24h Le Mans
Road To Le Mans, Porsche Sprint Challenge France and Ford Mustang Challenge are the three competitions accompanying the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first races were run today (Thursday).
As the race began, Hugo Schwarze and Luciano Moreno were side-by-side into the first turn at the Dunlop Chicane. Moreno went straight on, leaving the lead to the #85 car on the Mulsanne Straight. However, Schwarze made a mistake at the second chicane and found himself behind the two Ligiers of Forestier Racing by VPS (#29 and #92). Léna Bühler (#50) was in fifth position at that point. The safety car was called into action before the first lap had ended. The #4 Adess AD25 with Mikkel Kristensen at the wheel had stopped at Indianapolis while 18-year-old Valerio Rinicella in the #12 Duqueine D09 had also at a standstill at the entry to the Porsche Curves.
When the race resumed, Vincent Abril retained the GT3 lead (#52 Ferrari 296 GT3), while, in LMP3, Romain Favre chose the right moment to avoid issues with the sister car. The pack had stretched out by the following lap. The #52 Ferrari soon buckled under the pressure applied by the #5 McLaren (Bradley Ellis) and the #65 Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Lukas Dunner).
As the refuelling window opened (mandatory two-minute stoppage), Favre held a 3.5-second advantage over Moreno in second place. Ten minutes later, as the pit lane closed, R-ace GP’s Hadrien David (#85 Duqueine D09) moved to the head of the field. He was chased by two CLX Motorsport cars driven by Adrien Closmenil and David Droux. David attempted valiantly to close all doors, but the #37 Ligier JS P325 with Closmenil on board moved ahead on entering the Porsche Curves.
At the top of the LMP3 Pro/Am class, Felipe Fernandez-Laser (#71) received a warning for track limit infringements. The German had no further margin for error, as stipulated in the track limit regulations.
With just 10 minutes left on the clock, the second CLX Motorsport car, driven by Droux, got the better of David: a one-two was in sight for the team run by Nicolas Lapierre! The latter stages of the race was all about the battle for fifth place between Charles Roussanne (#92), Louis Rousset (#29) and Rik Koen (#8 Team Virage), but none of these drivers were able to mount a serious attack and they crossed the finish line in that order.
1. #37 Ligier JS P325 | CLX Motorsport (Closménil/Jensen) | 14 laps
2. #85 Duqueine D09 | R-ace GP (Schwarze/David) | +8.161
3. #16 Ligier JS P325 | Team Virage (Lehmann/Micouris) | +13.860
4. #92 Ligier JS P325 | Forestier Racing by VPS (Morano/Roussanne) | +14.468
5. #29 Ligier JS P325 | Forestier Racing by VPS (Rousset/Favre) | +15.533
The 58-strong Road To Le Mans field will be back in action on Saturday morning (10:05) for the start of Race 2!
Two qualifying sessions for the Porsche Sprint Challenge France contest were held early this morning on a wet track. In the first which fixed the grid positions for the first heat, Louis Meric (#31 Porsche 911 type 992 GT3 Cup), clocked the fastest time. Despite Meric starting the first 45-minute race in pole position, ABM’s Victor Blugeon (#74 Porsche) emerged from the first turn in the lead and confirmed his status as favourite. Only Meric managed to keep the pressure on the 992 GT3 Cup leader, even managing to overtake him on the Mulsanne Straight. At the end of the first lap, the two men held a two-second advantage over their closest rivals. The tense battle offered an opportunity to Enzo Joulié (#97 Porsche, Martinet by Almeras) to move closer and pose a threat.
The tussle paused for a while after a three-car accident resulted in a safety car. The drivers involved Jonathan Beeson (#55 Porsche, Graves Motorsport), Stéphane Perrin (#888 Porsche, Lajoux Racing), and Alexandr Artemyev (#10 Porsche, Schumacher IMSA).
Once the debris had been cleared from the Dunlop Chicane exit, the race resumed with a shade over 20 minutes left on the clock. Meric took advantage to regain control, but Blugeon and Joulié were hot on his heels. The other Lajoux Racing machine, the #992 Porsche driven by Michael Blanchemain, had stopped just after the Dunlop Footbridge. A slow zone held up the competitors there but, once through Tertre Rouge, they were flying again. Blugeon used all his talent to gradually get the better of Meric before the latter dropped down the standings. Joulié grabbed second place as a second safety car was deployed. Shortly after, Race Control brought out the red flag and brought the race to an early conclusion.
Blugeon won the first heat ahead of Joulié and Clément Loeul. Lucas Glinche (#72 Porsche GT4 RS, Glinche Racing) continued his hot streak, taking the honours in his category after finishing on top of the pile in all the previous sessions.
Despite topping the timesheets in free practice, Robert Noaker will not start from pole position in the two rounds of the Mustang Challenge on Friday and Saturday. Despite clocking the fastest lap, Noaker saw all his times wiped out as the splitter height did not comply with the required minimum. Could this aerodynamic appendage, located under the front bumper, be partly responsible for the American driver’s outstanding performances since the festivities began?
Cameron McLeod will therefore lead out the Mustang Dark Horse R pack. Timed at 4:23.180, he edged out Sam Paley (4:23.587) and Marco Signoretti (4:23.839). The 39-car grid will line up at 11:00 on Friday morning for the first 45-minute race, before a second round at 8:45 on Saturday morning.
