The Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet, in the south of France, plays host to the second race of the 2023 European Le Mans Series, taking place a month after the centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There was to have been an event at the Imola circuit in Imola, Italy, scheduled on May 7th. However, this race was cancelled due to continuing work on the track at Imola to renovate the pit lane and the paddock area. Will the ELMS return to Imola in the future? Odds are, yes. It just so happened that the track repairs took precedence which also means to close the season out we will see a doubleheader of races in Portimao, Portugal at the Algarve International Circuit.
This is round two of the European Le Mans Series for 2023. From here on out, we will see at least one race a month up until the doubleheader at Portimao. We are catching up now with Racing Team Turkey as they are still at the airport before heading to the south of France for this weekend’s race. Charlie Eastwood, the 27-year-old driver from Belfast in Northern Ireland, he is really relieved to get a win after knocking on the door for a podium place for a long, long time. 37-year-old Turkish driver Salih Yoluc has been racing with TF Sport for the past seven, eight years. He wanted to race under his home country’s flag and the country also wanted him to.
So, they are the first Turkish team in the world of sports car endurance racing. He has raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and now with the European Le Mans Series competition becoming one of the premier LMP2 focused championships in the world, he is happy to be a part of it. Louis Deletraz, from Switzerland, is 26 years old, and like his teammates, wants to win with Charlie and Salih. Salih Yoluc may be a Bronze rated driver, but he has the skills to perform and be competitive. Of course, there is a difference between LMP2 and LMP2 Pro-Am being only in driver ratings.
Yoluc proved himself at Barcelona last time out. Welcome to Le Castellet, and Circuit Paul Ricard. We have had a couple of months since the opening race in Barcelona. IDEC Sport are a French team competing in their home race this weekend. So, let’s talk to one of their star drivers, Paul-Loup Chatin about their prospects going into the race weekend. It is a home race this weekend for IDEC Sport and is very special. A French team in French racing blue. They are fighting for the top step of the podium, always. The goal is to win the race this weekend.
Since the beginning of the season, they have shown they can and will compete. They earned pole in the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Time on the track is crucial. Preparing for competition on the simulator is one thing. But, the preparation also needs to be done in the mind of the driver before they go out to set quick times in Free Practice or to set a banker lap for qualifying. Paul Loup Chatin tasted success in the European Le Mans Series for the first time in 2014 with Signatech Alpine. Winning is a hard thing to do and Chatin had a long time between drinks, and therefore, he appreciates the chance to win again even more.
That is how race car drivers become stronger. If they have not won a race for a long time, they continue getting stronger and more determined to push and go for it. Chatin is talking to his co-drivers about his qualifying run. Chatin has been with IDEC Sport since 2017. The team is like family to him, and the emphasis is winning as a team. Now we move and switch gears from LMP2 to LMGTE. In Free Practice 2 this weekend, the #44 GMB Motorsports Aston Martin ran at the top of the shop throughout the session. It is time for our Box, Box, Box quiz show and driver for GMB Motorsport, Nikki Thiim is this week’s contestant.
Who are you? “My name is Nicki Thiim, from Denmark, obviously. I drive for Aston Martin Racing, GMB Motorsports. All Danish. I am 34 years old.” What is your latest Instagram post? Right here, right now, from Paul Ricard at the test day yesterday. Oh shoot. I can’t read their next quiz question. Maybe it has to do with Nicki’s hairstyle. I don’t even know. Who is your favorite actor? Thiim says, “it’s Will Ferrell. Who isn’t a fan of his? He’s brilliant.” What is your worst quality? Thiim says, “I am too emotional at work, always out the back of the garage yelling and screaming to calm down after something goes wrong.”
“Behind the scenes I am passionate.” What is your best quality? “My best quality” says Thiim, is “a heavy right foot. Go hard or go home, since day one.” What kind of music do you listen to before a session? “Good old rock and roll music. We always love that. Guns & Roses or whatever I can come up with. The Rolling Stones.” What is your daily driver? A boring, Volkswagen Tiguan SUV for practicality to take the family places. What is your dream car? Thiim tells us, it is an Aston Martin Valkyrie. True or false. Are you going to win a race? True, obviously. Always stay positive and believe you can do it as a driver.
The race weekend is well underway as we talk to Racing Spirit of Leman in LMP2, and they show us the “spirit” part of their name rings true because motor racing is all about team spirit. LMP3 qualifying is coming up. 15 minutes to be fastest of them all puts pressure on the drivers. Pit exit is now open for LMP3 qualifying. “OK, Antoine. Info from GT3 qualifying. There’s a huge headwind at Signes, so getting a slipstream into Signes will really help you.” “Copy, copy. I’d raher be on my own, though.” “1:53.2, not that fast. He’ll have to change the tires after spinning. He’s about to if he feels something, or maybe not. Not much time.”
“Losing 4/10ths in sector one, Antoine. We must push.” The team ended up finishing LMP3 qualifying in 11th place. Team spirit is all about being positive when things aren’t going your way. “We’ll have to do some overtaking tomorrow.” “Yes, I think so. It will be key to gain places.” So, let’s find out how well things could work out on race day. It is time. Fans are here at a hot Paul Ricard Circuit for race day. It is 30 degrees Celsius ambient temperature out there. Nonetheless it’s race day. There’s a motorcycle stunt show and an autograph session with the drivers.
We are getting ready for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet. On pole position in the GTE class, it is the #77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 being shared by Christian Ried, Giammarco Levorato, and Julien Andlauer. They are starting 29th overall ahead of Spirit of Race and their sister car #93.
1. #77 Ried/Levorato/Andlauer Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 1:56.260
2. #55 Cameron/Griffin/Perel Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE Evo 1:56.407
3. #93 Fassbender/Lietz/Rump Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 1:56.482
The fastest LMP3 car is the #12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine M30 – D08 Nissan being shared by German’s Torsten Kratz and Leonard Weiss partnered with Venezuelan driver Oscar Tunjo. They are starting 17th overall.
1. #12 Kratz/Weiss/Tunjo WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan 1:51.267
2. #10 Van Berlo/Luthen Eurointernational Ligier JS P320 Nissan 1:51.326
3. #7 Harper-Ellam/Wells Nielsen Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan 1:51.349
Starting seventh and on pole in LMP2 Pro-Am it is Racing Team Turkey who we saw the team profile on earlier. They start ahead of both Proton Competition and Nielsen Racing.
1. #34 Deletraz/Eastwood/Yoluc Racing Team Turkey Oreca 07 1:46.178
2. #99 Ried/Roda/Bruni Proton Competition Oreca 07 1:47.008
3. #24 Beche/Hanley/Sales Nielsen Racing Oreca 07 1:47.208
Cool Racing have the overall pole position and pole in LMP2 with their #47 Oreca 07 of Vadislav Lombko of Russia, Reshad De Gerus of France, and Argentinian driver Jose Maria Lopez, concurrently driving for the factory Toyota Hypercar team in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Car #47 is on the pole just as they were last time out in Barcelona.
1. #47 de Gerus/Lomko/Lopez Cool Racing 0reca 07 1:44.253
2. #28 Chatin/Horr/Lafargue IDEC Sport 0reca 07 1:44.519
3. #65 van der Helm/Maldonado/van Uitert Panis Racing Oreca 07 1:44.600
The La Marseilles, the National Anthem of France is sung. Now, it is time to go racing. Starting drivers are in the cars. The 3 minutes board is displayed by a marshal. Drivers, in the zone, focused. Ready to race. Vadislav Lomko and Paul Lafargue on the front row of the grid for Cool Racing and IDEC Sport respectively. Lomko dropping a long way back. The trouble here is that Paul Lafargue and the Inter Europol LMP2 car #43 are a long way clear and technically, cannot cross the start/finish line before the polesitter. This is going to raise the ire of the Race Director and the stewards.
Lomko has a massive head of steam as we immediately go green and that caught the whole right-hand column of cars by surprise as they scream into turn one for the first time. Vadislav Lomko now leads over Manuel Maldonado who has gained one place leapfrogging from third to second. Dragonspeed have spun and are facing the wrong way on the road. That’s Henrik Hedman from Sweden taking the opening stint of this motor race sharing with Juan Pablo and Sebastian Montoya. With a large field of cars here at Le Castellet, contact is inevitable through the first few sweepers on the circuit.
This is before the cars sweep onto the Mistral Straight for the first time. Manuel Maldonado battling side by side, look, with Paul Lafargue. Next in line is the #25 Algarve Pro Oreca with Kyffin Simpson at the controls. Lafargue doesn’t want to play anymore and makes his move into second place. Manuel Maldonado and Kyffin Simpson are both in the fight, too. They ar’n't going to roll over to have their tummies scratched like a couple of giant Labrador Retrievers. The big dogs have come to play, and not necessarily fetch or chase either. The big dogs are becoming hungry wolves right from the beginning of the motor race this afternoon.
Simpson hanging on the outside line moves into third spot. Then comes the Duqueine Engineering car, the #30 Oreca started by Chilean Nico Pino who we have been singing the praises of for a good while now both here in Europe and in North American sports car racing alike. These s curve bends are so critical even though they are entirely different than is the Mistral Straight which is the next part of the course everyone is about to tackle. These corners are crucial for finding your place in the slipstream down the straight.
Torsten Kratz leads the LMP3 class running 15th overall for WTM by Rinaldi aboard their #12 Duqueine Nissan. This team had mixed fortunes at Road to Le Mans in the Le Mans Cup championship when we brought you that action most recently, but they are always competitive and looking for a good result today. Kratz has nearly five seconds in hand over the second place #7 Nielsen Racing car. Kyffin Simpson and Paul Lafargue remain neck and neck down the Mistral Straight. This is the battle for the second spot as we documented. They scream through the flat out Signes corner where aerodynamic grip and efficiency are so important.
Simpson on the inside takes second place with Manuel Maldonado in the Panis Racing #65 car right on his six. In the LMP2 Pro-Am class the battle is also raging early doors. Salih Yoluc aboard the #34 Racing Team Turkey car is chasing the #99 Proton Competition machine. He was passed by Giorgio Roda at the very start and is now doing everything to pass by the Italian. Roda has tons of experience in GT class Porsche’s. His crew chief on the radio tells him, “concentrate on driving your race. You are doing a good job. Keep it up.” We see a spin out of the final turn in replay, and that is the #66 Ferrari 488 GTE of JMW Motorsports with Martin Berry, the Australian, at the wheel of it.
Meanwhile, with only 12 minutes of racing on the board, the lead GTE battle is coming down to both Proton Competition Porsche’s at the top of the shop. It is Michael Fassbender, the Irish actor turned race car driver chasing teammate, Germany’s Christian Ried. Christian Ried, as we have said, he has tons of experience in sports car racing. But don’t discount Michael Fassbender. He is one of many actors to try their hand at racing and ironically, many actors who have gone racing have taken the sports car endurance racing route. It is hard to understand why, but there have been many who have chosen this path.
Steve McQueen, Patrick Dempsey, Gene Hackman, Paul Newman, Michael Fassbender. I believe there have been more. Currently we can see Fassbender following in the bosses wheel tracks. Duncan Cameron, the British Ferrari driver is next in the #55 car, the Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE, and then, there’s a battle afoot for fourth place. Takeshi Kimura of Japan in the #57 CarGuy Racing Ferrari 488 GTE vs. Jens Moller, the Danish driver aboard the #44 GMB Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR he shares with Nicki Thiim and Gustav Birch, in an all-Danish trio.
Moller and Kimura run wheel to wheel down the front stretch as the leading Proton Porsche has completed seven laps of racing, 25 miles. GMB ahead by a nose at the line. Kimura has the preferred line on the inside into turn one and Jens Moller will not be able to hang on and might accept discretion is indeed the better part of valor early doors. There was some contact as one of the rearview mirrors on the door of the Ferrari is working loose. Proton Porsche’s 1-2 followed by the Spirit of Race Ferrari and the TF Sport Aston Martin.
The gap between the Proton Porsche’s is a second and a half. Formula Racing are also in the GTE queue. This is another all-Danish team that is an affiliate of AF Corse running a car for brothers Conrad and Johnny Laursen alongside Ferrari Hypercar driver Nicklas Nielsen. Jens Moller in the Aston Martin now has the sister #16 Proton Competition Porsche right on his tail as well, with American Ryan Hardwick at the wheel of it. Hardwick sharing with Alessio Picariello from Belgium and with Canadian Porsche stalwart Zacharie Robichon. We have seen them racing stateside and in Europe over the years. The battle is on for fifth spot in the LMP3 class as well.
Tony Wells in the #7 Nielsen Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan runs ahead of the two Eurointernational cars, #11 leading #10. Adam Ali from Canada and Glenn van Berlo from Holland. Both of their cars have two-driver teams for this race. Glenn van Berlo sharing with German driver Matthias Luthen, and Adam Ali teamed up with Matt Bell from England. The two cars queued up and blew past Tony Wells down the Mistral straight. Vadislav Lomko continues leading the motor race ahead of Kyffin Simpson. Panis Racing are third with Manuel Maldonado as we have only been racing here at Paul Ricard for 20 minutes.
In that time, we have seen boatloads of action that could cover an entire race and there’s still a long way to go. The gap is out to 4.7 seconds between the top two LMP2 cars. Spirit of Race remains third in the queue in GTE while Rodrigo Sales is making his way forward in LMP2 Pro Am. There’s some smoke from the back of the car but all that seems to be is brake lockup. We go onboard for a moment with Johnny Laursen in the Formula Racing Ferrari 488 GTE. Laursen is running fifth in the GTE class presently. Now, back to the trouble for Rodrigo Sales as smoke is billowing off the left rear corner.
That’s without doubt a punctured left rear tire. There’s bodywork falling off. The tire is not flat and maybe the bodywork was rubbing. The team has a spare tail at the ready. Oh boy! A looping spin for the #8 Team Virage Ligier in LMP3. The Dane spins all the way ‘round. For some reason on the TV graphics, as Jensen is running in 28th spot, it lists him as being under a South African nationality or rather a South African racing license. I am taking that with a generous pinch of salt. Wow. Quite the spinout for Jensen, though, as he could very well be back on his way.
Pit stop time for Cool Racing. Vadislav Lomko brings the car to the lane for the first scheduled pit stop of the day. Lomko will do a double stint. The #25 Algarve Pro car is in with Kyffin Simpson as well. Nicolas Pino is in for Duqueine and Paul Lafargue is in the lane for IDEC Sport, too. So, the major LMP2 contenders are all being serviced at the same time. A good scrap for third place in GTE between the two Ferrari’s with Duncan Cameron on the outside and Takeshi Kimura on the inside. Kimura loses patience and just barges his way through in an ungentlemanly manner.
Meanwhile, also in GTE, Proton, GMB, and Formula Racing all in a battle of their own for sixth place. Porsche vs. Aston Martin vs. Ferrari. Ryan Hardwick racing with Johnny Laursen and Jens Moller. Laursen takes the long way around the outside and makes his move on Moller. With the headwind down the Mistral straight the slipstream is very effective in race conditions today here at Paul Ricard which is advantageous to the drivers. Rui Andrade and Nicolas Pino are in a scrap of their own in LMP2. The Angolan racer vs. the Chilean racer.
Pino finds a spot to pass after Andrade gets stymied behind the Ultimate LMP2 car. This is the battle for third in LMP2 as we have only been racing now for just over 40 minutes of a 4-hour race. Rui Andrade really got stymied by the lapped Ultimate entry. The Ultimate LMP3 car squeezes to the apex of the corner and makes contact there, look, with the bright yellow and lime green Inter Europol car. No damage suffered by either vehicle, however. Moving forward to the 45-minute mark in the race, the battle rages for seventh in GTE between Johnny Laursen and Jens Moller. I knew we’d return to the exploits of these two blokes in a wee while and now we have done that.
It is hard for the Aston Martin to get on the same terms with the Ferrari into the braking zone, and… look out! We have another spinner! Algarve Pro almost get clobbered! That is their sister car, the #20 Oreca 07 with the American driver Fred Poordad at the wheel. This is the Algarve Pro LMP2 Pro-Am entrant, Poordad is sharing the automobile with Frenchman Tristan Vautier and British racer Jack Hawksworth. We have seen Vautier and Hawksworth both competing stateside in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship before and now they are teamed up here in the European Le Mans Series in LMP2.
Poordad loops it in traffic. Now we move to 50+ minutes into the race, nearly at the end of the first hour and more hot and heavy scrapping in LMP2 for fourth place. Francois Perrodo aboard the #83 AF Corse Oreca 07 has it and Giorgio Roda in the #99 Proton Competition Oreca 07 wants it. Roda overcommits to the final corner on the circuit and runs out wide. Multi-class sports car racing is always busy as we explain in every one of these events no matter the championship. Two LMP2 cars are going for the same bit of track real estate squeezing past a GTE class Porsche! The battle here is raging between Henrik Hedman the Swedish driver for DragonSpeed, and Paul Lafargue, the Frenchman, driving for IDEC Sport.
The gap closes and Lafargue very nearly has a clatter with Hedman! A little too close for comfort. The fifth-place scrap in GTE between Laursen in the Ferrari and Moller in the Aston Martin is still hot. We left that battle briefly but we return to find it still being hotly contested. Duncan Cameron now moves to fourth place in GTE. There’s more GTE action as well. Arnold Robin in the #72 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE is all over the back of Michael Fassbender in the #93 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 like the proverbial cheap suit.
This is in fact the battle for the GTE class lead! So, this is even more exciting that we first let on. Fassbender runs wide out of Signes and now, Arnold Robins wants a bite of the cherry. Fassbender has no choice but to lift a fraction and let Robin by. That is the whole discretion is the better part of valor idea that is referred to in racing so often. Torsten Kratz pits from the LMP3 lead aboard the WTM by Rinaldi car. We are also seeing the overall and LMP2 lead battle heating up with Kyffin Simpson reeling in Vadislav Lomko. Meanwhile, at Inter Europol Competition, they too are in the lane, replacing the nose of the #43 car. That is Rui Andrade currently driving and the nose replacement was necessitated after his contact with another car through Double Droite de Beauseilles.
Drivers like Alex Lynn at Algarve Pro and Tijmen van der Helm at Panis Racing are suited and booted patiently waiting for their driving stints to begin. Vadislav Lomko brings the #47 Cool Racing car into the lane for service with an hour and 15 minutes of racing completed. He will hand over to Reshad de Gerus. Kyffin Simpson hands off to Alex Lynn and Nicolas Pino debriefing with the engineers at Algarve Pro. We return now to the continuing saga of the seventh-place category battle in GTE between Takeshi Kimura and Jens Moller.
Moller has had enough of his adversary and just biffs him off the road but in the process causes both the Aston Martin and the Ferrari to spin like tops! Moller was trying to extricate himself from a deep hole but has only put himself in it further. We have an interview at Algarve Pro and our Stef Wentworth is about to speak with Kyffin Simpson about his stint. Simpson says the car felt amazing and they were able to make ground. Simpson was chipping away at the lead, and it was hard to get close enough to make a move but they’re leading now. A good battle is now brewing in GTE between two of the three Proton Competition Porsche’s. This is a scrap for fourth in class, between the #93 car of Michael Fassbender and the #16 car of Ryan Hardwick.
Oh no! Proton Competition will not be happy! Hardwick locks the brakes and clumsily bashes into Fassbender sending them both off the road! Fassbender spins while Hardwick is skittering across the paint which is a substitute here at Paul Ricard for gravel traps, grass, or fully paved runoff. These stripes on the inside of the circuit are made using tungsten filled paint. It is like driving on sandpaper. Fassbender was thoroughly thumped into a spin and so Ryan Hardwick might have a penalty in his future.
An hour and a half of racing now complete as we look at the replay of the shemozzle between Fassbender and Hardwick from Fassbender’s onboard camera. Hardwick tried a banzai move on the inside, but it was too little too late. Fassbender cannot believe it. Tony Wells is in trouble, too, aboard the #7 Nielsen Racing Ligier in LMP3. It’s three wheels on me wagon for Wells. His right front wheel has departed company with the car. You’ve picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel. Bon nuit. That wheel is going, and it departed company coming onto the Mistral straight! Yikes!
Now in GTE we have a battle afoot for fifth place with the slightly damaged Ferrari of Johnny Laursen, the #60 Formula Racing Ferrari 488 GTE ahead of Michael Fassbender in the Proton Competition Porsche, the #93. Laursen in the Ferrari sneaks through past Fassbender under braking into the Double Droite de Beauseilles. That is the long, never ending right hand turn on the circuit, and now, as we speak, this battle continues raging on. Laursen is not rolling over to have his tummy scratched. He is still poking his nose out of the slipstream to find a way past the Irish actor/racing driver, Michael Fassbender.
Porsche vs. Ferrari, a storied battle as old as racing itself, especially sports car racing which has now really been going on for an entire century since the first 24 Hours of Le Mans back in 1923. The LMP2 cars are trying to find their way through this scrap, and they cannot pass the GTE cars at low speed. They struggle to have enough oomph at low speed to get past the GTE cars. Laursen on the inside, this time, makes contact again with Fassbender and for the second time, Fassbender gets the worst of it! Poor old Michael Fassbender is not only facing the wrong way on the road, but he has massive damage on the right rear corner of that Porsche. The whole right rear fender has been completely crunched.
Yellow flag for debris on the straightaway and that is Fassbender’s crumbled fender. Safety Car deployed. Could everyone just please stop hitting Michael Fassbender’s Porsche, please. He must be thinking, why am I being used as the cue ball? It is like Rodney Dangerfield’s comedy trope when he said, “you know, I don’t get no respect. I’ve never gotten any respect in my life!” Johnny Laursen taking liberty on the exit of the final corner but pushing Michael Fassbender around. He got hit from behind that is the whole story.
We are back to green flag racing and blimey O’Reilly, ladies, and gentlemen, we are nearly halfway home in the 4 Hours of Le Castellet! Just amazing. 60 laps of racing now completed, just over 200 miles. 202 miles to be specific. Here’s the top seven, all in LMP2.
1. #25 Lynn/Allen/Simpson Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07
2. #47 de Gerus/Lomko/Lopez Cool Racing Oreca 07
3. #65 van der Helm/Maldonado/van Uitert Panis Racing Oreca 07
4. #30 Binder/Jani/Pino Duqueine Team Oreca 07
5. #22 Sato/Hanson/Jarvis United Autosports USA Oreca 07
6. #28 Horr/Chatin/Lafargue IDEC Sport Oreca 07
7. #43 Aberdein/Andrade/Caldwell Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07
That is the top seven in LMP2 currently, not necessarily including the #43 car but they are in the serial nonetheless. Now, Rene Binder sends it down the inside, or tries to, but can’t. He is chasing hard after Panis Racing and the #65 car with Tijmen van der Helm at the wheel of it. Marino Sato and Lorents Horr seem to be catching this pack ahead, so this is making the LMP2 battle incredibly spicy here at Paul Ricard this afternoon. Great racing to watch, with a class of cars that has been around a long time but being identical in specification, really makes it all about driver skill.
Racing Team Turkey lead in the Pro-Am section of the LMP2 class. The Pro-Am driver rating gives it credence as a separate class but again, with the same Oreca 07 cars. Trouble on the road as Arnold Robin spins the #72 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE into the barriers. Cool Racing are in the pit lane for a scheduled stop as we have crossed the halfway mark of the 4 Hours of Le Castellet, officially. We have a note that Johnny Laursen in the #50 Formula Racing Ferrari 488 GTE, he will receive a drive through penalty for his contact that sent Michael Fassbender spinning and damaged the right rear corner of the #93 Proton Competition Porsche.
At Cool Racing and car #17 it is Adrien Chila handing over the car to one of his co-drivers but I am not sure if it is Alex Garcia or Marco Siebert. Meanwhile, in LMP2 Pro-Am, Charlie Eastwood in the #34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca is under pressure from Reshad de Gerus at the wheel of the #47 Cool Racing Oreca 07. He is right in the tow up the Mistral straight and they are boxed in behind two LMP3 cars. Eastwood is boxed in and de Gerus is trying to make a move but he runs very, very wide! Reshad de Gerus has gone through cleanly and passes Eastwood.
Reshad de Gerus is fending off his newly earned position, but we can see that Eastwood is still all over him. Judging traffic in these situations is so difficult because there are cars coming in and out of the pit lane as well as racing on the track, and some of them are slower than the top drivers fighting for the overall places, especially at the front, expect them to be. Eastwood tries again to pass the Cool Racing car. Once, nothing there. Twice… and he’s poking his nose in there as they come to the Mistral straight once again. The shoe will surely be on the other foot.
Eastwood lining up to be right in de Gerus’ slipstream and we see the race leader in the pit lane. Alex Lynn stays in the Algarve Pro car. Reshad de Gerus using the GTE traffic to his advantage as he and Eastwood split the production cars down the straightaway. This is extraordinary racing to watch! Eastwood determined not to give anything up, staying glued to Reshad de Gerus. He tries the outside through the tight right hand turn that follows the straightaway and indeed, the Irishman succeeds making the pass on the Frenchman.
Pit stop time for Spirit of Race. South African David Perel has finished his stint at the wheel of the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE and hands off to his British co-driver, Duncan Cameron. The battle for the overall lead in LMP2 is heating up as well with an hour and 45 minutes of racing to go. Tijmen van der Helm of Holland leading British driver Alex Lynn and Austrian Rene Binder. Panis Racing vs. Algarve Pro Racing vs. Duqueine Team. The lead battle in LMP3 is heating up, too, look. Leonard Weiss, the German driving for WTM by Rinaldi Racing chasing countryman Matthias Luethen at the wheel of the #10 Eurointernational car.
Weiss has slashed the gap to a quarter of a second in four laps. A battle of the Ferrari’s in GTE as well with Lorcan Hanafin making the pass on Duncan Cameron. Matthias Luethen plainly and simply got past Leonard Weiss after Weiss spun. That is a rare mistake. The battle for second overall and in LMP2 is getting feisty! Lorents Horr makes his move on Rene Binder and forces the issue! A big twitch from the IDEC Sport car! Binder will be fighting back. Signes looming at the end of the Mistral straight. But, with just over an hour and a half remaining, there’s Full Course Yellow for debris on the road. The marshals will get on the track and clean that up.
3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow removed. Now, we are back to racing as Lorents Horr still scraps with Rene Binder. Binder makes his move back to second place. I don’t think Lorents Horr has the power. Now we resume the Ferrari vs. Aston Martin battle in GTE. It is the #57 CarGuy liveried Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE driven by Fredrik Schandorff of Denmark vs. the #95 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE with Ben Tuck driving in an all-British lineup. Ben Tuck sharing with John Hartshorne and Jonny Adam. This is for fourth spot in GTE. Schandorff goes to the inside, Ben Tuck runs wide through Double Droite de Beauseilles.
In the meantime, Lorents Horr continues in hot pursuit of Rene Binder for second overall and in LMP2. He sells the dummy, goes out wide, and Horr takes it and makes the pass. The battle is on now in GTE between the two yellow Ferrari’s in the field for second place between Kessel Racing and JMW Motorsports. Fredrik Schandorff makes a brilliant outside pass on Lorcan Hanafin. His rival is in the tow on the Mistral straight. So, this little battle is not over by any means. Frederik Schandorff doing all he can to pick up a tow down the Mistral straight to stay ahead of Lorcan Hanafin. Ben Tuck in the Aston Martin is not far behind this scrapping duo either.
Lorcan Hanafin will have his hands full with the approaching Aston Martin as well as one of the Porsche’s. There’s been a lead change in LMP3 as well. Antoine Doquin for Racing Spirit of Leman has passed Leonard Weiss. James Allen has taken over the #25 Algarve Pro LMP2 car. Another lap down the Mistral straight and Lorcan Hanafin is under massive pressure, look, from Ben Tuck! Right behind these two is the yellow Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR-19, car #60 with the all-Italian trio of drivers, Matteo Cairoli, Matteo Cressoni, and Claudio Schiavoni.
The top three in GTE are the #77 Proton Competition Porsche, the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari, and the #95 TF Sport Aston Martin, as it is pit stop time for the race leader. Algarve Pro come into the lane. Alex Lynn is out of the car and James Allen takes over the leading car. The battle resumes between the #93 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 now in the hands of Martin Rump from Estonia being chased by Frenchman Maxime Robin in the #72 TF Sport Aston Martin. Same cars, different drivers. We saw Michael Fassbender and Arnold Robin in a major dust up earlier. We have only an hour and ten minutes of racing now on the board before the 4 Hours of Le Castellet concludes here tonight.
Robin has a better exit off the final corner compared to Rump. This is the battle for eighth spot in GTE. Porsche still looking strong as the second place GTE battle is still boiling along well. Matteo Cressoni behind Ben Tuck, right on Tuck’s rear bumper. Pit stop time at Iron Lynx with an hour to go as Matteo Cairoli takes over the #60 car from Matteo Cressoni. Oscar Tunjo, the Venezuelan driver, will bring it home for the #12 WTM LMP3 team. More battling for position in GTE as Jon Lancaster finishing the race for the #66 JMW Motorsports Ferrari team, is passed by the #16 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19.
The #16 car has Alessio Picariello, the Belgian, driving. Scott Huffaker in the #57 CarGuy Ferrari wants a bite of the cherry as well. Ferrari on Ferrari down the Mistral straight. Huffaker and Lancaster are going for it and allowing Picariello to get away. Lancaster on the preferred racing line with Huffaker to the inside. Laurents Horr says he had two wonderful stints and the car felt fantastic to drive, speaking about the IDEC Sport LMP2 car. The tires worked well, and he had everything he needed to overtake and race. This is the home race for IDEC Sport and of course they were also on LMP2 pole at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
We look at the battle for third overall between Cool Racing and Racing Team Turkey. Louis Deletraz is giving Jose Maria Lopez all he can handle, yes, the factory Toyota driver in the World Endurance Championship. Deletraz has the shot into Signes and makes the move. Paul Loup Chatin is now reeling in Neel Jani for the overall lead. Just 49 minutes of racing now remain here at Paul Ricard before the completion of the second race of the 2023 season. Neel Jani, too, of course, is a factory Porsche driver for their Porsche 963 Hypercar in the FIA WEC.
The LMP2 field in the European Le Mans Series, in fact, all three classes, are star studded with names you might not always expect to hear especially in LMP2. Racing Team Turkey, leading LMP2 Pro-Am are third overall, and don’t forget, it was this team that won the outright honors in the Barcelona season opener. 47 minutes to go. Paul Loup Chatin is still in chase mode going after Neel Jani for the outright victory here on the Cote d’Azur. They fly down the Mistral straight another time. The battle is also hot and heavy between James Allen and Jose Maria Lopez, between Algarve Pro Racing and Cool Racing respectively.
Lopez on the inside makes an easy pass on Allen. The Australian is demoted one place. Cool Racing at their home race in France while Algarve Pro will have home field advantage when we get to the final races of the year, a doubleheader at Portimao in Portugal for rounds five and six of the championship. 38 minutes left on the board as Racing Team Turkey hit the pit lane for their final stop of the day. Louis Deletraz should finish the race. Algarve Pro also pit from the overall race lead. Team manager and former driver Nicolas Minassian, giving instructions to Paul Loup Chatin at IDEC Sport. 17 minutes of racing now remaining.
We are looking at the third-place battle in GTE. Kessel Racing Ferrari vs. Proton Porsche. The sister #77 Proton Porsche leads in class by 16 seconds plus over the #60 Iron Lynx Porsche having completed 108 laps, 363 miles. Scott Huffaker all over Alessio Picariello. In the extreme heat right smack dab in the middle of a hot summer, drivers, teams, and cars are feeling the heat in more ways than one before this motor race comes to an end. Picariello only 3/10ths of a second ahead of Huffaker. Just over 15 minutes to go now.
Even if the points yield is not much greater, standing on the podium is still better than finishing fourth. Alessio Picariello is trying to keep his nose clean over Scott Huffaker. James Allen, meanwhile, closes the gap on Louis Deletraz. Algarve Pro team boss Samantha Cox looking on. Algarve Pro are poised to win LMP2 if not overall, and Racing Team Turkey could win in LMP2 Pro-Am. Antoine Doquin leads the LMP3 class for Racing Spirit of Leman over WTM by Rinaldi, Cool Racing, and RLR MSport. In replay, a major development in the third place GTE battle!
Alessio Picariello in the #16 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 locks up and straightlines over the escape road. Ten minutes of racing left now and Racing Team Turkey are consistently being reeled in by Algarve Pro. James Allen is now running 1.7 seconds behind Louis Deletraz. Alessio Picariello is in trouble, again! He is boxed in behind the United Autosport LMP2 car and Scott Huffaker tips him into a spin, again. He clatters into the barriers. The leaders are in lapped traffic with just over seven minutes to go and in the final corner, James Allen puts the squeeze play on Louis Deletraz!
There was an LMP3 car outside, the #11 Eurointernational entry. James Allen continues to fight on the inside! Deletraz is door to door, wheel to wheel with him! Deletraz, the Swiss driver, makes a wise move. Just over four minutes to go now and Deletraz in second is under pressure from Neel Jani! Jani wants to go around the outside and does so. He is up to second. Racing Team Turkey down to third. Paul Loup Chatin for IDEC Sport is tagged into a spin! That will cost them sixth place as Alessio Picariello once again makes contact with another car.
Chatin thought he was clear of the Porsche, but he wasn’t. The LMP2 Pro-Am battle is now the battle, too, for the final step on the podium overall. Louis Deletraz vs. Jonathan Aberdein. Inter Europol won the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the South African driver was not on the team for that victory. Aberdein going for the overall podim. Deletraz slams the door in Aberdein’s face through Signes. It’s the final lap of the motor race. Aberdein might be close but not close enough. The leaders are on the final lap.
James Allen, out of the final corner. Victory in Le Castellet for Algarve Pro! Kyffin Simpson, James Allen, and Alex Lynn are your winners! Duqueine Team finish second and Racing Team Turkey win the LMP2 Pro-Am class and finish on the overall podium! The winners are victorious by just over a second. 126 laps completed, 424 miles. James Allen, Alex Lynn, and Kyffin Simpson win overall and in LMP2.
In LMP2 Pro-Am, another victory for Racing Team Turkey car #34 of Louis Deletraz, Charlie Eastwood, and Salih Yoluc. Racing Spirit of Leman win LMP3 with the all-French trio of Antoine Doquin, Jean -Ludovic Foubert, and Jacques Wolff. The victory in GTE goes to Proton Competition and their #77 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Julien Andlauer of France, Giammarco Levorato of Italy, and Germany’s Christian Ried, the boss of Proton Competition. Porsche finish 1-2 with Proton Competition and Iron Lynx ahead of the Ferrari 488 GTE #57 for Kessel Racing.
Overall/LMP2: #25 Allen/Lynn/Simpson Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07
LMP2 Pro-Am: #34 Deletraz/Eastwood/Yoluc Racing Team Turkey Oreca 07
LMP3: #31 Doquin/Foubert/Wolff Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GTE: #77 Andlauer/Levorato/Ried Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19
Let the podium celebrations and victory celebrations begin! Proton Competition win GTE from pole position. Christian Ried says the balance and setup on the car was great the whole day and they are super happy to win. Iron Lynx second. Kessel Racing third. Iron Lynx lead the GTE title fight by three points over Proton Competition with the top seven GTE contenders covered by just ten points going into the third round of the season, which will be the halfway mark. Details to come.
Antoine Doquin brings Racing Spirit of Leman the LMP3 victory alongside Jacques Wolff and Jean Ludovic Foubert. WTM by Rinaldi Racing finish second in class followed home and onto the podium by Cool Racing. So, the #17 Cool Racing team is ahead by a single point in LMP3 over Racing Spirit of Leman in the season standings. It is a tight squeeze at the top of the LMP3 points. LMP2 Pro-Am victory goes to Racing Team Turkey of Louis Deletraz, Salih Yoluc, and Charlie Eastwood. Racing Team Turkey win LMP2 Pro-Am over Cool Racing and AF Corse.
Racing Team Turkey now lead the LMP2 Pro-Am points by 19 markers, 52 points to 33 points in a tie between the #83 AF Corse car of Francois Perrodo and company, and the Cool Racing lineup in car #37. Delight for James Allen and Algarve Pro Racing with American driver Kyffin Simpson, born in Barbados. Algarve Pro win followed home in LMP2 by Duqueine Team and Racing Team Turkey. Duqueine Team lead the LMP2 standings ahead of Algarve Pro, today’s race winners, and Panis Racing. Round three, the halfway point of the season, will be a night race at MotorLand Aragon in the town of Alcaniz in Teruel Province on the banks of the Guadalope River in Spain. We’ll see you then. Take care, everybody. Au revoir from Paul Ricard.
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