JOTA clinch thrilling LMP2 victory at Monza
A complex and exhilarating LMP2 battle went the way of Jota at the 6 Hours of Monza after a tight battle with the No.31 Team WRT entry in the last 90-minutes of the race.
David Heinemeier Hansson, Pietro Fittipaldi and Oliver Rasmussen took their first victory of the season after a complex race of strategy saw the trio lead the 12-car field home.
Fittipaldi had qualified the gold Oreca-Gibson on pole position for David Heienemeier Hansson to start the race.
The Dane, who won his only other WEC LMP2 race at Sebring in 2019 with Jota, fought valiantly against many other higher categorized drivers including the United Autosports duo of Giedo van der Garde and Ben Hanley.
He was able to hand the car over to teammate Oliver Rasmussen in a strong position and his fellow Dane completed several strong stints to ensure that Fittipaldi was able to mount an attack for the class win in the final two hours.
Our LMP2 podium
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) July 9, 2023
🥇 #28 JOTA
🥈 #36 Alpine Elf Team
🥉 #41 Team WRT #WEC #6HMonza pic.twitter.com/bnoHL7WnfC
It ultimately came down to a fight between the Brazilian and Robin Frijns in the Team WRT entry, but when the Dutch ace was forced to pit with a mechanical issue in the last hour, Fittipaldi was left unopposed at the front.
Completing the LMP2 podium was the Alpine ELF Team car driven by Charles Milesi, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Julien Canal, who achieved their best result of the 2023 season so far.
Completing the podium was the points leading No.41 Team WRT car of Louis Deletraz, Robert Kubica and Rui Andrade. Deletraz hunted down and overtook Oliver Jarvis in the final laps to snatch the final podium position.
