Winner & Highlights of the 4 Hours of Algarve & the 4 Hours of Portimao (the European Le Mans Series Grand Finale, 2023)
4 Hours of Portimao
It is time, for the season finale for the 2023 European Le Mans Series here at Algarve International Circuit in Portimao, Portugal. The finale, this Sunday. It is the second roll of the dice, but the weather is in stark contrast to yesterday’s motor race. It is going to be very, very wet. Drivers shall have to tread carefully here in the Algarve as we get set to have a go this afternoon. The wind is whipping around ferociously too. The fans in their rain gear and with umbrellas at the ready. In the GTE class, Ryan Hardwick has put the #16 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 on the pole sharing with Zacharie Robichon, the Canadian driver, and Belgian Alessio Picariello. Here are the top GTE qualifiers.
2. #57 Huffaker/Kimura/Serra Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo 1:58.837
3. #77 Andlauer/Levorato/Ried Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 1:58.971
Incidentally, under ACO rules, this will be the final ever GTE class event before the production cars move to GT3 rules across the board for 2024. In the LMP3 class it was a real surprise as Frenchman Gael Julien puts the #15 RLR MSport Ligier on the pole position, sharing the car with Austrian Horst Felbermayr Jr. and Polish driver Mateusz Kapryzk.
2. #17 Chila/Garcia/Siebert Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan 1:48.985
3. #11 Ali/Bell Eurointernational Ligier JS P320 Nissan 1:48.992
Giorgio Roda has claimed pole in LMP2 Pro-Am for Proton Competition with co-drivers Bent Viscaal and Jonas Ried.
2. #34 Deletraz/Eastwood/Yoluc Racing Team Turkey Oreca 07 1:47.316
3. #3 Alvarez/Berthon/von Rompuy DKR Engineering Oreca 07 1:47.504
Paul Loup Chatin claims overall LMP2 pole alongside co-drivers Paul Lafargue and Lorents Horr, for IDEC Sport.
2. #22 Hanson/Jarvis/Sato United Autosports USA Oreca 07 1:36.726
3. #65 van der Helm/Maldonado/van Uitert Panis Racing Oreca 07 1:37.009
One minute board on the grid before we set off on a very wet formation lap. Race Director Edoardo Freitas made a great point. A reminder to drivers that we are starting the race behind the safety car due to the rain. Rain lights on. No formation lap. The race time starts at the green flag. After a nearly hourlong weather delay, finally the race is getting underway. Three minutes into the race, still behind the safety car, drivers are radioing in saying “I can’t see anything. We must stop the race. There is no way this is going to work.”
There is so much water puddling in the final turn. This is not going to be safe. Do we keep going? Do we abandon the motor race and just count yesterday’s dry event as the season finale? Six minutes on the board. Red flag. Red flag. All cars stop in line. “It is not possible.” The drivers were right. Now, the clock continues to run and if the weather was better, we’d have completed nearly an hour of racing. With 50 minutes on the board, folks, I am not sure we are going to get this race going or not.
OK. I stand corrected. 51 minutes in and we resumed the race running slowly behind the safety car. Let’s see how far we can get this time if Mother Nature lets us have at it. Conditions are now just about raceable as there are still leaden skies overhead. While we waited for the skies to clear up and the track to dry, we have lost an hour of racing. So, this race will now become the 3 Hours of Portimao. There’s lots of spray hanging in the air and probably standing water puddling on the road, too.
Safety car in at the end of this lap. No overtaking before the control line. No overtaking before the control line. Paul Lafargue leads the field with Phil Hanson in second place. Green flag! Away we go! The official start of the 3 Hours of Portimao, the title decider for the 2023 European Le Mans Series! Down the hill they come, and we have a side-by-side battle for fourth place between Duqueine and Algarve Pro Racing. Six laps complete, roughly 17 miles.
Phil Hanson dives through into turn two and takes the lead. Whoops! Paul Lafargue is off the road at the hairpin. Panis and Duqueine battle for second place while Paul Lafargue is seemingly losing positions hand over fist. The Duqueine entry holds station and now Kyffin Simpson, the American driver running under a Barbados license is moving up through the field very well, thank you. Yikes! A spin there, look, for Cool Racing and car #37. Alex Coigny, the Frenchman, is facing the wrong way.
A big, looping spin at the top of the hill. Coigny, just like everyone else, must tread carefully. No grip in the tires on this cold, wet circuit here at Portimao. Oh dear. Rene Binder, the Austrian, aboard the #30 Duqueine Team Oreca in LMP2, he too takes a turn on the whirligig in the wet. More spinners as well. Christian Ried in the #77 Proton Competition GTE class Porsche 911 RSR-19 spins off and skitters through the gravel trap at the hairpin. Duqueine chasing Algarve Pro for third place as United put nine laps on the board and hold an 11 plus second advantage at the top of the shop over Panis Racing.
Rene Binder darts out from behind and is going to make a pass on Kyffin Simpson. Binder goes the long way ‘round the outside and takes third spot away. Rene Binder is mowing this field down. He has now dispensed with Manuel Maldonado, the Venezuelan driver aboard the #65 Panis Racing Oreca. Maldonado thinks he has the better traction and has the advantage over the Austrian driver, Rene Binder. Binder says, “oh no you don’t, sunshine” and makes the pass, slamming the door in Maldonado’s face.
Binder still second while up the road, Phil Hanson continues in the lead. Oh boy. Close racing here, look, in LMP3. The new champions, Cool Racing, are in a spot of bother as Adrien Chila is shown no respect by his adversary. Fellow Frenchman Eric Trouillet doesn’t want to play anymore and pushes poor old Adrien Chila off the road! Chila does a half rotation. Eric Trouillet at the wheel of the #35 Ultimate Ligier JS P320 Nissan sharing in the all-French lineup with brothers Jean-Baptiste and Matthieu Lahaye. Phil Hanson is flying! He is demolishing the competition and runs almost 14 seconds ahead of Rene Binder!
We’ve only been racing for 15 minutes and believe me; Hanson has turned it on big style in that time. What did they add to the fuel tank of the United Oreca this morning? Jet fuel? In GTE it is a battle of Ferrari’s. Formula Racing with Johnny Laursen driving, battles Kessel Racing’s Ferrari with Takeshi Kimura at the wheel of it. A great battle for fourth place. Laursen gets past Kimura for fourth and the Japanese driver is demoted to fifth spot. The lead battle in LMP2 Pro Am is getting spicy, too. Giorgio Roda is being reeled in by Alexander Mattschull. Proton Competition vs. Team Virage. Car #99 vs. car #19.
Proton Competition rebuilt their car after the big accident we saw in race one on Friday. A battle is heating up for second in GTE, too as Duncan Cameron in the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE is dusted for position by Jens Moller aboard the #44 GMB Racing Aston Martin. The Aston Martin’s were strong on Friday in rainy conditions and between race one that day and today’s finale, conditions have not changed a great deal. So, that could suit them as we near the halfway mark, well, we would be nearing it if the race were four hours.
Since we chopped an hour of racing off behind the safety car in the tricky wet conditions, today’s race shall reach halfway at the 90-minute mark. Cool Racing down the inside of IDEC Sport. This scrap is for sixth place in LMP2, and the old switcheroo didn’t work that time. Vadislav Lomko, all over the shop! Yikes! I think he just about chopped Paul Lafargue’s nose off trying to shut the door on the Frenchman in the IDEC Sport racer. Blimey! Proton Competition in the lane for service and a driver change. Giorgio Roda getting out and Jonas Ried getting in.
Jonas Ried is of course Proton team boss Christian Ried’s son. Before we get back to the racing action, let’s do a rundown of positions in some of the classes as they stand. 18 laps now completed by the leaders, 50 and a half miles. United are leading Duqueine by 16 seconds.
2. #30 Binder/Jani/Pino Duqueine Team Oreca 07
3. #65 van der Helm/Maldonado/van Uitert Panis Racing Oreca 07
4. #25 Allen/Lynn/Simpson Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07
5. #43 Aberdein/Andrade/Caldwell Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07
6. #28 Chatin/Horr/Lafargue IDEC Sport Oreca 07
7. #47 de Gerus/Lomko/Lopez Cool Racing Oreca 07
In LMP2 Pro-Am, 24 laps have been completed by the leading #24 Nielsen Racing Oreca. A lot of LMP2 Pro-Am cars are pitting. So, I don’t believe this running order will be official just yet. The drivers must cross the control line to make it official. Well, we’ll perhaps get to the LMP2 Pro-Am standings in a wee while. Before we get to that, let’s look at how GTE stands currently. There’s barely anything in it between the top two as Spirit of Race, in the lead, have run 24 laps, 67 miles. Here is the top dozen.
2. #16 Hardwick/Picariello/Robichon Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19
3. #44 Birch/Moller/Thiim GMB Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR
4. #50 Laursen/Laursen/Nielsen Formula Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
5. #57 Huffaker/Kimura/Serra Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
6. #72 Hasse-Clot/Robin/Robin TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR
7. #66 Berry/Hanafin/Lancaster JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE
8. #93 Fassbender/Lietz/Rump Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19
9. #77 Andlauer/Levorato/Ried Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19
10. #51 Aguas/de Pauw/Lendoudis AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
11. #60 Cairoli/Cressoni/Schiavoni Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR-19
12. #95 Adam/Hartshorne/Tuck TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR
Again, we saw a lot of LMP2 Pro Am teams in the pit lane before. Duncan Cameron challenges the Proton Porsche of Ryan Hardwick and Hardwick loses out of the British driver. Phil Hanson brings the #22 United Autosports USA Oreca to the pit lane from the lead. There will be full service, and a driver change as Hanson hands the car to Marino Sato for the next stint. Oh dear! There is a tangle on track. Racing Team Turkey have had a coming together with the JMW Motorsport Ferrari.
Salih Yoluc gets tipped into a spin by Martin Berry. Two into one did not go that time. Now, there’s a battle afoot for second in LMP2 Pro-Am. Matthieu Vaxiviere in the #83 AF Corse car making his move on Sebastian Alvarez in the #3 DKR Engineering automobile. Vaxiviere passes Sebastian Alvarez like he was standing still! Holy smokes! Matthieu Vaxiviere, the Frenchman, is on a mission today! Somehow he found the grip on this damp circuit to make the move stick.
Skies look clear in one direction but very gray in the other with the sun poking out from behind the clouds. The track remains wet. Let’s look at the LMP3 standings as Eurointernational and car #11 lead in LMP3 presently. They have completed 32 laps,
2. #13 Askey/Brichacek/Cristovao Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P320 Nissan
3. #35 Lahaye/Lahaye/Trouiller Ultimate Ligier JS P320 Nissan
4. #17 Chila/Garcia/Siebert Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
5. #7 Harper-Ellam/Wells Nielsen Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
6. #4 Bukhantsov/Perino/Winslow DKR Engineering Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan
7. #15 Felbermayr Jr./Julien/Kapryzk RLR MSport Ligier JS P320 Nissan
8. #5 Dayson/Eriksen/Manchester RLR MSport Ligier JS P320 Nissan
9. #12 Kratz/Tunjo/Weiss WTM by Rinaldi Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan
10. #31 Doquin/Wolff/Foubert Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier JS P320 Nissan
11. #8 Adcock/Espirito Santo/Jensen Team Virage Ligier JS P320 Nissan
Matt Bell is 1.2 seconds ahead of the Inter Europol entry. Again, he has run 32 laps, around 90 miles. He pokes his nose past the Ferrari under braking. Spirit of Race leads GTE as the #93 Proton Competition Porsche is in the pit lane for fuel and routine service, but it won’t be too routine as there is damage to the right front corner of the Porsche. That damage came from actor/racer, Irishman Michael Fassbender making contact with the Aston Martin of Arnold Robin. The #72 TF Sport car.
Scott Huffaker exiting the pit lane aboard the #57 Kessel Racing Ferratri has no place to go, in replay, and we see him clattering into Jack Hawksworth aboard the #20 Algarve Pro Racing LMP2 Pro-Am Oreca and both spin. Huffaker and Hawksworth also both race in IMSA WeatherTech Championship competition but in different classes. It is the reverse there of what it is here. Hawksworth races GT cars and Huffaker usually races in LMP2. Well, the roles are reversed here in the 2023 European Le Mans Series that finishes today.
Race Control are adding an additional ten seconds to the next pit stop taken for the #24 car, the Nielsen Racing LMP2 Pro-Am car. Now, we can finally have a Captain Cook at the correct LMP2 Pro-Am leaderboard. Here are the top ten.
2. #24 Beche/Hanley/Sales Nielsen Racing Oreca 07
3. #3 Alvarez/Berthon/von Rompuy DKR Engineering Oreca 07
4. #19 Calderon/Rodriguez/Mattschull Team Virage Oreca 07
5. #99 Ried/Roda/Viscaal Proton Competition Oreca 07
6. #81 Hedman/Montoya/Montoya DragonSpeed Oreca 07
7. #20 Poordad/Vautier/Hawksworth Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07
8. #37 Coigny/Jakobsen/Lapierre Cool Racing Oreca 07
9. #34 Deletraz/Eastwood/Yoluc Team Turkey Oreca 07
10. #21 Meyrick/Schneider/Piquet Jr. United Autosports USA Oreca 07
Mathias Beche with the sword of Damocles of the ten second pit penalty hanging over him, he has just gone by Matthieu Vaxiviere for the class lead. Mathias Beche vs. Matthieu Vaxiviere. A couple of true professional sports car racing drivers. Vaxiviere takes the long way ‘round the outside and poor old Beche finds his road blocked by an LMP3 racer and can’t get by. AF Corse back in front in the Pro-Am portion of LMP2 as we have passed the halfway mark in the season finale for ELMS in 2023. Now, we move to have a good look at the battle for second place.
This is Tijmen van der Helm vs. Nico Pino. Pino on the inside in the Duqueine car vs. the Panis car. Nico Pino, from Chile, is making his move. Into the next right-hand bend, a tight turn, van der Helm, the Dutchman, has the upper hand. We plunge downhill in an endless diving right hand turn. Duqueine back to second. Pino thinks he is in the clear. Not yet. Tijmen van der Helm is fighting to the bitter end. Racing drivers never give up.
Tijmen van der Helm sees the opportunity in traffic with the JMW Ferrari in the way and scoots around the outside. Now, van der Helm, in third place, with an hour and 47 minutes left on the board, is under immense pressure from the new champions, from Algarve Pro Racing. They are determined to go out with a bang at their home track in 2023. James Allen scythes inside Tijmen van der Helm at the top of the hill. Poor old van der Helm is playing catch up, again.
It appears Panis Racing are set for a pit stop as we watch in replay, van der Helm is into the spin cycle at turn 13! Oy yoy yoy! Turn 13 is calamity corner this afternoon! We’ll be back to racing in a moment. First we will hear in an interview from Team Virage’s Tatiana Calderon. She says “we were trying different lines to see about having more grip. The track was changing lap after lap. We had a few fights with Proton during my stint and that was a lot of fun. We are making progress and showing we can be competitive.”
While we were hearing from Tatiana Calderon, we saw LMP3 action. Car #12 coming to the pit lane. That is the WTM by Rinaldi Racing car of course. Speaking of LMP3, the #7 Nielsen Racing car is in big, big trouble. That’s Ryan Harper-Ellam with rear damage on the car. What happens here? There’s a cluster of three cars. There’s an LMP2 Pro-Am car and a couple of LMP3 cars and they all look like they are going for the same corner, the same piece of real estate, at the same time.
Poor old Ryan Harper-Ellam is languishing down in 35th spot in the overall. Does he get hit from behind? Boom! The Algarve Pro car was on the outside. I’m not entirely sure how that shemozzle happened. That incidentally was the #20, the Pro-Am Algarve Pro Racing car. But that is the end of the race, the end of the road, the end of the season for the #7 Nielsen Racing Ligier. Game over. The driver, Ryan Harper-Ellam is fine, but he’s gutted. His head in his hands. He can’t believe this is happening to him! I feel your pain, mate. I feel your pain.
Oh dear. Nelson Piquet Jr. is off into the weeds as well, look. Piquet Jr. has pitched the #21 United Autosport Oreca into the gravel trap. There is a local yellow flag while some cars in LMP2 regular and LMP2 Pro-Am elect to pit. That is a long way off. In this replay, let’s see if we can tell what happened to Nelson Piquet Jr., son of multiple Formula 1 World Champion Nelson Piquet. He dives down inside the #4 DKR Engineering LMP3 car and just loses it all by his lonesome. The car swaps ends on him exit the turn nose first before spinning around and just kissing the barriers.
That was just a touch. It wasn’t a hard thwack into the barriers. Nonetheless, the safety car has once again been scrambled. Louis Deletraz ducks to the pit lane for a quick splash and dash just before the safety car period ends and we are back to green with an hour and five minutes left in the 2023 European Le Mans Series season. This is going to be a barnburner to the end. Stay with us. United lead Duqueine and IDEC Sport. These are the top three overall. Algarve Pro are fourth. They aren’t out of the picture by any means either.
There is an errant LMP3 car between them. GTE is just as close and in LMP2 Pro-Am it is AF Corse vs. Nielsen Racing. Just keep it between the hedges here for the last hour or so. Now a battle ensues between DKR Engineering and Cool Racing. So, this is #3 vs. #37. Malthe Jakobsen makes an inside move on Nathaniel Berthon and the Frenchman is not taking that sitting down. The GMB Motorsports Aston Martin, car #44 wants by them both! This is going to be a nightmare! Berthon is going to be the sausage in the middle of the bun and this little dice could turn into a crash, bang, wallop.
Oh! Oh! Oh! I hate to say I told you so. But I told you so. They’ve slowed each other up and Berthon spins! I said that would happen! Nathaniel Berthon is rotating! Yikes! He spins a complete 360, saves the car, and doesn’t get clobbered by oncoming traffic! How… how… how… did he do that?! Several ellipses later after your trusty announcer recovers from a mild heart attack, my goodness! It is so dangerous on these restarts when you don’t have a class split and all the cars are just in this one assorted flavors candy dish, that can get you in big, big trouble.
45 minutes to go. We are taking a gander at the LMP2 Pro-Am order. AF Corse in the lead over Nielsen Racing by nearly 11 seconds having completed 72 laps, 202 miles. Replay from some GTE action at the hairpin turn. Julien Andlauer in the #77 Proton Competition Porsche is passed by the Belgian Ulysse de Pauw in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari and a little contact, as de Pauw uses the old-fashioned chrome horn. A little argy bargy between the two of them.
The battle is well and truly on in LMP2 Pro-Am. Bent Viscaal leads the class in the #99 Proton Competition Oreca with the #34 of Louis Deletraz, the Racing Team Turkey Oreca, hot on his heels. Deletraz, into the hairpin, makes a pass for fourth place. He just barely nips past Bent Viscaal, the Dutchman. Whoops! Ben Hanley for Nielsen Racing in the #24 car spins while running tenth overall. He was second in class in LMP2 Pro-Am and has just been passed by the Cool Racing car with Malthe Jakobsen at the wheel of it, bringing that car to the end of the race.
Hanley is back on terra firma once again. 38 minutes to go now and Duqueine elect to make their final stop of the race and of the 2023 season. Neel Jani will bring it home. All the big guns are in the driving seats for the final stint of this motor race. IDEC Sport leading over Panis racing by 8/10ths of a second. 77 laps now completed, 216 miles. Oliver Jarvis, running sixth, he could very well gain a place or two down the straightaway with two or three of his rivals still exiting the lane.
Jani comes out of the pit lane and Jarvis sweeps right past him! 36 and a half minutes to go. Another lap has passed by and the top two are pitting now. IDEC Sport and Panis Racing are both stationary. United and Duqueine should effectively run 1-2 unless these two other cars can get out of pit lane ahead. Oliver Jarvis sweeps by Paul Loup Chatin! Ten seconds added to the pit stop time of the #12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing LMP3 car for a pit lane infringement. More importantly, United Autosports USA are now in front, and time is of the essence with 35 minutes to go.
Meanwhile, it is a nose-to-nose scrap for third spot between Panis Racing and Duqueine Team. Neel Jani and Job van Uitert side by side. Jani not giving an inch. Job van Uitert wants the place and is throwing the kitchen sink at the veteran Swiss driver to force him into a mistake. Van Uitert says no way, but Jani has had enough of this nonsense and tags van Uitert who spins! Job van Uitert has spun and now, have a Captain Cook at this shemozzle folks, the IDEC Sport car of Paul Loup Chatin has spun and is in the gravel! Oh boy!
Can this motor race get any crazier? We’ve still got half an hour on the board. Jani will say that van Uitert came across him and slammed the door too late. Job van Uitert was distracted and spun in sympathy to Paul Loup Chatin going off the road. Hang on to your hollyhocks here, ladies and gentlemen. I don’t think this is over yet. We’ll see if it calms down. I have my doubts. A late pit stop for our LMP3 leader, Adam Ali at the wheel of the #11 Eurointernational Ligier as the big Nissan V8 thunders back into life. That is technically a truck engine that has been modified for racing, a pickup truck engine.
A drive through penalty has been issued to the #30 Duqueine Team car for causing a collision at turn eight with the #65 Panis Racing car. So, the stewards have spoken. Neel Jani and Duqueine have seen their hopes of victory dashed and will only lose more time than the nearly four and a half seconds they are down to the leading United Autosport entry which has completed 83 laps, 233 miles. Jani and company will lose a podium. Neel Jani will definitely lay the blame at Job van Uitert’s doorstep for shutting it too late.
The LMP2 Pro-Am class is being led by the #83 AF Corse Oreca of Ben Barnicoat. Barnicoat has an over four second advantage on the #37 Cool Racing car. He has completed 85 laps and 239 miles. Malthe Jakobsen in second at the wheel of the Cool Racing car, on a charge, four and a half second back but making up time as we speak with 22 minutes of racing remaining not only in the event but in the season. Oh dear! More trouble and a yellow flag with 21 minutes remaining as Danish driver Valdemar Eriksen has buried the #5 RLR MSport Ligier in LMP3, into the tires. Hello, tires. How do you do?
Gravel traps and tire barriers have a magnetic pull. Come to me. I will rescue you. I will save you from all harm. Don’t listen to gravel traps and/or tire barriers. It’s a trick. It’s false advertising. It’s a dizzy sidewinder. Valdemar Eriksen went straight off in turn one, couldn’t stop, and… ker-runch! He clobbers the tire barriers with tremendous force! Thankfully he gets out of the car under his own steam and walks away. Full Course Yellow with 20 minutes to go.
Let’s take a look at LMP2 Pro-Am and how things stand. Malthe Jakobsen runs second behind Ben Barnicoat and the championship standings for the teams’ trophy in the class reflect that. But this could change in the final 17 and a half minutes. So, these are provisional standings.
2. #37 Cool Racing 101 points -9
3. #34 Racing Team Turkey 94 points -16
4. #24 Nielsen Racing 75 points -35
5. #21 United Autosports USA 55 Points -55
6. #81 DragonSpeed USA 44 points -66
So, the top six is covered by 66 points and realistically it is the top three covered by 16 points or the top four if you want to extend it to Nielsen Racing, covered by 35 points, with a mathematical shot at the title. More trouble with only seven minutes of racing left as we are still under yellow. Jose Maria Lopez, the factory Toyota Hypercar driver, in the #47 Cool Racing LMP2 car has spun out of sixth place overall. We are also looking at how the GTE standings in the race order stack up.
Olivier Panis, owner of Panis Racing, former Formula 1 driver, winner of the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix for Ligier, watches on from his team’s garage area. Full Course Yellow is out, and this will be a quick one as Alex Lynn very nearly runs into the back of the #65! Holy cow! 3… 2… 1… Full Course Yellow is removed. Full Course Yellow is removed. Thanks very much, ladies and gentlemen. A minute and a half now left on the clock. 90 seconds to go in the 2023 European Le Mans Series. Who will take home the victory? Who will take home the championship and get all the riches and spoils of victory? Who will savor the sweet taste of champagne this afternoon?
Lynn and van Uitert, this is the battle we will watch. Van Uitert gets a good start but now Lynn is making his bid and there’s a GTE car ahead. Lynn is clear, but at the hairpin, this is where the Dutchman knows he must throw caution to the wind! Job van Uitert is pulling the pin! He knows this is his chance! Oh! He fluffed it! He fumbled! He tags the Algarve Pro car and half spins himself! Oh, my gosh! Alex Lynn just barely stays on the road himself! Here’s it all again, in replay.
Job van Uitert tries a late lunge down the inside of Alex Lynn and the slightest contact unsettles the car and the Dutchman is on the whirligig. Alex Lynn was jolly lucky he had enough runoff area to stay clear of the gravel trap himself. Both could have been tangled up in a heap down there, easily. It is the final lap here at Portimao. The final lap of the race. The final lap of the season. Oliver Jarvis will do the double for United Autosport. They break out the broom and sweep here at Portimao.
Overall/LMP2: #22 Hanson/Sato/Jarvis United Autosports USA Oreca 07
LMP2 Pro-Am: #83 Barnicoat/Perrodo/Vaxiviere AF Corse Oreca 07
LMP3: #11 Ali/Bell Eurointernational Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GTE: #16 Hardwick/Picariello/Robichon Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19
He and United will win by six and a half seconds here on Sunday. A remarkable long weekend for United Autosport. Panis Racing continues to chase Algarve Pro. Job van Uitert is still chasing Alex Lynn, but it won’t be enough. On home soil, Algarve Pro Racing have won the 2023 European Le Mans Series LMP2 championship! Kyffin Simpson, James Allen, and Salex Lynn! Alex Lynn is thankful to the team, to his teammates. Algarve Pro Racing claim the title by 13 points over United Autosport who win the battle but lose the war.
Here are the final points standings in LMP2.
2. #22 United Autosports USA 100 points
3. #65 Panis Racing 86 points
4. #30 Duqueine Team 79 points
5. #28 IDEC Sport 72 points
6. #47 Cool Racing 69 points
7. #43 Inter Europol Competition 33 points
In the GTE class, the #16 Proton Comeptition Porsche 911 RSR-19 breaks out the broom, and sweeps! Pole position, fastest race lap, and race victory goes to Ryan Hardwick, Zacharie Robichon, and Alessio Picariello! It is celebration time for the American driver, the Canadian driver, and the Belgian driver. This is a dream come true for Ryan Hardwick in his first season racing in Europe and he is thankful to his co-drivers and his team. Here are the final GTE points standings.
2. #77 Proton Competition 85 points
3. #60 Iron Lynx 80 points
4. #57 Kessel Racing 65 points
5. #55 Spirit of Race 55 points
6. #66 JMW Motorsport 47 points
7. #50 Formula Racing 42 points
8. #51 AF Corse 35 points
9. #95 TF Sport 28 points
10. #72 TF Sport 28 points
Ryan Hardwick is proud and thankful to his team winning a title in his first season racing sports cars in Europe. Proton Competition 1-2 in GTE points. AF Corse round out the year with victory in the 4 Hours of Portimao in LMP2 Pro-Am. Francois Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere, and Ben Barnicoat can celebrate! They have claimed the LMP2 Pro-Am title. Another championship for Francois Perrodo. Ben Barnicoat says he has had an incredible season despite missing a couple races earlier in the year.
Here are the standings, the final standings in LMP2 Pro-Am.
2. #37 Cool Racing 101 points
3. #34 Racing Team Turkey 94 points
4. #24 Nielsen Racing 75 points
5. #21 United Autosports USA 55 points
6. #81 DragonSpeed USA 44 points
7. #20 Algarve Pro Racing 38 points
8. #99 Proton Competition 33 points
9. #3 DKR Engineering 32 points
10. #19 Team Virage 24 points
11. #23 United Autpsports USA 1 point
The champagne is sprayed on the podium. No title for the #22 United Autosports team in 2023, but a second consecutive race win for the trio of Sato, Hanson, and Jarvis. Matt Bell and Adam Ali win in LMP3 and they move to second in the championship chase after the final event. Cool Racing and car #17 hold on and are the 2023 European Le Mans Series LMP3 champions!
2. #11 Eurointernational 70 points
3. #12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing 66 points
4. #13 Inter Europol Competition 57 points
5. #31 Racing Spirit of Leman 54 points
6. #4 DKR Engineering 51 points
7. #15 RLR MSport 51 points
8. #35 Ultimate 39 points
9. #5 RLR MSport 38 points
10. #8 Team Virage 30 points
11. #7 Nielsen Racing 24 points
12. #10 Eurointernational 1 point
In the final tally of the results United Autosport wins the race completing 97 laps, 272 and a half miles. They win by a margin of 5.7 seconds. AF Corse win in LMP2 Pro-Am. Eurointernational are victorious in the final LMP3 race of 2023. Proton Competition wins in the GTE class. They claim the last GTE victory before GT3 cars enter the ELMS next year. Three cas did not finish or were not classified, with 37 total finishers albeit a number of cars at the bottom of the list many, many laps down.
Let the celebrations begin at the championship awards gala and it all begins again at Barcelna in April 2024. The chase for more titles and glory will begin in April of 2024. We’ll see you there. Looking forward to bringing you coverage of the championship in 2024 when it is possible to do so. For now, we say so long from Portimao on the Algarve in Portugal. Thanks for being with us on the journey that was European Le Mans Series 2023. Take care, everybody.
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