Risi wins as Ferrari dominates GT2.

Porsche may have come out on top in the LMP2 class at Le Mans 2008, but the same could not be said for GT2, where it resumed its annual battle with Ferrari - and lost heavily.

Although the German marque started well, a clash between two of its favoured runners did the cause no end of harm, and allowed the leading Ferrari 430GTs to take full advantage. Indeed, such was the gaping hole left by the contact between the IMSA Performance Matmut and Flying Lizard Racing that no fewer than five Ferraris snuck through, going on to dominate the class.

Coming out on top of the pile was Houston-based Risi Competizione, which continued its strong American Le Mans Series form on European soil by leading from the second hour of the race and eventually heading a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the usually hard-fought class.

"This is tremendous," an emotional Giuseppe Risi said afterwards, "The last time we were here as a winner I was in partnership with Doyle, but this is my own team.

"To me, winning Le Mans is worth winning a whole championship. One talks about Le Mans in very light terms but, until you come here and have to grind through the night, hoping that the car holds together, racing against other people you respect and who are highly qualified to come here, [it means nothing]. It's a lifetime achievement, especially to do it with Ferrari. If you are a professional in the automotive world, there is no greater achievement. I can't say enough about it."

Gianmaria Bruni joined Risi's regular ALMS duo, Jaime Melo and Mika Salo, for the race and all three put in near-faultless performances, helped by a trouble-free outing for the #82 car., despite difficult weather and track conditions.

"GT2 is fun - especially when you win!" F1 veteran Salo smiled, "Today was a very good day for Jaime, me and Gimmi, for Risi and also for Ferrari. To have four Ferraris in the top six cars is impressive. They were all on different tyres, but we proved which are the best. Luckily, we could double- or triple-stint our Michelins, which gave us a good advantage."

The weather once again played a part, although conditions were never quite as treacherous as last year. The correct calls on tyre choice and an absolute 'no risk' approach to the whole 24 hours ensured that the Risi Ferrari remained at the top of the classification while some of its fiercest rivals fell by the wayside.

"The team did a very good job and, fortunately, we didn't have any problems during the race - we just kept safe and consistent and made no mistakes and this was one of the most important points to winning the race," Melo acknowledged, "We are all a little tired physically, but more mentally as you have to concentrate so hard in GT2 to avoid the LMP cars as well as to run your own race.

"The most difficult part for me was about 4:30am when it was raining and I had just started running. In the night, you can't really see how much water there is on the track and it was difficult to make decisions about the line and the tyres, but we kept it on the track."

The result helped to vindicate the difficulties endured by the reigning ALMS champions at Le Mans last year, as well as in the opening part of their title defence in the US. After the initial two hours, the Risi car went on to head the GT2 classification for 22 hours, interrupted only by necessary fuel and/or tyre stops. The #82 crew, led by engineer Rick Mayer and crew chief Chris Riggs, also performed faultlessly, as each of their 27 pit-stops was carried out without problem. The only unscheduled stop was at 11:30pm when Salo, suspecting a puncture - which turned out to be a flat-spot - returned to the pits for a new set of Michelins just 20 minutes after starting his stint.

"Jaime gave us a very good start - he drove fantastic at the beginning - and then Mika and I were able to start pulling out a 45-second gap from the cars behind us," Bruni revealed, "After the Porsches crashed together, we were able to control the race and keep to our pace. There was still 18 hours to go, which was a long way, but we kept on with the 'no risk' strategy and we won. It's fantastic."

It was not all rosy for Risi, however, as the team's second car - the #83 Ferrari 430GT entered for Krohn Racing's Tracy Krohn, Nic J?nsson and Eric van de Poele - was unable to repeat its podium success of 2007. Just before the one-hour mark, Krohn left the track coming out of Arnage, causing damage to the front and rear of the car against the barriers. He attempted to continue but was forced to a halt in the Porsche Curves, with damage to the radiator and rear suspension which ultimately led to the car's retirement.

Ferrari took second, third and fourth in class after debutant Virgo Motorsport was cruelly forced to retire in the closing stages [see separate story]. The British team had dogged Risi's wheeltracks throughout, but was ultimately classified as the final retirement after 289 laps.

Second place was duly taken by BMS Scuderia Italia, with Farnbacher Racing and JMB Racing both also coming in ahead of the leading Porsche, which claimed fifth in class courtesy of Team Felbermeyer Proton.