Welcome to the Ardennes Forest of Belgium, everybody, as we get set for another round of the 2022 Le Mans Cup in conjunction with the European Le Mans Series, at the fabled Spa Francorchamps circuit. This is the penultimate race of the 2022 Le Mans Cup season, so time is without doubt of the essence. If drivers want to go for the championship, start making moves, now, and decisive ones. This is the fifth round, at this legendary and resurfaced track. The drivers have been on a two-and-a-half-month summer break and are back now for the last two races of 2022. Stephen Pattrick and Freddie Hunt both feel good about being back. Jerome de Sadeleer says Spa is the greatest track in the world. Eau Rouge is a favorite corner for everybody and isn't that obvious. That is one of if not the greatest corner in all of worldwide motor racing.
Stephen Pattrick says the track is a Jekyll and Hyde where you have to commit and be subtle. The hsitory and charisma of the place is incredible. Freddie Hunt wants to be in the lead. For Jerome de Sadeleer and his team at MV2S, they cannot take too many risks but know they are going to push. 2021 3rd place finisher in LMC, Alexander Matschull is the subject of our check in with the teams in each race and here how he and the team at Racing Spirit of Leman are planning their strategy. Full tanks, new tires, and both drivers are going to go out for eight laps apiece during the quali sessions. Pushing at 100% is paramount to keep the tires warm on the circuit.
Early bird gets the worm in this session. OK. Let's see what happens. Racing Spirit of Leman according to Alexander Matschull, is a great team, and he is getting along extremely well with French co-driver Tom Dillman. Dillman is helping Matschull as a coach, a driving coach. The team is checking tire pressures during Free Practice and qualifying alike. This is a family owned and professional team. Matschull is content with that. He wants a championship but there are four hours of racing left. Two here at Spa Francorchamps, and then, two more at the season finale in Portimao, Portugal.
For the GT3 team spotlight this time, we are looking at GMB Motorsport, the Danish team in GT3 which has been consistently running three Honda NSX GT3's all season. Kasper Jensen will be sharing with F1 and sports car legend Jan Magnussen for a Q&A. What are your everyday cars? For Kasper Jensen they are a 2013 Fiat Panda and a 2011 Ford Focus. For Jan Magnussen, he drives a Seat Cupra. That leads to the obvious question. What is your dream car? Jan Magnussen is a McLaren fan and would like to drive either a 720S or 765. Kasper Jensen dreams of a Porsche 911 GT3. Favorite circuit? This is a good one. Spa Francorchamps is probably Kasper Jensen's favorite. It is at the top of his list and it is the first time he has driven here.
For Jan Magnussen, his favorite European circuit is here at Spa and he makes a great point in that these old school tracks with their layouts, put the emphasis on skill and bravery the way it always has been in motor racing. A couple of Danish legends up next and which is your favorite? Is it Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen or nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen? For both, it is Tom Kristensen. Great choice. The legend, the man. Next, who is your favorite Danish sports figure? Is it soccer player Christian Eriksen, or cyclist Jonas Vingegaard? It is an even split. Magnussen is a Vingegaard fan and a fan of cycling while for Kasper Jensen, he is a soccer fan and chooses Christian Eriksen.
Favorite sports team? Ooh. Another good one. Kasper Jensen is into the Danish football club and for Magnussen, well, his favorite teams are all racing teams. Best teammate? This could get interesting. I honestly am unaware of the dirver Kasper Jensen mentioned. I could not understand who it was. But for Jan Magnussen, it is his longtime Corvette Racing teammate Antonio "The King of Spain" Garcia. Role model? Ayrton Senna was Jan Magnussen's racing role model. For Kasper Jensen once again, he gravitates to Tom Kristensen.
Alright. It is time now, to race, the penultimate round of the Le Mans Cup. Freddie Hunt is your LMP3 polesitter for Reiter Engineering. He and Mads Siljehaug, the Norwegian, are in P1 and in GT3 it is one of those quick GMB Honda's, the #44 with Jens Reno Moller starting the car. Now, it is time to race. Moller scored his third 2022 pole. Autumn has come to the Ardennes. The race is underway, but with wet and foggy conditions in the forest today, we are wisely and sensibly beginning this motor race behind the safety car. Perhaps the weather is going to improve. Stand by. We will find out in a wee while what Mother Nature is going to do.
We have run three laps circulating behind the safety car with 25 minutes of the race already on the board in this two-hour event here at Spa. We are finally going to go to green flag conditions. Blastoff! Away we go! Freddie Hunt is pulling away from everyone else. The advantage for him is he can see much more clearly out of his windscreen. The chaps behind him are all dealing with the spray, the rooster tails just like the wake of a boat. Torsten Kratz on driver's right trying to see if there are dry patches any place and the scrap is on at La Source, look. Pick up speed, put heat into the tires, and into the brakes.
They steam downhill into Eau Rouge at speed for the first time. The new surface appears to have the grip the drivers are looking for which is a good sign. Climbing the Kemmel straightaway for the first time into Raidillon at the top of the hill, Freddie Hunt is nose to nose with Torsten Kratz. Hunt is keeping himself out of that wall of spray so he can see where he is going without the windscreen misting up. Luis Sanjuan and Jerome de Sadeleer are battling on for third. Sanjuan in the #40 Graff Racing Ligier, the Swiss driver now sharing the car for this event and for the finale at Portimao with Frenchman David Droux.
Whoops! A spin in the wet at Les Combes, the corner at the top of the hill after Raidillon. Alexander Talkanitsa Sr., the father, sharing with his son Alexander Talkinista Jr. in the #9 AT Racing Team #9 Ligier is off in the wet grass. This car was shared by two different drivers in the third and fourth races of the year at Le Mans and Monza and featured Frenchman Charles Milesi and American Gregory Huffaker. Will Talkinitsa Sr. avoid the Armco? Phew! Yes! He does. You can open your eyes now. A battle for position with DKR Engineering a part of it. Car #3 has Gold rated driver Laurents Horr at the controls for the opening stanza. American Jon Brownson of course is his co-driver.
He has worked his way up from 27th on the grid to 16th spot passing Horst Felbermayr Jr. in the blue RLR MSport Ligier #53. Felbermayr Jr. sharing with Simon Butler of England. So, he has passed another car and now is right on the tail of Shaun Lynn in the #2 United Autosports Ligier that Lynn is sharing with his son, Max Lynn. Felbermayr has his hands full as everyone on this track is struggling for grip. Side by side stuff into Eau Rouge and Lorents Horr makes the pass. There is an absolutely impenetrable wall of water surrounding these cars and here at Spa, the mist can hang in the trees and make visibility a nightmare.
Oh boy. Jonathan Brossard has beached the #6 ANS Motorsport Ligier in the gravel trap, the Swiss driver sharing with ANS team boss Nicholas Schatz, the Frenchman. Torsten Kratz also plows through the gravel from second spot and reaches terra firma, thankfully. Jeepers, well done! Now that is the understatement of the day! He just barely got out of that shemozzle. Mads Siljehaug talks about track conditions and says the more it rains the more water floats on top of the pavement and drivers will being aquaplaning and have no control over the car. Stay safe, find the right line, and don't be too aggressive. It is obvious why we are behind the safety car now.
More trouble as the #22 United Autosport Ligier spins off. This is Andres Latorre and Garnet Patterson, the Australian duo. It is not clear if it is Latorre or Patterson at the wheel. Ah. It is Latorre driving, and he gets back on route. This is going to be a long race even though it is slated to run to a two-hour duration. Cool Racing driver Malthe Jakobsen from Denmark makes that point. "It is going to be very tricky to keep the car on the asphalt the whole way around. You have the championship in the back of your mind but when you put your helmet on, focus on driving, and going forward." Exactly, Malthe. That is the right attitude to have.
Jan Magnussen has seen these conditions at Spa before as he is preparing for his debut in Michelin Le Mans Cup at GMB Racing and their Honda NSX GT3 team. Magnussen of course, before his sports car racing career, he was a star Formula 1 driver as well. We are back under green and have nearly reached the midway point of this race and will have an hour on the board, soon, with an hour to go if the weather doesn't act up and the rain doesn't get worse. Check that. 50 minutes to go. This is an hour and 50-minute event, not two hours. The starting drivers have seen two safety cars. Freddie Hunt has now completed 12 laps, 52 miles.
But he is barely hanging onto the lead. Jerome de Sadeleer is catching him hand over fist while Torsten Kratz escaped the gravel trap and is now third. In the Ardennes the mist just hangs in the air and there is no place for it to go. We have seen very wet editions before of the 24 Hours of Spa for GT3 cars and of course the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix as well. Kratz ducks left and back to the right not to make a move necessarily, but just to see where he is going through the spray. He is on the outside, but you'd never know it judging from that cloud of spray in front of the camera and no doubt obscuring his windscreen.
Preserve the car, get to the pit stop window and hand the car over to your co-driver clean. Don't do anything silly in these wet conditions. I know in the rain affected races we keep harping on it. But it is true. You must drive slower and more cautiously in the rain. Wow. Laurents Horr has made it to fourth place after being buried down in 26th on the grid and he is now giving Luis Sanjuan a run for his money. He lost time during both safety car scrambles that we've seen but if it wasn't a wet race there is no way he'd gain this much ground. He dusts Sanjuan and continues motoring and this is proof, put your Gold rated driver in early doors and let him have at it, and it can make a massive difference!
Alexander Matschull, leading the points table, he is currently in 15th. The battle is on for 12th spot too, look. That is the #77 Team Thor machine of Icelandic driver Audunn Gudmundsson sharing with Danish driver Michael Markussen. He passes by one of the other United Autosports cars, the #32 Ligier with Daniel Schneider of Brazil at the controls, sharing with Britain's Andy Meyrick. Pit stop time at Racing Spirit of Leman. Car #10 in the lane, and Alexander Matschull hands over the wheel to Frenchman Tom Dillman. Lorents Horr now to second place passing Torsten Kratz.
Freddie Hunt continues leading the motor race with 16 laps complete, 70 miles. He has passed by a car that started on the front row of the grid. Laurents Horr is putting on a great drive today. The #61 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 is in pit lane for routine service and a driver change as Andrea Montermini, the Italian veteran of Formula 3, Formula 1, and sports cars takes the car over from Swiss driver Gino Forgione. The #55 GMB Honda NSX is in the pits too as Kristian Poulsen finishes his stint and hands over to Kasper Jensen. The sister car, #44 is in the GT3 class lead. That is indeed Jens Moller.
We've now passed halfway and have 53 minutes remaining in the penultimate event of the 2022 season. #44 leads GT3 with Jens Moller splashing through the spray. Keep it on the blacktop and stay off the curbs. 53 minutes left on the board in the penultimate event of the season. The race leader in pit lane for service. Freddie Hunt finishes his stint and hands over to Mads Siljehaug. Laurents Horr has also handed off the #3 DKR Engineering car to Jon Brownson. Jerome de Sadeleer in the lane as well handing off to Frenchman Louis Rousset. Mads Siljehaug leads after pit stops.
Jon Brownson led for a single lap before the pit stop. The conditions are atrocious, and it has been very wet today. Jens Moller can be happy with his day's work and says the safety car was a good decision. The strategy was to keep Moller in the car and hope for a Full Course Yellow which has not come. Pit reporter Hailey Edmonds asks, "would this race come down to team orders?" Moller replies, "no, I don't think so. Not at this point where Bullitt is out." Bullitt of course is Bullitt Racing with their Aston Martin. Stephen Pattrick and Valentin Haase-Clot have retired from the race.
Good LMP3 scrap as Brownson is under pressure from Cool Racing and Malthe Jakobsen. This battle is for sixth spot. Brownson cannot keep the pace up in the rain. He gies the long way to the outside through Pouhon but does not have enough and Malthe Jakobsen makes his escape. The battle is on too for second in LMP3 as David Droux is monstering Leonard Weiss. Weiss in the WTM Racing Ligier #11 and of course the initials stand for Wochenspiegel Team Monschau. He goes in deep under braking into La Source and on the downhill run to Eau Rouge, David Droux has a bite of the cherry. They pass the endurance pit lane here at Spa, which sometimes is still in use but more frequently the cars pit at the top of the circuit in the Formula 1 pit lane.
Weiss doing everything to come back at him through Eau Rouge, and more trouble for the #9 car. That is the AT Racing Team car with Alexander Talkinitsa Jr. now driving. Oh man. This puts us under yet another safety car deployment. Jon Brownson too, takes his turn on the whirligig at La Source. Oh dear. Talkinitsa weaving the car back and forth to clean the tires and keep the heat in them, back on track with just 27 minutes left on the board here this evening. Green flag back in the air and the track here at Spa Francorchamps is beginning to dry out which is a good sign indeed.
Car #76 continues in the lead with 27 laps now complete, 117 and a half miles. Honda's run 1-2-3 in the GT3 class currently. So, GMB, the Danish team is running liner stern at the top of the shop in GT3. Traffic is a real bear as we have a wad of LMP3 cars all chasing each other which could lead to contact, a little argy bargy as I like to say. Colin Noble is coming into the picture and is right on Leonard Weiss' six as we speak. Noble is sixth and wants to take fifth spot away from Weiss as they thunder up the Kemmel straightaway once again. A good battle brewing too, look, between United Autosport and DKR Engineering.
Andy Meyrick driving the #2 for United Autosport with James Winslow at the controls of the #14, a Duqueine M30 - D08 Nissan he is sharing with Alexander Bukhantsov. Colin Noble has indeed made the pass on Leonard Weiss. The ending of this race will be bonkers. The MV2S machine makes a move 'round Leonard Weiss. Most of the cars in the race have their Pro-rated drivers in the seat. Just over 20 minutes before the Le Mans Cup race at Spa is done and dusted. James Winslow squeezes his way past Andy Meyrick through Eau Rouge! That was a brave move indeed! Mr. Winslow, you've pulled off a stonking move there, sunshine! Holy cow! Cars all over the track in a three way battle up to Les Combes.
Malthe Jakobsen looking for a way around Josh Skelton. Colin Noble, too, wants a piece of the action. Holy smokes! This is fine racing indeed. Racing Spirit of Leman, the current points leaders are now running fourth. Nielsen and Colin Noble want to make an outside pass. The track has dried just a bit with lots of spray in the air and perhaps patches of standing water. Hard to tell. Slick tires this late in the race are out of the question. This is proper, wet Spa Francorchamps weather and by the time the race is completed, the drivers will know they've raced like their lives depended on it. This is stunning stuff to watch.
Jakobsen is doing everything to pull away but just like a fish on the end of a line, Skelton is reeling him in. Skelton, Jakobsen, Noble, in this group. Noble is going to have his hands full. In GT3, Gustav Birch leads Jan Magnussen. No team orders for the GMB Honda's. Magnussen learning the car and how it works but knows his way around Spa, definitely. As a GT3 driver don't allow yourself to be forced offline. That is the last thing you want to do. Yikes! Magnussen had target fixation on the next car ahead and has drifted out way wide! Over the curbs at Fangnes (also known as Piff Paff), and that was a close shave! Tom Dillman and Racing Spirit of Leman reeling in Louis Rousset for MV2S for sixth spot.
Eousset runs wide at La Source after Dillman forces the issue and goes to the inside. Full Course Yellow as the #3 DKR Engineering car is buried in the gravel! Jon Brownson in the gravel and we could see this race at Spa end under the safety car. Nope. We are back to green with just over seven minutes to go, watching the lead battle between Mads Siljehaug and David Droux. Half a second in it. The GT3 lead battle between the three McDonald's sponsored GMB Honda's. How close do you like it? Gustav Birch, Jan Magnussen, Kasper Jensen, and Andrea Montermini in the Ferrari has latched himself onto the back of this train. Montermini is the caboose in this battle.
As we speak, the Honda's are a moving roadblock and poor old Montermini will have to bide his time that he is running out of as this race comes to an end. Final lap. Who will win? David Droux makes a final lap pass on Mads Siljehaug! They are coming to the finish line! Siljehaug is going to try and cut back! Droux shuts the door and Siljehaug runs out to the curbs. This might be all she wrote here. David Droux and Graff Racing could be headed for victory in Belgium. Siljehaug and Reiter Engineering along with Freddie Hunt, have led this race virtually the whole way save for the pit stop exchanges. Final lap. What will happen?
Checkered flag awaits and Graff Racing win Spa Francorchamps! Wow! Have you ever? No, I've never! Racing Spirit of Leman win the championship! Honda are going to hold off a valiant charge by Andrea Montermini right to the last turn of the last lap! Kasper Jensen wins the race and GMB sweep the GT3 podium! Wow!
Overall/LMP3: #40 Droux/Sanjuan Graff Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT3: #44 Birch/Moller GMB Racing Honda NSX GT3
Then, there was one. The finale of the 2022 Le Mans Cup, will be on the Portuguese Algarve at Portimao. Join us there for an exciting conclusion to the season, folks. We'll see you then. For now, bye bye.
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