A standalone event for the European Le Mans Series as round four of the championship for 2022 brings the drivers and teams to Barcelona, Spain, and the Circuit de Catalunya. This event ushers in the second half of the season for the ELMS. The European Le Mans Series is back for racing after their two-month summer break. Before we go racing, we are going to see how good a couple of the race teams are at Spain's national pastime, paddle tennis, and will have Nielsen Racing playing against United Autosport. Let's see how this goes. First serve. Ah. Back and forth the ball sails over the net. Who is the winner? This is a close game. Interesting. It appears that Nielsen Racing and their drivers are the winners of this game, and thankfully, my career as a paddle tennis commentator, is over as quickly as it began! Now back to the motor racing. We return you to your regularly scheduled programming right here on the sarcasm channel.
The drivers are ready to go as we look at the driver's championship tables headed for round four here at Barcelona. In the GTE class, here is how things stand.
1. #77 Proton Competition 44 points
2. #32 Rinaldi Racing 36 points
3. #69 Oman Racing with TF Sport 28 points
4. #57 Kessel Racing 28 points
5. #83 Iron Lynx 28 points
6. #95 Oman Racing with TF Sport 27 points
17 points across the top six with a three-way tie for third spot. After their win at Monza, the #77 Proton Competition Porsche team took the points lead. Here are the points tallies in LMP3, and despite a dud race at Monza they'd rather forget, it is Cool Racing on top of the pile.
1. #17 Cool Racing 43 points
2. #5 RLR M Sport 39 points
3. #3 United Autosports 31 points
4. #13 Inter Europol Competition 29 points
5. #2 United Autosports 28 points
6. #6 360 Racing 28 points
A tie for fifth between the #2 United Autosports car and the #6 car for 360 Racing. A spread among the top six of just 15 points. Prema Racing remain dominant in the LMP2 class, the top class of the ELMS. Here is that table.
1. #9 Prema Racing 60 points
2. #28 IDEC Sport 47 points
3. #65 Panis Racing 45 points
4. #22 United Autosports 36 points
5. #37 Cool Racing 29 points
6. #19 Algarve Pro Racing 23 points
Prema Racing holds a 13-point margin over IDEC Sport going into the race at Barcelona today. Louis Deletraz is one of the leading drivers. He was born into a racing family, won the 2021 European Le Mans Series championship with WRT and is hoping to go back-to-back. He discusses car setup during free practice. He tells them "high speed is fine, and I will stick with the lower gear. We just need to find a little more support mechanically." His chief mechanic makes a notable observation telling Deletraz on the radio "the rear is like you are chasing a lot, for the rest of the lap it is quite nice."
Deletraz is on a good lap. He is very close to his dad Jean Denis Deletraz who put him into racing. He is more distant than when Louis was younger. Prema is a big family with the three drivers of the team and going forward is the will to win and good performance. That is how a team gels. Louis Deletraz sees his future in the Hypercar class in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Will we see Louis Deletraz in a Hypercar? We'll find out. Le Mans was the main goal for Prema and they finished second in the LMP2 class at that race in 2022.
They are still leading the championship. Winning is a hard thing to do with high competition levels. We have had two months since the most recent ELMS event at Monza in Italy and now we are going to chat with James Dayson and Bent Viscaal and ask them about how their summer went. For Bent Viscaal, he trained to prep for this race and went on vacation with pals at Mallorca in Spain. James Dayson, too, has been on adventures with friends going to many great places around Europe. Milan, Paris, Lake Como, Switzerland, and the algarve in Portugal for the last month. They've lost luggage on a few occasions.
More questions. When was your last concert? Oh boy. Music lovers, check this one out. Metallica, says Bent Viscaal. Those concerts were both in the Netherlands. James Dayson and his wife caught Coldplay in Paris. Favorite football (soccer) team. OK. Shoot. Bent Viscaal supports his local Dutch team. James Dayson is a hockey fan, but he likes the Liverpool football club. He and his six-year-old son flew to Liverpool to see the home opener. Bent Viscaal stopped playing soccer at age 12 Spending time with friends is good. A word for each other. OK. Good luck, obviously. Race clean. "Good luck" says Dayson to Viscaal. It is easier since the two are not racing each other in the same category. Viscaal in LMP2 and James Dayson in LMP3.
Safety is top priority at any motor race and the Race Director is a big part of that. European Le Mans Series Race Director Fayez Ramsey says his primary and most important job is ensuring safety for everyone from the competitors and pit crews to the marshals and organizers. Racing is a sport where we don't want anyone to get hurt. Exactly. The marshals drive around the track in the safety car or course car, analyzing the track and how the drivers will behave and as well as the marshals and where they need to be. You have to try to have a good relationship with the drivers, but all are equal, and you must be as fair as possible and know safety and a level playing field are the most important thng.
Be logical, be smart, ensure safety of yourself and other drivers. Without the marshals there is no racing. They communicate with the drivers and ensure a driver who is having issues is looked after and taken out of danger. This is so important and so true. Test the light gantry under the bridge and everything looks good for the race to happen here at Barcelona. OK. Here's how qualifying went as we follow the #17 Cool Racing team. Pit exit is green qualifying for LMP3. In the session, the team looks on while their car is out on track observing Antoine Doquin is clicking off some good laps.
Well, well, well. Cool Racing are fastest. They are at the top of the shop. Mo Smith, Mikey Benham, and Malthe Jakobsen, the driver who qualified the car. The top three in LMP3.
1. #17 Smith/Benham/Jakobsen Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
2. #13 Crews/Oliveira/Pino Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P320 Nissan
3. #2 Caygill/Gehrsitz/Voisin United Autosports Ligier JS P320 Nissan
This marks the fourth LMP3 pole of 2022 for Malthe Jakobsen. Well done. The temperatures here in Barcelona will be hot for the four-hour race and the team intends to do their best. Maurice Smith says that Malthe is improving constantly and working on his lap times. OK. We are getting ready for a start as the motorcycle stunt riders entertain the crowd. Fans young and old are ready for a great race today as the drivers get well wishes on the grid. The cars are lined up and we are getting ready. It is race day and it is nearly time for blastoff.
Here are the top GTE qualifiers as Ahmad Al Harthy has put the #69 Oman Racing Aston Martin at the top of the tree.
1. #69 Al Harthy/De Haan/Sorensen Oman Racing with TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR
2. #83 Bovy/Gatting/Pin Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
3. #77 Bruni/Ferrari/Ried Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19
Nico Jamin uncorked a flyer in qualifying to score the pole.
1. #65 Canal/Jamin/van Uitert Panis Racing Oreca 07
2. #37 Kruetten/Lapierre/Ye Cool Racing Oreca 07
3. #34 Eastwood/Yoluc/Stevens Racing Team Turkey Oreca 07
You will note a quick driver change at Racing Team Turkey for this event at Barcelona as Will Stevens takes over for Jack Aitken joining Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluc. It is time to go racing here at Barcelona! Let's do this. Julien Canal is ready. I hope you are, too. The tension mounts as the mechanics mount the tires and the drivers get into their cars. A final hug, handshake, word of encouragement as these athletes get ready to go out and compete here in Spain. The start at Barcelona, moments away.
3, 2, 1, the formation lap begins. Close the gaps and get into the grid positions, the grid formation. OK. Lights out and away we go! 39 cars starting this race. A good start from both Julien Canal and from Nicklas Kruetten. Everyone weaving around behind them trying to find space on the road. Salih Yoluc, the Turkish driver, he is getting after it right off the start! You know he wants to play a part in this one. To the braking zone at turn one and Julien Canal is the king of the late brakers here and takes the lead! Unbelievable! Everyone in the LMP2 class seems to be orderly and in single file as we get underway.
Ah yes. It is indeed a good start for the LMP2 drivers. Oh dear. We do have an incident right at the back. I think I spoke too soon. Sara Bovy aboard the Iron Dames Ferrari has had contact someplace on the road. She is sandwiched right in the middle of the pack in GTE on the inside. There could have been contact with the Eurointernational car. That was Freddie Hunt aboard the #10 Oreca he is sharing with Xavier Lloveras and Glen van Berlo. Of course, we have seen Freddie Hunt competing with Mads Siljehaug in Le Mans Cup in an LMP3 car for Reiter Engineering as well. I believe this is his first LMP2 start. It very well could have been Freddie Hunt we saw off the road and here's more trouble! The #3 United Autosports LMP3 Ligier is all torn up. That's Jim McGuire who was at the wheel of it, but I think it is game over for McGuire and co-driver's Kay van Berlo and Andrew Bentley.
I think we can see another of the Cool Racing cars that has also taken a shot in this shunt and that is the #27 entry with Jean-Ludovic Foubert at the controls. He shares that car with Antoine Doquin and Nicolas Maulini. It is also without doubt game over for Iron Dames. That's a tough break especially since there are now just two more races left in the 2022 season. Dear me, that Ferrari is crunched with mega sized damage. So, three cars are out on the spot before their races even truly began. In the meantime, we are going to get to the restart and hopefully go clean and green for a good while. Green flag. We've only completed 15 minutes of this four-hour race. Julien Canal leading Salih Yoluc, Nicklas Kruetten, and Ferdinand Habsburg.
In the meantime, look, it is a big move by Pietro Fittipaldi for seventh spot on Francois Perrodo! Wow! Fittipaldi swoops the #43 Inter Europol entry around the #88 AF Corse entry. More battles in LMP2 as Philippe Cimadomo has his hands full with Memo Rojas. This is a battle between Duqueine Team and TDS Racing x Vaillante. The Mexican driver, Rojas, who has done a lot of racing in the United States in the past, he started 16th here at Barcelona and that move puts him up to 11th spot. Good battle ensuing for the fifth position in the GTE class as well. Takeshi Kimura of Japan in the yellow #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE is holding off the black #18 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Indonesian driver Andrew Haryanto for Absolute Racing from Hong Kong.
Kimura sharing with Danish drivers Mikkel Jensen and Fredrik Schandorff while Andrew Haryanto shares the Absolute Racing Porsche with the same co-driver's he has shared the car with in the first half of 2022, Alessio Picariello of Belgium, and Martin Rump of Estonia. Nicklas Kruetten has now passed Salih Yoluc for second place. Yoluc is feeling the pressure from Ferdinand Habsburg in the #9 Prema Racing Oreca. Yoluc defending from Habsburg down the frontstretch and into the first turn. Habsburg makes a late lunge, late on the brakes, and should pull off this pass. He does so, and he loves those late diving maneuvers under braking into the entrance of the corner.
Christian Ried leading GTE has a different color scheme on the #77 Porsche this weekend. That car is in black and gold here at Barcelona. Ahmad Al Harthy is in the mix for Oman Racing with TF Sport, car #69, the Aston Martin. Behind these two is another Porsche and that is Michael Fassbender, the Irishman, the actor and racing driver, is in third place. Fassbender sharing the sister Proton Competition Porsche (car #93) with Austrian Richard Lietz and Canadian Zacharie Robichon. Behind him is the JMW Motorsport Ferrari, car #66. Giacomo Petrobelli of Italy at the wheel of it in this opening stint.
For this race, Petrobelli shares with Singapore's Sean Hudspeth, and with the experienced Spaniard and Ferrari GT ace, Miguel Molina. Molina on this team as Barcelona is his home track and he probably knows his way around here better than anyone. A good scrap going on for 12th place. Matthias Kaiser in the #21 Muhlner Motorsports Oreca, and boom. A little contact between he and Rodrigo Sales in the #24 Nielsen Racing Oreca. Kaiser sharing the #21 with Ugo de Wilde and Thomas Laurent while Rodrigo Sales is co-driving with Ben Hanley and Matt Bell of course. Christian Ried in GTE is feeling the heat from Ahmad Al Harthy. This is a good battle as well indeed.
This is truly the lead GTE battle and Al Harthy wants by Ried into the corner. Four cars in the fight but only two we really need to focus on. Nine laps in the book for the GTE contenders around this 2.905- mile circuit. In 2023, the length is to be slightly reduced again back to the old layout of 2.894 miles. Nine laps completed, 26 miles. Al Harthy goes way in over his head under braking into the corner and runs out extremely wide! That will cost him at least two places if not three. That was a close shave. Giacomo Petrobelli is now right on Al Harthy's six and the Porsche's run 1-2 in GTE competition. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, let's check out the LMP2 and overall leader.
It remains the #65 Panis Racing Oreca. Half an hour into the race and Julien Canal now leads Nicklas Kruetten by just over five seconds. The gap is 5.194 seconds exactly. Prema run third followed by Racing Team Turkey. Ferdinand Habsburg is reeling in Nicklas Kruetten ever so slightly. Trouble in the final turn with the #19 car spun and facing traffic. That is Algarve Pro's Bent Viscaal. The Dutchman is facing the oncoming traffic. I don't like the look of this. He carefully points the car in the right direction, avoiding the gravel trap and continuing on his merry way in the motor race.
We have a lead change as Ferdinand Habsburg passes Julien Canal. This pass in traffic and Canal was held up by a couple LMP3 cars. Yes. He was hung up behind them and Habsburg had the preferred line. Closing in on an hour completed, the battle rages on in GTE between Ahmad Al Harthy and Michael Fassbender. Al Harthy is the rabbit and Fassbender is the hound dog, chasing. 25 laps clocked in by the #77 Porsche, the leading Proton Competition car of Christian Ried, 73 miles or so. This is the battle on your screen for second, third, and fourth in GTE competition. It is Fassbender, Al Harthy, and Petrobelli. Christian Ried is not too far in front of this lot.
One of the LMP2 cars is passing this GTE battle and let's see what happens here. Fassbender stays wide to give the LMP2 car space. Al Harthy is going to use the exit of the corner to his advantage. He can't pass Fassbender on the outside and now he is going to get stymied and allow Giacomo Petrobelli to make a move! Petrobelli sees the open door and is going to presumably walk right through it. Side by side stuff between Al Harthy and Petrobelli. Fassbender will be doing a Dastardly and Muttley and snickering like Muttley the dog as these two fight each other. Oh goody! I can get away! Petrobelli is still there and now, he muscles Al Harthy out of the way!
Believe me, I think Petrobelli almost ran out of road and Al Harthy was just sitting there. He couldn't have done anything. The GTE battle is still hot and heavy with the leading Proton Competition Porsche three and a half seconds up the road. So, the order in GTE right now is Christian Ried, Michael Fassbender, Giacomo Petrobelli, Ahmad Al Harthy, Duncan Cameron, and Andrew Haryanto. Porsche, Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche. Good battle in LMP3 for the lead as Charles Crews gets passed by Josh Caygill. So, this is United Autosport on Inter Europol Competition. Caygill does the squeeze play but Crews is going to be right back on top of him here in a wee while.
We look from the tail mounted onboard camera on Fassbender's Porsche looking back at a sideways Giacomo Petrobelli in the Ferrari! The Italian pushing the Irishman with everything he has. Ahmad Al Harthy wants a piece of this, and he might get it. D'oh! Petrobelli spins Fassbender! Shades of an earlier race this year, I want to say, Monza? This is the second race of 2022 I think where poor old Fassbender has been tagged into a spin by a Ferrari. Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy. Fassbender has to pit and gives up the place to Duncan Cameron in the Spirit of Race Ferrari. Proton should be making a driver change.
We have another all-Ferrari battle to watch as Diego Alessi is moving past Claudio Schiavoni for position. Iron Lynx vs. Rinaldi Racing. Schiavoni sharing of course with his regular co-drivers in the all-Italian Iron Lynx car, Matteo Cressoni and Davide Rigon. In the #32, Diego Alessi is sharing with Nicolas Varrone of Argentina and Pierre Ehret from Germany. Alessi on the outside of Schiavoni who is using the curbs like crazy to make his move. Schiavoni continuing to defend but to no avail and Diego Alessi makes the pass stick. Fuel and tires for Michael Fassbender. No driver change for the #93 team and he will do a double stint before giving way to either Zacharie Robichon or to Richard Lietz.
In replay, Giacomo Petrobelli lunged to the inside in the final chicanes on the circuit and plowed into the side of the Porsche. That allows Fassbender to check the car for damage and to change those extremely flat spotted tires. Those tires on Fassbender's car came off the machine in the shape of cubes after that little shemozzle. Zacharie Robichon explains that the pit stop was unplanned and after the incident they needed to take their medicine and pull a blinder on their strategy. They are still in the fight and it has been a great start. Fassbender is using one of the other drivers as a guide.
Tom van Rompuy, the Belgian driver for DKR Engineering spins off while in fourth place. This is the #4 car he is sharing with Sebastian Alvarez from Mexico and Alexander Bukhantsov, the UAE licensed driver. van Rompuy tries chasing Mikey Benham and going nose to nose with him into turn one. But two into one won't go and poor old von Rompuy gets the worst of it. Joshua Caygill for United Autosport was leading in LMP3 but is now back to second spot after an errant spin. That trip on the merry-go-round has cost him boatloads of time.
A battle ensues for ninth as Francois Perrodo has it and Matthias Kaiser wants it. AF Corse #88 vs. Muhlner Motorsport #21. Perrodo as a gentleman driver must lose as little time as possible to his professional competitors. Bent Viscaal also lining up to pass as we see the #9 Prema Racing car leading the #65 Panis Racing entry an hour and 15 minutes into the race, with 40 laps completed, 116 miles. Perrodo holds the racing line but realizes discretion is by far the better part of valor. Michael Fassbender meanwhile lies fourth in GTE and has Giacomo Petrobelli making a move on him. Petrobelli is through cleanly on Fassbender this time by with no contact as we saw before.
Deary me! Fassbender spins, again, to avoid an LMP2 car that has gone offline a wee bit. The right front fender is loose on the car. Again, shades of Monza the last time out. Fassbender is having a repeat of that event here at Barcelona, something he'd just as soon forget. He'll have to hit the lane to fix that damage. Fassbender is losing time and so is Ahmad Al Harthy with a loose bonnet on the Aston Martin. There will be a replacement bonnet put onto the car. A tire change and a full fuel load for that car as well. Sometimes the race ends up falling into a pattern that forces a strategy on you.
Major trouble for the #28 IDEC Sport Oreca. Paul Lafargue stopped on the road in the gravel. Full Course Yellow. Full Course Yellow. This is a amd scramble to the pit lane. Lorenzo Colombo takes over the #9 car at Prema from Ferdinand Habsburg. Nico Jamin will take over from Julien Canal. A busy pit lane it is indeed. Damage repaired for Ahmad Al Harthy. The marshals rescue Paul Lafargue. However, the nose of that Oreca is crumpled and he will head for the pit lane to fix it. Full Course Yellow removed. Green flag. Step on it.
Lorenzo Colombo resumes in the race lead. Nico Lapierre runs second behind Colombo, 19 seconds behind. Colombo has completed 48 laps, 139 miles. What happened to Paul Lafargue? A simple answer from team boss and former driver Nicolas Minassian to say he made a mistake under braking and lost control of the car and got stuck in the gravel. It is such a disappointing thing. Racing happens this way sometimes. He was running very well with good pace. Some days it is just not your day. It is now the Nico and Nico show in LMP2 as we see Nico Jamin closing up on Nico Lapierre. Panis Racing vs. Cool Racing for second spot.
Both of them are trying to catch Prema and now, the #65 car did not stay in front of Cool Racing at the start of the race. Trouble another time for Josh Caygill in the #2 United Autosport LMP3 Ligier. This is his second off track excursion today, spinning through the gravel, and thudding the concrete wall. A Ferrari battle for third spot in GTE. Matt Griffin, the Irishman, looking for a way around Italian Diego Alessi. Spirit of Race vs. Rinaldi Racing. Griffin ducks inside to try and pass but cannot get through on Alessi. Three downhill left hand turns in this sector of the track. Now, Alessi runs wide under pressure and this could allow Griffin to make his move. Griffin to the inside before the track starts going uphill again. We are back to the Nico and Nico show in traffic and nearly to the halfway mark of the race here at Barcelona.
Lapierre wiggles and dirt tracks it into the corner trying to pass a cluster of LMP3 cars! Wow! That was a close shave! Jamin takes advantage of Lapierre's fumble. He tries but Lapierre slams the door in his face. Jamin tries the outside, can't quite make it. There are about half a dozen cars in one corner there and this could all go pear shaped if people are not careful. Use your mirrors. Use your heads. Be sensible. Julien Canal watching from the pit lane and on the monitors cannot believe what he is seeing, asking the team, "are we OK?" Everything is fine. Nico Lapierre and Cool Racing are the car with damage after all that shemozzle.
Canal says it was a wild start for him, with a big gap in the lead. He was clear after the safety car. He knows Ferdinand Habsburg was faster and it was hard to stay with him. After that they had an incident with another car, and he lost the front. He had a five second penalty. James Dayson and Inter Europol Competition in trouble again. These guys have just not had the season they've wanted in 2022. Dayson, the Canadian has spun the #14 Ligier JS P320 and is in the gravel trap. We are going to Full Course Yellow. Dayson will have to be towed out by the marshals. Nico Lapierre has had the repairs affected to the #37 Cool Racing Oreca and is back on track. Here are your class leaders.
Overall/LMP2: #9 Lorenzo Colombo Prema Oreca 07
LMP3: #13 Nicolas Pino Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GTE: #66 Sean Hudspeth JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE
Green flag. We are in the second half of the race. Alession Picariello, the Belgian driver at the wheel of the #18 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 chasing after the #60 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GTE in the hands of Matteo Cressoni. Alessio Picariello gets a tow off a lapped car and now can look to the inside for a pass on the Ferrari. It is a well-judged late lunge under braking and Picariello makes his move. That is a classic Barcelona overtake. Nicolas Pino still leads LMP3. He leads over the #6 360 Racing car and the #4 car of DKR Engineering that we saw off the road earlier.
Charles Crews says right now tire management is the biggest deal. A lot can happen in four hours. Keep the car clean and keep the dive planes on the front of the car. They've learned a ton since Monza. A battle ensues now for fith in LMP3 as Louis Rousset has it in the #11 Eurointernational entry and Malthe Jakobsen in the Cool Racing #17 car, wants it. Jakobsen looking for a way through on Rousset. He is where he needs to be onto the front straightaway. Jakobsen goes to the inside earlier and makes the pass. Yifei Ye is suited and booted ready for a stint with Cool Racing.
In replay, we can see Jack Aitken making his move on Mathias Beche. Beche keeps the place. Louis Deletraz in the pit lane from the race lead. Just over an hour of racing left before we settle this one this afternoon in Barcelona. Panis Racing in as well. First and second place pitting together. Jack Aitken right on the tail of Alex Peroni in the #47 Algarve Pro Oreca 07. Peroni, the Australian shares with countryman James Allen and with American John Falb. This battle we are watching between Aitken and Peroni is for eighth spot. Aitken on a real tear through the field as the race here at Barcelona continues.
Aitken and Racing Team Turkey are having a good one today. A battle for fifth in LMP2. Richard Bradley now at the wheel of the #30 Duqueine Team Oreca, the Englishman coming under pressure from Alessio Rovera in the #88 AF Corse Oreca with less than an hour to go in the motor race. It is coming down to crunch time here at Barcelona. Prema continues leading the race overall. Rovera ducks out to the outside of Bradley. Bradley defends and Rovera has to cut back the other way. No way through this time for Alessio Rovera. He cannot make a move.
Bradley flashing the headlights and now, the Algarve Pro entry is right behind this scrap. Bradley is going to have a long final hour if this kind of pressure is continuous. Rovera all over Bradley but he has to be careful because if he fumbles then Algarve Pro will go by. Into sector three they come, over the crest. Hang on, before plunging downhill to the final sector. It is high risk under braking. Closing, closing, closing. Bradley stays ahead of Rovera who has more grip through the slower corners. Bradley is defending and doing so well. Bradley handling the pressure. Down the straight another time but Rovera has the preferred line and makes the pass for fifth. Dogged persistance pays off.
In replay, we watch the pit stop from Panis Racing. Job van Uitert waiting. This is a five second penalty before they pit the car but have been handed another ten second penalty for the next pit stop. Goodness me! Thomas Laurent runs wide in the #21 Muehlner Motorsports Oreca and this opens the door for Ben Hanley in the identical car being run by Nielsen Racing. 48 minutes on the board yet before this race is done and dusted at Barcelona tonight and we have two remaining in the 2022 ELMS campaign. Ross Kaiser in third in LMP3 and is under massive pressure for Malthe Jakobsen. Jakobsen is having none of his nonsense and makes a dive down the inside!
He sends it into turn five and makes the move stick. Again, that is that classic late dive bomb move into the corner and it always seems to work around the Barcelona circuit. 35 minutes to go now and we have another Full Course Yellow. Oh boy. There is debris on the road on the frontstretch. OK. So, the marshal collects a large panel. Davide Rigon in the #60 Iron Lynx Ferrari is making his move for sexith place trying to pass Zacharie Robichon and he makes his move on the Canadian in the #93 Proton Competition Porsche. We have seen a lot of Zacharie Robichon in the GT Daytona class in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship as of late and now he is getting his foot in the door in Europe.
Robichon has his hands full now with Henrique Chaves in the #95 Oman Racing with TF Sport Aston Martin. Chaves, the Portuguese driver sharing with Jonny Adam and John Hartshorne, a couple veteran drivers from Great Britain. Chaves passes by Robichon. He is still contending with a loose right front fender on that #93 Porsche which was damaged after that off course excursion Michael Fassbender had earlier in the race. It is a battle of Ferrari vs. Porsche for GTE honors at the top of the shop. David Perel, the South African is under heavy duty pressure from the #77 Proton Competition Porsche in the hands of Italian Gianmaria Bruni. Bruni dives inside Perel and makes contact.
Perel tried holding a tighter line and now loses his footing and gets passed by Bruni. Bish, bash, bosh. Game, set, match. More chopping and changing in the GTE division. Mikkel Jensen and the Kessel Racing Ferrari pass Martin Rump in the Absolute Racing Porsche. These two cars have found each other at various stages of the race today. It is advantage Rump at this moment. The Estonian driver gaining a place over the Dane for fourth. Just over six minutes of the race left. Prema look to be sailing towards yet another victory in the 2022 European Le Mans Series.
This will be another feather in their hat. 127 laps now completed. 369 miles. They run nearly 24 seconds ahead of Panis Racing in second place. Panis Racing incurred penalties during this race and more trouble with a spin for the #2 United Autosports LMP3 car! Finn Gehrsitz, the German, looping the car through the final turn. Tired tires, and tons of clag around the track is a recipe for a spin and these boys have had a fraught race all day today. We have a final look at the class leaders before this race comes to a close.
Overall/LMP2: #9 Louis Deletraz Prema Oreca 07
LMP3: #13 Guillherme Oliveira Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GTE: #77 Gianmaria Bruni Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19
130 laps now completed, with just two minutes to go. So we should see the final lap next time around. Prema wins again! 130 laps, 378 miles. Prema Racing may be new to endurance racing but believe you me, they've taken to it like a duck to water. The quality of the team shines through. Three wins in four races.
Overall/LMP2: #9 Colombo/Deletraz/Habsburg Prema Racing Oreca 07
LMP2 Pro Am: #88 Nielsen/Perrodo/Rovera AF Corse Oreca 07
LMP3: #13 Crews/Oliveira/Pino Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P320
Nissan
GTE: #77 Bruni/Ferrari/Ried Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19
So, this is the second win on the bounce for the #13 team in LMP3 and Prema have now won three of four overall. Just two races to go in the 2022 season and the penultimate event will take place at the legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium. Join us there for more European Le Mans Series racing action. It should be a good race once again, just as we have seen today at Barcelona.
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