CAMPBELL: TRAFFIC RISK MANAGEMENT 'THE SAME' AT IMOLA AS AT QATAR
The risk management in traffic at the second round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, taking place next weekend at Imola, will be the same as at the previous round at Qatar, Porsche’s Matt Campbell told media.
“To be honest, I think it’ll be a very similar situation to Qatar, even though the track style is is very, very different,” the Australian answered to a question asked by Motorsport Monday. “In Qatar, I feel like there was a lot of risk management at times, because obviously there was a lot of high speed parts on the track, where you could use lose a lot of valuable time, behind GT cars.
“So I think it’ll be exactly the same in Imola even though the track style is completely different, because we have a lot of continuous slow corners in the middle part of the track, where you might not even be able to get past when you’re in traffic.”
Imola, or the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, is known for its tight, narrow characteristics, a track Campbell and teammate Kevin Estre told media was “old school” in nature.
Campbell, driver in the #5 Porsche 963 alongside Fred Makowiecki and Michael Christensen, continued: “I feel like the traffic management will be just as severe on the risk management side of things, which will make things very difficult. And I think that’s where a lot of mistakes will happen because obviously at Imola, there is, let’s say, limited passing opportunities, and with the kerb usage, some of the GT cars are still quite fast in these sections. So for sure it’ll be a challenge.”
When asked about the possibility of full course yellows, and Safety Cars at Imola, Campbell was effusive in his response.
“I would say, definitely at Imola, I would expect something,” he said. “The nature of the track as well — the walls are a little bit closer. It’s more of an old school track, so obviously there’s not going to be the same amount of runoff as we saw in Qatar. So when something did go wrong, we were able to stay green. So for sure, I would expect a lot more yellow possibilities in the race, which obviously will mix things up a lot more as well,” he concluded.