paul sutcliffe

It was a beautiful day whether wise at the Spa-Francorchamp circuit in the Ardennes unusual for this time of year.

The race got under way with its usual rolling start but as the cars went for the first corner at La Source chaos erupted with 4 or 5 cars coming together most cars would recover with only 2 with severe damage, Nielsen Racing #Car6 was one of the them after limping around part of the circuit it finished up in the gravel this brought out the first safety car of the day G Drives #Car26 had rear end damage and needed a new rear wing it entered the pits for repairs but on leaving the pits it still had a problem with Rusinov onboard #Car26 pulled over on the Kemmel straight and out of the race, with all the cars recovered it was back to green racing but this wasn’t to last long and the 2^nd safety car of the day was out on track #Car 24 of Algarve Pro Racing runs into the back of the RLRM Sport #Car15 this then caused the Ferrari of AF Corse #Car55 to make contact both cars 24 & 55 had to much damage and are out of the race.

Just before the first hour we are back to green and the leaders after one hour of racing are WRT Racing #Car 41 in LMP2, in LMP3 #Car18 of 1 Aim Villorba Corse leads while in LMGTE it’s the Porsche #Car 93 of Proton Racing after the dramatic but exciting first hour the race settles into some kind of rhythm and battles carry on right through the field as we approach the 2^nd hour its the WRT Racing #Car41 leading in LMP2 with a new leader in LMP3 #Car19 of Cool Racing is in front while in LMGTE the Iron Lynx #Car83 as taken up the lead, the fight still rages on in the LMP3 class with another lead change DKR Engineering are now in the top spot after a brilliant bit of driving on the Kemmel straight the drama keeps on unfolding as #Car13 of Inter Europol Competition as a big impact with the tyre barriers thankfully the driver Aidan Read is out straight away and ok this brings out our first Full Course Yellow and a flurry of pit stops all the top 6 in LMP2 are in for fuel and tyres , with an hour and 30 minutes remaining its back to green racing.

As we arrive at the final hour WRT Racing #Car14 still leads in LMP2 while in LMP3 DKR Engineering #Car4 leads with the AF Corse #Car88 now leading in LMGTE, all through the field exciting battles are taking place as we move into the final part of the race with only 4 minutes of the 4 hours remaining more drama as #Car5 of MV2S racing in LMP3 class hits the barriers at Eau Rouge its another Full Course Yellow the 2^nd of the race but its not for long as the marshal’s do a fantastic job of clearing the car and debris from the track and with only 1 minute and 15 seconds to go we are back green its going to be a minute sprint to the flag, as the chequered flag falls it’s a win for WRT Racing #Car41 and not only that they are crowned LMP2 Champions for 2021 with a race to spare.

In LMP3 DKR Engineering #Car4 win again their 3^rd straight victory in the LMP3 class and in LMGTE AF Corse #Car88 return to winning ways and their 2^nd victory of the season.

Images courtesy of ELMS

Classification LMP2 (Top 4)

1 Car 41 – Team WRT – R. KUBICA, L. DELETRAZ, Y. YE

2 Car 30 – Duqueine Team – T. GOMMENDY, R. BINDER, M. ROJAS

3 Car 65 – Panis Racing – J. CANAL, W. STEVENS, J. ALLEN

4 37 COOL – Racing – A. COIGNY, N. LAPIERRE, C. MILESI

LMP3 (Top 4)

1 Car 4 – DKR Engineering – L. HORR, M. DE BARBUAT

2 Car 19 – COOL Racing – N. MAULINI, M. BELL, N. KRUETTEN

3 Car 2 – United Autosport – W. BOYD, R. WHELDON, E. CAUHAUPE

4 Car 8 – Graff Motorsport – E. TROUILLET, S. PAGE, D. DROUX

LMGTE (Top 4)

1 Car 88 – AF Corse – F. PERRODO, E. COLLARD, A. ROVERA

2 Car 80 – Iron Lynx – M. CRESSONI, R. MASTRONARDI, M. MOLINA LMGTE

3 Car 83 – Iron Lynx – R. FREY, S. BOVY, M. GATTING

4 Car 93 – Proton Competition – M. FASSBENDER, F. LASER, R. LIETZ

 

Next stop Portimao for Round 6 and the final race of the 2021 ELMS season on the weekend of 24^th October 2021.

Inter Europol Competition is based in Poland. The team started in 2010 racing in single-seater series, for 2016/2017 they moved direction and entered a single LMP3 car, in 2017/2018 they went on to enter 2 LMP3’s and 2 LMP2 cars with some success finishing runners up so for 2019 they entered the highly competitive Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) they did this with one aim to get an entry into the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the same year 2019 which they did, finishing 16th in the championship but more significant they won 2 races and came 2nd twice in the LMP2 class plus they also became champions in the LMP3 class in 2020 they would return to both championships with the new Ligier and again enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans for that year finishing 17^th for 2021 the team had there best result at the 24 hours where they came 5^th in the very competitive LMP2 class and 10th overall.

The team are currently running in European Le Mans series in the LMP3 class with 2 cars (Ligier JS P320-Nissan) with six drivers, three in each team: –

Car 13

Aidan Read

Aidan is the latest star to come of Perth, Australia, has ambitions to compete at the highest level as an endurance racer. He currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and works as an engineer in Nascar.

 

Martin Hippe

Martin is from Germany, he is the ELMS vice-champion in 2018, 2019 and 2020, he as been with the team for 5 years and is a very experienced racing driver, he currently owns his own engineering company.

 

Ugo de Wilde

Ugo is a talented Belgian he joined the team this year from single seaters and now focuses on endurance racing, he is aiming to be professional for 2023 and wants to race at the 24 hours of le man on its 100^th birthday as well as contesting in ELMS, he is also competing in this years Alpine Europa Cup.

 

Car 14

Nico Pino

Nico the 16-year-old from Santiago Chile, currently lives in Madrid Spain, after competing in Karts he raced in the F4 South East Asia championship in 2019, he competed in the first four rounds of the British F4 with good results finishing in the top ten seven times.

 

Mateusz Kaprzyk

Mateusz is the only Polish racing driver on the grid of the ELMS series in the LMP3 class, he comes from a karting background and is a very experienced single seater racer.

 

Mattia Pasini

Mattia is a former Moto GP rider and raced in Moto2, racing a Kalex for Italtrans Racing team, he was born in Rimini Italy, his first race for Inter Europol was at Monza.

 

The Team are currently 3^rd in the LMP3 class heading into the penultimate round at Spa-Francochamps.

ELMS as today announced its calendar for 2022, with two major changes, one being the Italian round will move back to Imola the first time since 2016, this will take place in May and the other is the return of the Hungaroring, the series last went there in 2013 that will take place after the 24 hours of Le mans in July. The series will also return to Barcelona, Spa-Francorchamps and finish at Portimao, Portugal in October, the 6 race series will keep its format of each race being of 4 hours, the season will begin in April with the Official Test at Le Castellet.

 

11-12 April 2022 – Official Tests – Le Castellet

17 April 2022 – 4 Hours of Le Castellet

15 May 2022 – 4 Hours of Imola

03 July 2022 – 4 Hours of Hungaroring

28 August 2022 – 4 Hours of Barcelona

25 September 2022 – 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

16 October 2022 – 4 Hours of Portimão

 

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest

“The ELMS, the top continental series, is going to have a fantastic 2022 season. The six tracks chosen are among the most prestigious in the world and each offers the teams and drivers a unique challenge, as well as the very best facilities that European circuits have to offer. The return to Imola and Hungaroring will make the 2022 season even more interesting for the drivers, the fans and the Endurance world.”

 

Frédéric Lequien, Le Mans Endurance Management CEO

“We are very excited and proud to present this 2022 ELMS calendar, which includes Imola and the Hungaroring tracks once again. With six world-class venues, the competitors will be able to showcase their talents that make the ELMS such a great series. The popular six round, 4-hour race format has been retained, which will enable costs to be strictly controlled and ensure the competitors to get the best competition possible. We are looking forward to another great season of the European Le Mans Series in 2022.”

The H24 prototype (MissionH24) which as been on hold for the last 12 to 18 months will return to the track at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, it will take part in the Free Practice sessions for the Michelin Le Mans Cup with the rest of the grid, the H24 as only completed in private testing a few hundred miles / kilometres, with its first public showing at the Le Mans 24 hours this August, the drivers taking the car through its development are Stephane Richelmi, Norman Nato and ex McLaren Formula One driver Stoffel Vandoorne, the car will be refuelled with Hydrogen at the circuit and it will be an accurate mechanical test for the car, testing will take place on Friday 17^th September with two sessions one at 11:00 to 12:00 and the other at 16:55 to 17:55 (CEST).

Pierre Fillon President of the Le Mans Organiser of the Automobile Club de l’ Quest as explained with the new regulations it would be possible for the new Hydrogen fuel Cell cars to challenge for a win at the Le Mans in 2025, along-side the Hypercars & LMDh cars, he also revealed that 8 manufacturers are part of the group working with the new regulations to develop fuel cells and expects at least 3 of them to be on the grid for 2025.

39 cars have entered the penultimate round of the European Le Man Series at Spa, 28 different teams with 117 drivers from 27 countries, 14 cars for LMP2, 16 cars for LMP3 and 9 cars for LMGTE which consists of six Ferrari’s, two Porsche’s and one Aston Martin. It will be the first ELMS race with fans since the pandemic started and entry will be free of charge.

The longest ELMS race was in 2019 completing 101 laps, the shortest race was the year before held in 2018, the race only completed 40 laps which was caused by not surprising at Spa the rain, it had several Safety Car periods plus red flags and was eventually stopped with the drivers awarded half points.

The Orlen WRT team are the only team based in Belgium, they lead the championship with 75 points the drivers of Louis Deletraz, Yifei Ye and ex formula one & WRC driver Robert Kubica, they have an 11-point lead over the G-Drive #Car26 with Roman Rusinov, Nyck De Vries and Franco Colapinta United Autosports are in 3^rd in #Car22 a further 7 points adrift.

In LMP3 Cool racing lead the class with #Car19 with 80 points the drivers of Nicolas Maulini, Matt Bell and Niklas Kruetten only lead by 13 points from DKR Engineering entry #Car04, while the polish entrant of Inter Eurpol Competition in #Car13 are 3^rd.

LMGTE sees a trio of Ferrari’s filling the top 3 positions with the Iron Lynx #Car80 leading the class by just 6 points driven by Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi and Miguel Molina they have 83 points while Spirit of The Race #Car55 is in 2^nd with 77 points the trio of Duncan Cameron, David Perel and Matt Griffin in that car, behind them is the AF Corse Ferrari #Car88 in 3^rd with 56 points. With only one race remaining after Spa teams will want maximum points but will the Ardennes weather through up a curve ball, its going to be tight but hopefully exciting race.

All images courtesy of ELMS