The first time that Inter Europol Competition won one of endurance racing’s biggest events, the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was an unforgettable experience for everyone involved.
Two years later, and Inter Europol has added to its legacy with a second major endurance victory at the Twelve Hours of Sebring. It was its first win as a fully-independent IMSA team, after the conclusion of a championship-winning collaboration with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, and another reminder that the Polish outfit means business on both sides of the Atlantic.
And it seemed quite improbable when, with 46 minutes to go, it was one of two LMP2 leaders that didn’t pit before a Full Course Yellow came out for a tire carcass that was lying in the middle of the Ullmann Straight.
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“We wanted to beat the wave-by, which we did, and it worked out,” said Tom Dillmann, who handled the last two hours for the team. “A nice recovery after the early DNF in Daytona. To bounce back with the win is the best we could have done. We are now back in contention for the title.”
Dillmann then drove by class leader Malthe Jakobsen and the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07 to take the lead after Jakobsen – who had, to that point, run a flawless race – clumsily collided with the No. 13 AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R at Sunset Bend, leading to a drive-through penalty for Jakobsen that took CrowdStrike/APR off the podium down to sixth.
“The team prior to the yellow was catching the CrowdStrike (car) very quickly, so I knew we had good pace. But to be fast enough to overtake is another story with this kind of high downforce car,” Dillmann said about his pursuit of the race lead.
“I knew we had a shot, but you know in IMSA you can really go from hero to zero in an instant in those last few minutes. I kept pressuring (Jakobsen) because I know that if you have the pressure behind you, you have to risk a lot in traffic. That’s what happened.”
“It happened to me a month ago, I was on the other side. I was leading in the Asian Le Mans Series, and I made a mistake in traffic.” Dillmann was leading the second race in a double-header at Dubai Autodrome when he collided with a GT car and spun out of the lead with five minutes left in that race.
“I know what can happen – it happened, and I could take the lead, and from then on I think I had enough pace to control the race.
“You still need to go through GT traffic, which is not easy. They are all packed, they are all racing for position. They are not letting you by easy. Once I was through the GT traffic, I knew it was under control and brought it home.”
Inter Europol Competition has now moved back into third in the LMP2 points standings behind the No. 74 Riley team which finished fourth at Sebring, and the Daytona-winning No. 22 United Autosports USA team that sadly got tangled in a collision near the end and finished five laps down in eighth.
It was a big win for Dillmann, Bijoy Garg – and the newest member of the crew, Jeremy Clarke, who has quickly found a groove in LMP2 racing after making his class debut over the winter in the Asian Le Mans Series.
“My goal this whole weekend, being my first IMSA race, first time at Sebring, was just bring the car home, no damage. That was my number one goal,” Clarke commented. “I played it very conservatively, made sure I understood what the car was going to be like in those conditions, then kind of just built confidence over time.”
“And it ended up keeping me in the car for the first three hours and some odd change. I think it was really good team strategy. I think that kind of really helped us get in the position of winning this race.”
Running the first three hours with no mistakes was important in a race where some of Clarke’s Bronze-graded peers in LMP2 had their struggles early on, and a big boost of confidence after a spin in Qualifying for the Ferrari Challenge graduate.
“I think my lap times towards double stint tyres were faster than the start of the race on new tires. I definitely built up a lot of confidence throughout that stint,” he said.
Clarke also had exciting news to share after the race, saying: “I’m committed to do the rest of the endurance races this year, so yeah, I’m planning on doing that with the team.”
It’s unclear what this means for Jon Field – who was unable to race at Sebring due to a medical issue after coming back to IMSA at Daytona. Though RACER understands he is set to return to the championship later in the season.
At any rate, the Racing Bakers from Poland have gone from colourful LMP2 underdogs to serious contenders everywhere they race, including IMSA, where they have a brand new base at Indianapolis and now, a victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring to kickstart this newest chapter.