United Autosports takes the lead from Algarve Pro Racing
The first race of the weekend was not kind to the 40 cars entered in the European Le Mans Series. At the end of the 4-hour race, United Autosports came out on top against Algarve Pro Racing, the Championship leader heading into the final round. In the LMP2 Pro/Am class, it was the #37 Cool Racing car that claimed victory after a late-race penalty against Nielsen Racing.
For once, 17 ORECA 07s were on hand to contest the penultimate round of the ELMS on Friday. It was a confrontation punctuated by capricious weather, a flurry of neutralisations and a final podium only decided in the very last minutes.
In the end, for the second time this season, it was the #22 United Autosports ORECA that came out on top. Oliver Jarvis, who shared the car with Marino Sato and Phil Hanson, crossed the line just 0.808 seconds ahead of the #25 of Alexander Lynn, James Allen and Kyffin Simpson. They were joined on the podium by the #65 Panis Racing car.
Cool Racing’s #47 ORECA 07 snatched fourth place, while the Duqueine Team’s car, which was in contention for victory, was unfortunately hit at the rear by a GTE before spinning out, but managed to secure a precious top five ahead of the #43 Inter Europol Competition car.
In the LMP2 Pro-Am class, the #24 of Nielsen Racing crossed the line in first place, but it was the #37 of Cool Racing which finally took victory after the #24 was penalised for contact with the #83 of AF Corse at the very end of the race.
Nielsen Racing nonetheless managed to take second place on the podium, ahead of the #83, which just managed to top the LMP2 Pro-Am standings on 85 points.
TF Sport’s #34 ORECA started the race with a small lead, but a run through the gravel during a heavy downpour cost it two laps and any hope of victory. The Turkish team, which clinched sixth place in the final standings, is still third in the LMP2 Pro-Am standings (82 points), just one point behind the #37 of Cool Racing (83 points) and ahead of the #24 of Nielsen Racing (60 points).
The #21 United Autosports and #81 DragonSpeed USA finished in the Pro/Am top 5 ahead of the #34 Racing Team Turkey, #20 Algarve Pro Racing, #3 DKR Engineering and finally the #19 Team Virage.
If, on the eve of the final, the Allen – Lynn – Simpson drivers of the #25 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA win the overall drivers’ trophy by 40 points ahead of the Racing Team Turkey drivers (Charlie Eastwood – Louis Delétraz – Salih Yoluc), the LMP2 and LMP2 Pro/Am titles will still be up for grabs on Sunday. It’s sure to be a spectacular end to the season!
