Racing Spirit of Lémans wins LMGT3

ELMS

Aug 26

Two teams dominated round 4/6 of European Le Mans Series at Spa-Francorchamps: Racing Spirit of Lémans with #59 Aston Martin led 50 laps while #63 Mercedes AMG LMGT3 led 28 laps and they finished in that order. The Iron Dames Porsche #85 also led 4 laps thanks to Celia Martin who was quicker at a caution restart.

Racing Spirit of Lémans wins LMGT3 and lead championships

After Clement Mateu qualified third in the LMGT3 category in challenging wet conditions, he made a good start in the #59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin to get ahead of Duncan Cameron in the pole sitting #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari at the start. Matheu lost the lead to Celia Martin at the restart of a caution several laps before the end of his stint. Erwan Bastard took over the #59 Aston Martin in P3 behind Hanafin (#63 Mercedes) and Bovy (#85 Porsche) during a new caution. He catched and passed Bovy as the race resumed and did put his Aston Martin down the inside of the Mercedes-AMG at La Source a lap later to take P1.

Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse Clot took over to battle with the #63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG of Fabien Schiller. With just six laps left, the #63 Mercedes headed down the pitlane for a splash of fuel, with the #59 Aston Martin doing the same two laps later.

Hasse Clot emerged from the pitlane just in front of Schiller’s Mercedes. The two cars battled for four laps, crossing the line just 0.9 seconds apart after four hours of racing, leading 50 laps of the 82 covered.

The victory moved the French trio into the lead of the championship with just two races to go.

P2 for Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 #63

Iron Lynx‘s Mercedes-AMG GT3 claimed its second podium finish of the year. Martin Berry delivered his third pole position of the year in four races to master tough weather condition. Following Imola's 5-place grid penalty, Berry took off from P6 but soon started to catch up to the car in front, climbing up to third place after 6 laps until the end of his stint. Lorcan Hanafin went back on-track for his stint, moved up to the lead for 6 laps but lost it to the #59 Aston Martin for the next 19 laps.

In the following driver change cycle, Mercedes-AMG factory driver Fabian Schiller returned to the track in P1 and retained it in a hard-fought run. A splash was necessary with a handful of minutes on the clock, and the overcut enabled the winning #59 Aston Martin to squeak by the gray Mercedes-AMG at the pit exit. The #63 Mercedes-AMG GT3 lead the LMGT3 class a total of 28 laps.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 #63 leading the LMGT3 pack in “Le Raidillon”

Martin Berry - Driver car #63: “Really good progress by the team, we were so close to taking the overall result but we just missed out. Still, our race today shows all the hard work put in by the team. We should come away happy with that. We are still in the championship hunt now and we are excited for Silverstone!”
Lorcan Hanafin - Driver car #63: “Really happy to get back on the podium today. Obviously we’re a bit disappointed we missed out on the win by so little, but we are delighted to have bounced back after Imola. I’m looking forward to the last two rounds of the European Le Mans Series.”

Fabian Schiller - Driver car #63: “I think it was good execution by the team today to finish P2, we had good pitstops and strategy, and we maximized our potential. Walking away with second place is positive, although it is a bit frustrating after leading most of the last hour. The Aston had a small advantage in terms of fuel and that enabled them to get to the front. It is how it goes sometimes, and it was good to get a result again after Imola. There are some things we can improve for Silverstone and we will keep working on the car to make further progress. We should be in good shape for the two last rounds.” Source: Iron Lynx

Podium for #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari

T. Kimura, Ben Tuck and James Calado took the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 in P3.

No podium for the Iron Dames but second in championships

In a wet Qualifying session on Saturday, Célia Martin showed promising pace to line up inside the top five and capitalised on her position to move into the podium places by snatching third at the start. She continued to work her way forward over the opening hour and quickly claimed second before a series of Full Course Yellow and Safety Car periods led to regular pauses in action.

After 90 minutes of running, Martin successfully secured the LMGT3 class lead and handed the car over to team-mate, Sarah Bovy, at the end of the second hour.

Bovy resumed her home race in second place after losing the lead on the pit lane and slipped to third at the start of the third hour but quickly settled into a rhythm to strengthen her position on the podium.

With 70 minutes remaining, Michelle Gatting stepped into the cockpit but was unfortunately relegated to eighth. The Dane drove a clinical final stint to return to the top three but was forced to pit at the end of the penultimate lap for a final splash of fuel which relegated the #85 crew to fourth at the line.

By finishing fourth, Michelle, Sarah, and Célia progressed to second in the LMGT3 championship fight, just one point adrift of the leading Racing Spirit of Lémans #59 Aston Martin.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Sarah Bovy: “We crossed the line in P4 after running inside the top three for most of the race. Clearly P1 and P2 were out of reach today, but I think we’ve been giving a good fight to the rest of the field and at the end, we can be very proud of the performance. We made no mistakes, there were no penalties, no contact, nothing. It was a proper Iron Dames race. We will come back, and I’m telling you, we’re still fighting for that championship!” Source: Iron Dames

#8 Team Virage wins LMP3

The battle in LMP3 between #8 Team Virage, #11 Eurointernational, #15 RLR M Sport and #17 CLX Motorsport was fierce with 10 leader change during the 4 hours race. Championship leaders P. Launcher, A. Closmenil and T. Jensen lead the race during 59 laps of the 84 covered but had to retire in lap 67.

Rik Koen with #8 Team Virage (he shared with J. Gerbi and D. Nogales) took the lead with 12 laps to go and secured the LMP3 win with taking the chequered flag a lap ahead of the #15 RLR MSport Ligier of M. Jensen, N. Adcock and Gillian Henrion. T. Creswick, D. Dedecker and Reece Gold in the #88 Inter Europol Competition ended on the podium.

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