Vernay Buoyed by Isotta Fraschini’s Progress at Imola

Jean-Karl Vernay says the progress demonstrated by Isotta Fraschini in last weekend’s 6 Hours of Imola has given him renewed belief that the boutique Italian manufacturer can achieve “great things” in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Isotta Fraschini recorded its first finish of the season on home soil after the Michelotto-built Tipo 6 Competizione was forced to retire early from the season-opening Qatar 1812km due to a suspension issue.

Vernay and his teammates Antonio Serravalle and Carl Wattana Bennett were classified 16th, 14 laps down, with Vernay escaping serious damage after first-lap contact but Serravalle and Bennett both losing ground due to separate off-track moments.

However, Vernay was encouraged by the pace shown in the opening practice session – which proved to be Isotta’s best lap of the weekend – and a generally smooth run for the Duqueine-run team after the problems encountered in Qatar.

“Definitely we have improved [since Qatar],” Vernay told Sportscar365. “We’ve learned from all the issues we’ve had.

“During the Prologue [test in Qatar] we had a lot of problems and we couldn’t drive and we had a lack of experience compared to the others.

“We didn’t test at all since the beginning of the season. For sure, fighting against these guys who have tested quite a lot, it’s even more difficult.

“Here after a few laps it was clear we were much closer to the pack and this is motivating and gives energy to the whole team.”

Speaking to Sportscar365 earlier this year, Isotta Fraschini motorsport manager Claudio Berro had targeted the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June for the Tipo 6 Competizione to make a major step forward in performance.

Asked what could be possible for Le Mans, Vernay was reluctant to raise expectations too high for the WEC’s blue riband race.

“We are going race-by-race,” said Vernay. “The target [at Imola] was to finish, because we didn’t do that before, but Le Mans is still too far away [to set a target].

“I think our learning curve will improve a lot before Le Mans. I really believe in the team, in the car. I really think that the car has a lot of potential, and with more work and a few more resources we can achieve great things. Time will tell.”

Likewise, Vernay wouldn’t be drawn on any specific goals for the remainder of the season, highlighting the gap in resources and experience Isotta Fraschini faces in relation to its Hypercar rivals.

“We don’t have the speed [to challenge at the front], definitely,” admitted Vernay. “We hope we will gain more speed as we gain experience.

“[We want] to be sure that if there is something to take, that we are there. To do that you need to have very consistent stints, make no mistakes as drivers, have perfect pit stops. We still have to work on all these points.

“We are fighting against guys that have 10 times our budget, and have all super-experienced drivers, against teams that have 10 years of experience in prototypes. So the challenge is already difficult.

“The important thing is to do the maximum we can do, and to be proud of yourself, to be happy with what you did.

“But I am sure that the car has a lot of potential, the team also and the drivers too.”