Conrad Laursen less than a second from the podium at Imola

The Danish Ferrari driver battled his way to a strong fourth-place finish in the third round of the European Le Mans Series, held at Imola on Sunday afternoon.

Just a week after securing a class victory in the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, Conrad Laursen was back behind the wheel for round three of the European Le Mans Series – this time at Imola Circuit in Italy. Initially, the Dane crossed the finish line in second place in his Ferrari 296 GT3 – a result that was later adjusted to fourth due to a time penalty.

The disappointing outcome came after a race in which Laursen and his teammates, Davide Rigon and Charles-Henri Samani, delivered an outstanding performance. The trio started ninth in the GT3 class and had worked their way up to fourth place halfway through the four-hour race.

Conrad Laursen took over for the final stint and managed to claim third place in a thrilling finish. A penalty for a rival crew meant that Laursen, Rigon and Samani were promoted to second and stepped onto the podium – but were later demoted to fourth due to their own time penalty.

“It’s definitely a frustrating way to end what was otherwise a really strong weekend where everything went according to plan. The team performed well, we had a great car, and we made it through a chaotic race filled with incidents across all classes. Unfortunately, we made a small mistake under a yellow flag early in the race, which ended up costing us a 10-second penalty,” explained Conrad Laursen.

The incident that led to the penalty occurred early in the race while Charles-Henri Samani was in the car, but the penalty was not announced until later. Since it wasn’t possible to serve the penalty during the next pit stop – which took place under a Virtual Safety Car – the 10 seconds were added to the final race time. As a result, Laursen and the team officially finished fourth – just 0.681 seconds off the podium.

“On the positive side, we scored a solid amount of championship points and can now look ahead to round four, where we know we have the pace to fight at the front. We’ll keep working hard, and the top results will come,” Laursen added.

With a well-earned summer break on the horizon, Conrad Laursen’s next challenge will be round four of the European Le Mans Series, taking place at Spa-Francorchamps on 24 August.