Race 1
These are perhaps the two most significant, most important races of the season for Le Mans Cup, at the greatest motor racing circuit in the world, the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France, being run to support the centenary running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans itself. It is time for the doubleheader Road to Le Mans. Competing at Le Mans is the height of any endurance racer’s season. The Michelin Le Mans Cup drivers have not one, but two 55-minute races here at La Sarthe, to enjoy the experience of being part of the centenary edition of the greatest sports car race on the face of the planet.
It is time for the LMP3 cars and the GT3 cars to take to the track. This is a mix of permanent circuit and public roads over the 13.62 kilometers, eight and a half miles of Le Mans and Circuit de la Sarthe. Remember, two races this weekend. So, double the opportunity to compete on this fabled ribbon of road. This is Scott Malvern’s first time racing at Le Mans for Team Parker Racing in their #18 Porsche 911 GT3R (992). Obviously, half road and half race circuit. Lots of bumps and a crown in the road to deal with for every competitor. Something for the LMP3 and GT3 drivers to get used to.
Frenchman Dino Lunardi is in his home races. Some parts of the track he says are not completely flat. This makes it challenging because of the direction change. Every part of the track is emotional to go through with the speed such as Indianapolis and the Porsche Curves. Gillian Henrion says you feel the limit of the car on the circuit and it is a thrilling experience, especially at the wheel of an LMP3 racer. It is a privilege to be a part of the centenary of Le Mans for these drivers.
There is a new face at Le Mans, an endurance rookie, but a Grand Prix motorcycle racing legend. “The Doctor” is in the house. Valentino Rossi. Rossi is enjoying the speed here at Le Mans, always racing more than 200 kilometers an hour. Of course, he acknowledges the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and he raced here at Le Mans with MotoGP for 20 years. But with the Le Mans race it is totally different. GT3 is the right way for drivers to get into endurance racing, according to Rossi. He and BMW are partners, and he is a BMW factory driver.
Rossi says “we don’t have a real target. Just to become familiar with the GT3 car, try to fight for the podium, and to test my speed and skills to see if I can drive also, faster cars. The program is to come next year and make the big race with the GT3 and after, we’ll see.” Drivers are preparing themselves for the moment, getting suited and booted for the first race of the weekend here at Le Mans. The final preparations are complete and the moment is at hand. So, in GT3 here are the top qualifiers.
1. #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 3:55.888
2. #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 3:56.559
3. #86 HCR with Caffeinesix Porsche 911 GT3R (991.II) 3:56.673
Max Hesse is the driver for WRT who put the #31 BMW M4 GT3 on the pole. Here’s the top three in LMP3.
1. #58 Team Virage Ligier JS P320 Nissan 3:46.735
2. #23 United Autosports Ligier JS P320 Nissan 3:47.220
3. #66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan 3:47.271
So, this means it is Manuel Espirito Santo, the Portuguese driver, on the pole. Green flag! We are underway with the first race for Road to Le Mans! Wayne Boyd for United Autosport makes a fabulous start from the front row of the grid. Martin Rich, after starting on pole for Team Virage has dropped down a few places. Third, fourth, fifth spot is where he’s landed. Everyone has gotten through the esses well for the first time as they plunge downhill.
Rinaldi Racing runs second via a good start from Daniel Keilwitz. John Melsom has moved up and is now in third place aboard the #4 Nielsen Racing Duqueine moving up one spot from where he started in fourth. Wow! One of the DKR Engineering cars is off the road and onto the grass just barely getting away with that spot of grass track racing! That was intense! Now, Valentino Rossi has had a fabulous start aboard the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3! This is a wonderful start from “The Doctor” who has raced at Le Mans before, but on the Bugatti circuit for motorcycles, which is inside the Sarthe track and is considerably shorter.
The last time he was on a podium here at Le Mans was in MotoGP, 15 years ago, in 2008. They steam down the Mulsanne straight for the very first time of asking. Team WRT leading GT3 but in LMP3 and overall, it is Wayne Boyd in the #23 United Autosports entry. Incidentally, these races this weekend will each be 13 laps. 13 laps on eight-and-a-half-mile loop totals 110 and a half miles. Fifth place in GT3 is that HCR with CaffeineSix Porsche, the #86 car. That is either Tim Creswick or Anders Fjordbach driving, and I think with the two split races, each driver will race in only one.
Valentino Rossi darting around behind a trio of LMP3 ars and he has, right on his six, the Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. That is the #57 entry being shared by George Kurtz and Russell Ward. Contact up ahead and somebody is turned around in the gravel in the Daytona chicane. Of course, Daytona and Le Mans are sister tracks because of their both hosting the two biggest 24-hour endurance races in the world with Daytona hosting the Rolex 24 and of course here at Le Mans it is the Le Mans 24 Hour race and there is a Le Mans Chicane (which used to be called The Bus Stop) at Daytona International Speedway.
Valentino Rossi forced out wide and there are cars scrambling all over the road to try and avoid this LMP3 car that has gone off in the gravel trap or at least it’s rear wheels are in the gravel as the field speeds past. The WRT team are looking on. Now, there are actually two, maybe three or four LMP3 cars that have all spun off in the Daytona Chicane. Valentino Rossi rejoins the race, but we have a couple of LMP3 cars and GT3 Ferrari still stuck in the chicane.
Meanwhile, the leaders are making good their escape and Wayne Boyd is building an early advantage over his competition. The Team Virage team cars are running nose to tail. There is a battle on for 17th place between the #22 United Autosports entry and the #15 Inter Europol Competition car. Bryson Morris and Chris Short driving for Inter Europol and in the United #22 it is Australian Scott Andrews and American driver Gerry Kraut. We have seen Scott Andrews racing in GT4 cars in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and I believe Gerald Kraut has also raced in LMP3 stateside in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship and maybe the new VP Sports Car Challenge, but I cannot be too sure about the latter.
Both of those series of course, are sanctioned by IMSA. The Virage duo run fourth and fifth currently. Plenty of racing going on in LMP3 and GT3 and into Mulsanne corner, we have a safety car scramble on the circuit. So, there is cleanup work needed at the first chicane and that will put the field back together. Coming through the tire stack, some of the GT3 cars, but look behind, and… boom! Someone has clouted the barrier on the opposite side of the circuit. That is the second car entered by DKR Engineering specifically for these races at Le Mans, the #5 car, with Sweden’s Sebastian Arenram at the controls, sharing with Polish driver Robin Roglaski. That was a short cleanup, and we are back to racing.
Wayne Boyd has Daniel Keilwitz right on his six and the #4 Nielsen Racing car is third. A good battle for second in shaping up in GT3 between Russell Ward in the Mercedes and Valentino Rossi in the BMW. This is the second-place battle. Since we have a two-driver race here at Le Mans, there will be driver changes coming, and indeed they do. “The Doctor” hits the pit lane handing the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 over to co-driver Jerome Policand of France, another driver in a home race. Policand raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans many moons ago back in the 1990s and early 2000s. Lots of driver changes already completed.
We are into the second half of the race, working lap seven of 13. Andy Meyrick sweeps around the Cool Racing car for fourth place. Meyrick at the wheel of the #20 United Autosports Ligier JS P320 he is sharing with Brazilian driver Daniel Schneider. Colin Noble also in this scrap, and Andy Meyrick who we just talked about has slammed the wall and after tagging the nose of the Cool Racing car, he is sent reeling into the barriers on the outside of the circuit, plowing through the gravel trap! Oh dear! The former Bentley factory driver in GT3 racing, is now dropping like a stone down the order.
He was battling for fourth spot with the Cool Racing car in the hands of Swiss driver David Droux. Droux sharing the #97 Cool Racing Ligier with fellow Swiss driver, Luis Sanjuan. Andy Meyrick is thankfully OK but the car is a mess. The whole left front wheel is broken. Game over. Exiting the slow zone, the #23 United Autosport car is slow and not coming up to proper racing speed. So, the #58 Team Virage Ligier is the new leader in the hands of Manuel Espirito Santo sharing with Martin Rich. John Schauerman the American driver is slow, and before he gets up to speed, he is passed by three of his LMP3 rivals, and loses the lead of the motor race in the process after taking over from Wayne Boyd in the #23 United Autosports Ligier.
Nielsen Racing in second spot, the #4 Duqueine for John Melsom and Matt Bell. Team Virage have now put eight laps on the board. Five laps remain in the first race of Road to Le Mans here at Le Mans. The battle for the GT3 lead is on with Anders Fjordbach in the #86 Porsche for HCR with Caffeinesix and Max Hesse in the #31 BMW for Team WRT. Hesse, the German has closed right in on the Dane in the HCR Porsche through the Dunlop Curve. This is going to be close as they plunge downhill into the esses. Fjordbach wiggles a bit and that could open the door for Hesse!
Oh no! We have yet another huge accident as the rear tail of the #64 Team Parker Racing Porsche hit the wall, hard! Ironically in the Porsche Curves. Alex Martin at the controls of #64. Let’s hope he is OK. Down the Mulsanne straight, Max Hesse in the slipstream behind Anders Fjordbach. It’s the German vs. the Dane. Hesse is looking inside. Hesse on the dirty side of the road into the first chicane. He holds on, going ahead of Anders Fjordbach. Max Hesse takes the GT3 lead approaching the Daytona chicane.
Team Virage leads with Nielsen Racing in second as the safety car is scrambled once more. Team Thor is running third ahead of Cool Racing. So, with the safety car deployed because of Alex Martin’s crash, and now, the sister #59 Team Virage Ligier LMP3 has spun and nearly backed it into the fence. That is the car of Oscar Bittar of Paraguay and Italian Alessandro Bracalente. There are just too many cars stranded on the road for the race to continue under green and so the field must be neutralized to clean up the mess.
Just under seven minutes of racing to go. We watch in replay and that is the Alex Martin incident. He was stymied behind an LMP3 car and had to take evasive action. In doing so, he spun, and clobbered the inside retaining wall. Such a shame for Alex Martin. Tightening the line was just not on. It is the final lap of race one. We are going to finish race one of the Road to Le Mans under safety car conditions. No overtaking. Stay in single file and finish under the safety car. A shame for the drivers hoping for a good race to the flag. So, Team Virage and car #58 claim victory in race one at Road to Le Mans. Martin Rich and Manuel Espirito Santo are victorious!
Nielsen finish second and Team Thor from Iceland complete the podium. A massive victory for Team Virage! They’ve won at Le Mans. Manuel Espirito Santo says he had trouble getting up to speed but then he put his head down and drove through it. Matt Bell and John Melsom finish second for Nielsen Racing and in third is Team Thor from Iceland for Audunn Gudmundsson and Colin Noble. In GT3 the winners are WRT! The #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 takes the victory in the hands of British driver Tim Whale and Germany’s Max Hesse!
Overall/LMP3: #4 Bell/Melsom Nielsen Racing Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan
GT3: #31 Hesse/Whale Team WRT BMW M4 GT3
Hesse says they had more corner speed than the Porsche. Second place honors in GT3 go to the #86 HCR with Caffeinesix Porsche 911 GT3R of Tim Creswick and Anders Fjordbach with Arnold Robin and VHC, Valentin Hasse-Clot, third, in the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Now, the official results do say that the #58 Team Virage entry completed 11 laps and won the race by one and a quarter seconds in which case the victory should be credited to Manuel Espirito Santo and Martin Rich.
I think there is a mix up or a misprint in the results sheet I am reading. Clearly Espirito Santo and Rich are the winners. So, maybe this should be corrected.
Overall/LMP3: #58 Espirito Santo/Rich Team Virage Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT3: #31 Hesse/Whale Team WRT BMW M4 GT3
So, race one is in the bag.
Race 2
Now, we move to race two at Road to Le Mans, which had it’s own qualifying session for Bronze rated drivers. CD Sport and the #2 Ligier of Fabian Michal and Kiril Smal will start from the pole in LMP3. Jerome Policand at the top of the shop in GT3.
1. #2 CD Sport Ligier JS P320 Nissan 3:50.349
2. #33 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan 3:50.536
3. #87 Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan 3:51.779
WRT takes a second pole in the GT3 class.
1. #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 4:01.170
2. #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 4:02.853
3. #86 HCR with Caffeinesix Porsche 911 GT3R 4:04.029
Away we go! Fabian Michal on the pole and Torsten Kratz is the man in the middle of a four wide front row! Yikes! Adrien Chila for Cool Racing and Racing Spirit of Leman and driver Jacques Wolff go around on the outside. Torsten Kratz makes it stick. Adrien Chila for Cool Racing in second and the CD Sport car running in third place. Fabien Michael is now third and under big pressure as the Inter Europol and Virage cars go side by side. It is three abreast going into Tertre Rouge and approaching the Mulsanne straight, but three into one doesn’t go and poor old Martin Rich gets tagged and spun around.
The race one winner for Team Virage facing the wrong way. Argy bargy in the Ford Chicane. That isn’t good. Lamborghini vs. Aston Martin. It’s Arnold Robin in the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin vs. the Japanese driver Hiroshi Hamaguchi aboard the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2 he shares with Monegasque Vincent Abril. Abril is a very experienced GT3 driver himself. Hamaguchi on the inside makes a late lunge under braking! That’s a risky move! Hamaguchi and Robin both run over the curbs! Hamaguchi is a lucky boy and picks up the spot.
WTM by Rinaldi, Cool Racing, and 360 Racing, all having their own battle inside the top ten places in LMP3. That’s Julien Gerbi trying to pass James Sweetnam up to Mulsanne corner. He makes a pass. Sweetnam makes the pass, but there’s contact! Gerbi spins and clonks the barriers but he’s not the only one as he comes back across the track and cannons into the #30 Frikadelli Racing Team Ligier JS P320 Nissan shared by German drivers Klaus Abbelen (the team boss at Frikadelli as well as one of the driver’s) and Felipe Fernandez Laser.
Laser spins a 360 and gets going again. The HCR Porsche leading GT3 comes through the chicane. Oscar Bittar, too, gets into the corner a bit too hot, and loops it. Chris Short also off the road in one of the Inter Europol cars. Oh dear. Belen Garcia, the Spaniard, under pressure from Englishman Wayne Boyd down the Mulsanne straight and headed for Mulsanne corner. Belen Garcia, the ex-racer in the W Series, she is holding off Boyd for now. They’ve dropped away from the leader, Torsten Kratz.
Kratz eking out a gap and now Boyd is going the long way around Garcia. Just before the slow zone, Belen Garcia drops in behind Wayne Boyd which is a wise move on her part. Valentino Rossi is getting set to take over the #46 BMW M4 GT3 and we have more trouble with another LMP3 car that has clattered the wall. Jacques Wolff, the Frenchman in the other #12 Racing Spirit of Leman LMP3 racer. Wolff sharing the car with countryman Antoine Doquin.
Safety car deployed and there is a huge accident for another LMP3 car! James Sweetnam is out of what remains of his Graff Racing Ligier. James Sweetnam and Jacques Wolff have both made it to safety over the barriers, standing in the forest commiserating with each other asking, “hey, what happened? Are you OK?” Both are caught out by cars slowing down early as the #77 Team Thor Ligier enters the pit lane and makes a hasty exit. The pit window is not open so they may cop a penalty for that. The pit window now opens behind the safety car and everyone comes in.
Jerome Policand is in and “The Doctor”, Valentino Rossi, will take over the #46 Team WRT BMW. It is absolute chaos in the pit lane as we go back to green. Tony Wells, the British driver, for Team Thor, he is leading the field. However, he is, as I said, sure to cop a penalty for that transgression. That will cost him a time penalty. Murphy Prototypes also into the pit lane from second spot. WTM by Rinaldi Racing and Cool Racing are scrapping for second spot. David Droux in car #97 fighting with Torsten Kratz. This is the lead battle because Team Thor have been penalized for erratic driving in the pit lane, entering the lane too slowly, would you believe.
It's the final lap as we speak, and HCR with CaffeineSix are second on the road. This is yet another penalty for coming down pit lane too slowly. How is that deemed erratic driving by the stewards? Maybe he was in the way of other cars needing to get to their pit boxes. Valentino Rossi goes through to take the GT3 lead! The checkered flag is out. One corner to go. Team Thor cross the finish line first but the penalty for the Icelandic team means they will not be the winners of this race.
Instead, victory goes to Cool Racing ahead of WTM by Rinaldi, while Valentino Rossi wins his first ever GT3 victory! It is his first win since he won Le Mans on a MotoGP bike in 2008.
Overall/LMP3: #97 Droux/Sanjuan Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT3: #46 Rossi/Policand Team WRT BMW M4 GT3
Wow! What a race! Cool Racing beat WTM by Rinaldi while WRT finishes 1-2 in GT3 ahead of the third place Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of George Kurtz and Russell Ward. A field of 58 cars started in this pair of races and to win at Le Mans is massive! David Droux says you never know what is going to happen and they won. Coming home second, the #33 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine Nissan of Torsten Kratz and Leonard Weiss, and in third place, CD Sport, the Spanish team in car #2, of Fabian Michal and Kiril Smal.
The champagne is sprayed on the podium! Cool Racing only seven points away from the LMP3 lead and three away from second spot. Valentino Rossi has a massive result after yesterday’s race being unlucky. Valentino Rossi and Jerome Policand on the top step of Le Mans. It is a spot he knows from his days as a motorcycle racing champion in MotoGP. Team WRT go 1-2 in GT3 with second place going to the sister #31 WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Max Hesse and Tim Whale, and in third place, the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of American drivers George Kurtz and Russell Ward.
Celebrate with champagne on the podium. HCR with CaffeineSix leads narrowly over Racing Spirit of Leman in the GT3 standings. The GT3 championship remains wide open. Race weekend number three stays in France, but we are moving to the south of France and Le Castellet and another legendary speed palace at Paul Ricard. We’ll see you soon, from Le Castellet. Au revoir for now, everybody. Take care. Bye bye.
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