“It didn’t actually give me an opportunity,” Vanthoor advised Autosport. “I used to be nonetheless rolling, I didn’t cease the automotive, I didn’t have any subject. I used to be simply rolling down and attempting to go on energy once more.
“And earlier than I knew it, it was a crimson flag. For me, it’s a little bit of a harsh crimson flag. It price us.
“On the finish of the day, I ruined a bit my very own session with making the error. However in fact it doesn’t actually assist once you don’t even have the prospect to even get again [on track].
“It’s harsh, however I believe we must always study from it, we must always look into it why it got here so early.”
He added: “I’m a bit aggravated that I made the error to start with. The lap I used to be on – it solely was half a lap, true, nevertheless it felt like a extremely good lap till that second. So it’s annoying.”
#15 BMW M Crew WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann
Photograph by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Vanthoor had set the second-fastest time in Saturday morning’s third apply session, and Vosse mentioned “we might anticipate him to be sure, within the prime 10”. His team-mate Rene Rast certified the sister #20 BMW in seventh.
“In all probability they [race control] had been stunned that he was capable of carry on going,” Vosse remarked.
Vanthoor mentioned the anticipated issue of overtaking at Imola will imply “technique will in all probability come lots into place” because the #15 crew seeks to get well and Vosse conceded that the qualifying mishap “will make a distinction as a result of right here, your monitor place could be fairly essential”.
However whereas acknowledging “it’ll for certain not be simple, it’s not simple to overhaul right here”, Vanthoor expressed optimism that the automotive will be capable to get well.
“We’ve obtained a great racecar, we’ve obtained good race tempo, so I do assume there’s a chance to come back again,” he predicted.
“It’s a six-hour race, lots can occur, particularly with the GT vehicles we’ve got to attempt to overtake. So I do really feel fairly assured that we will get again fairly quick. It is not going to be simple, however I believe for certain it’s attainable.”
#20 BMW M Crew WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Sheldon Van Der Linde, Robin Frijns, Rene Rast
Photograph by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Rast admitted to creating “a small mistake within the final nook” that he believes doubtlessly price him sixth place to Kamui Kobayashi’s Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar.
However triple DTM champion Rast was inspired by the progress BMW has made because the first outing for its LMDh automotive within the WEC in Qatar, the place the Bavarian marque languished in fifteenth and sixteenth after qualifying.
“We will be very proud of what we’ve got achieved already within the second WEC race, being within the Hyperpole is clearly greater than we anticipated after Qatar,” he replied when requested by Autosport whether or not there was any extra potential within the automotive.
“The aim needs to be to gather factors. Realistically, we will be within the prime 10 tomorrow, we’ve got a great tempo within the lengthy runs.”
Requested whether or not its automotive is extra suited to Imola than Qatar, Vosse acknowledged: “We’ve been working with BMW, we’ve been working very arduous since Qatar on making steps. We had been stunned by our scenario in Qatar and this appears to be like slightly bit extra the place we’ve got to start out.”