It was the year of Ferrari in the FIA World Endurance Championship last year, and this was reinforced by the LM GTE Am class. Winning four of the six races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was difficult for anyone to hold back the works Am car. Taking victory with almost a 60 point lead, on a surface level it looked like a walk in the park for Nicklas Nielsen, Francois Perrodo and Alessio Rovera, but with not one pole position, the trio left it all to do during the races.
The competition was between them and last year’s class runners-up TF Sport. Nielsen and Perrodo came into the season as reigning champions and were ready to do it all again in 2021. Unlike the 2019/20 season where there were eight rounds, the returned-to-single-year championship consisted of six round due to the continued COVID restrictions around the world.
However, the reigning champions proved they were champions for a reason, winning four of the six rounds in dominant fashion. Bar one win from TF Sport (6 Hours of Bahrain) all Am wins were taken by Ferraris with the Cetilar Racing crew taking victory at the 8 Hours of Portimao. The Am class is known for its variety of podiums, and although there weren’t consistently the same teams standing on the same steps of the podium, only the top five finishing teams scored second or higher this season. Surprise podiums came from the Iron Lynx trio claiming third in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and D’station Racing who took the bottom step during the inaugural championship race at Monza.
The GTE Am champions will, next season, graduate with AF Corse to LMP2 where the trio will take on their first season in the prototype class. The belief is that Ferrari are using this time to get the team a better understanding of the prototype rules ahead of their entry into the top tier Hypercar class in 2023. The Ferrari Hypercar seats are going to be highly sought after, but can the double GTE Am champions leave their mark in 2022 to make sure their names appear on the short list?
