourth position, not first.

A long red flag period followed and further safety car interventions. This disrupted much of the race flow and Ollie ran between second and fourth before handing over to teammate Luca.

It is his favourite circuit, and he made gains from the start of his double stint. With the #43 of Tom Dillmann behind, he soon pulled clear and vaulted P7 to P5 over a single lap. Unfortunately, this was not something that Tom could not replicate today.

Into the closing stages and, Luca passed another two rivals to secure the #34s long overdue first podium of the season.

It was a similar story for the #88 LMP3 trio of Alex Bukhantsov, Pedro Perino and Kai Askey. It started brilliantly, with Alex moving up from third on the grid to the class lead during the opening stint.

A slight error whilst battling with the #11 proved costly as Alex spun and dropped towards the back of the field. Pedro was soon in for that difficult middle period of the race, which was so compromised by interventions.

Kai took over for the final two stints and was seventh with an hour to go.

It had been a long time coming for Kai and his teammates, but a big push and strategy worked in their favour as he pitted P4 with ten minutes to go and emerged third for the run to the chequered. It was a fine run, and very much like the #34, well-deserved and overdue.

For the title challenging #43, it was a tough race, aided by a drive-through penalty for contact with another car. The seventh-place finish is not what they wanted, but at least with Luca’s late charge, he was able to take away valuable points from the team rivals.

The team is next in action at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale in two weeks. Petit Le Mans is a very special race and leading the championship, Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports will be going for gold.

Clement Novalak #34
“A good race, the strategy didn’t help, but the first stint was good. The race was a bit interrupted, which was a shame, but we have to be pleased with our first podium of the year. It could have been more; it could have been a lot less too. So, I’m happy with that.”

Ollie Grey #34
“It was a tough race for my two teammates – maybe not so much for me – as we had a lot of safety cars, interventions and the red flag. It’s good to be on the podium, but it could have been more for sure. We had good pace, strategy but we’re still overdue a race win; hopefully that will come in Portimao!”

Lucas Ghiotto #34
“It was a nice race, I enjoyed it, it was fun. Of course, things did not work in our favour, and it could have been a much better result. But it’s a podium and the first one of the year. I love this circuit; I never wanted the race to finish.”

Pedro Perino #88
“It was a case of keeping out of trouble when I jumped in for the middle stint. Alex moved to the front and then lost out but it has been a good recovery to secure our first podium of the season, and I’m delighted to finally get an ELMS trophy!”

Kai Askey #88
“To be honest, we made a mistake in an earlier pitstop, but our pace was strong throughout, and the team did a really good job this weekend. I’m happy to get the podium as it’s long, long overdue. We need the points, and we can carry some momentum to the season finale.”