ELMS 2017 - 4 Hours of Portimao: Victory for Graff racing, G-Drive takes championship

Richard Bradley in the #40 Graff Racing Oreca crossed the line to take the win in today’s dramatic finale of the 2017 European Le Mans Series season, giving the car he shares with Gustavo Yacaman and James Allen its second win of the season.

Despite a fueling problem causing the car to take on 20 liters less each stop and requiring a final splash and dash to make up the difference, the French team’s car finished a comfortable 38 seconds ahead of the #32 United Autosports Ligier. The #32 needed to win the race to claim the series championship title but a 55 second drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane and the #22 G-Drive having a faultless race shattered all their title hopes.


Third place went to the #27 SMP Racing Dallara of Isaakyan and Orudzhev, their third podium finish out of four races. However, it was the fourth place finishers who stole the day as the #22 G-Drive Racing Oreca by DragonSpeed did enough to take the LMP2 Teams title, with the full-season duo of Léo Roussel and Memo Rojas taking the crown in the Driver’s Championship.


Roussel, Rojas and third driver Ryo Hirakawa drove a text-book race to keep the car in the top three during the first three hours before slipping down towards the end. However, as the team’s goal was to finish in the top five to win the title the trio’s steady drive did exactly what was needed to deliver the Russian-backed team its second straight European Le Mans Series title.


Moving on to the LMP3 class, United Autosports had a far better day with the Anglo-American team taking a 1-2 finish and wrapping up the LMP3 title in the process. Mark Patterson, Wayne Boyd and Christian England in #3 Ligier JS P3 took the chequered flag 11.769 seconds ahead of their teammates, American duo John Falb and Sean Rayhall in the #2 car.

As for United Autosports in LMP2, the #18 M.Racing-YMR car of Alexandre Cougnaud, Antoine Jung and Romano Ricci had a mathematical chance to take the championship title trophy but needed an outright win to have any chance of taking the title with UA’s American duo starting from the back of the grid following their fastest quali time being deleted fro track-limits abuse.

Despite a spirited race the M.Racing-YMR trio only managed to claim the final podium spot a lap down from the winners handing the Championship win to Falb and Rayhall in the #2 car which Rayhall had dragged from the back of the field up to second place before handing over to Falb.

With 50 minutes of the race remaining Falb was leading Christian England in the #3 car with the Briton passing Falb in the final 30 minutes for the win and handing second place and the Championship to the American duo.


In GTE, the Championship went to JMW Motorsport while the win went to Christian Ried, Joël Camathias and Matteo Cairoli  inthe #77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR.Despite the Proton Porsche finishing 8.5 seconds ahead of the yellow and black Ferrari of Robert Smith, Jody Fannin and Will Stevens, the second-place finish gave the Colchester UK based team enough points to overhaul TF Sport, who’s #90 Aston Martin Vantage V8 lead the standings as we came into the final round, by 104 points to 102 and claim the Team’s Championship.


Today’s class victory meant that the #77 Proton Porsche 911 claimed third spot in the LMGTE Team’s Trophy with 80 points.Despite the points advantage going into today’s race a Championship win for the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin V8 Vantage had always looked hopeful at best with the car struggling all weekend to find pace. Nicki Thiim battled the struggling car briefly into second place as the race entered its final hour but in the end the team had to settle for third place in the race and second place in the 2017 LMGTE Championship.

Race Highlights

Race results

Kristof Vermeulen
This article was originally posted on Sportscarglobal

ELMS 2017 - 4 Hours of Portimao: Panis Barthez Competition takes final pole of 2017

In a set of qualifying sessions that saw three red flags, Panis Barthez Competition took their first overall European Le Mans Series pole for Sunday's European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Portimao. 

The LMP2 session was red flagged at 7m09s when Andrea Pizzitola in #25 Algarve Pro Racing Ligier started to porpoise as he ran over the kerbs through T15 then locked up and spun off at T16. The session was restarted at 16:35 local and Nathanaël Berthon went on to set a time of 1:33.575 in the team's #23LIGIER JSP217 on this penultimate lap. Despite pushing hard, neither of the Dragonspeed cars which had shown the pace throughout the practice sessions could snatch the time from the Frenchman and Lapierre had to settle for second with a 1:34.090. Ryo Hirakawa took the #22 G-Drive Oreca to third with a 1:34.235. 

The fastest Dallara was the #47 car of Cetilar Villorba Corse with Andrea Belicchi setting a 1:35.110. 

The LMP3 class qualifying session was red flagged twice; initially to allow the safe removal of the #18 YMR car from the gravel trap at T15 and the second one, a minute later to recover the Antonin Borga in the #7 Duqueine Engineering Ligier from T7's gravel trap.

The session restarted with 3m31s to run and Mikkel Jensen took class pole in the #9 AT Racing Ligier setting a time of 1:40.660 in the dying seconds of the session. United Autosports' Wayne Boyd also pulled out all of the stops on his final lap and finished just 0.164s behind Jensen. Simon Gachet took the #16 Panis Barthez Competition car to third with a 1:41.148.

The Championship leading #2 car could only manage 20th position on the grid with Sean Rayhall failing to set a complete lap time during the session. 

In the LM GTE Class it was a Ferrari lockout for the front of the class grid; Matt Griffin took the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari to class pole setting an emphatic 1:42.657, 0.640 seconds ahead of Will Stevens in the yellow and black #66 JMW car. Matteo Cairoli took the #77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR 991 to a 1:43.370 to grab third on the grid. 

Both of the Astons appeared to struggle for speed around the undulating Portuguese track with TF Sport and Beechdean AMR starting on the final two positions on the grid respectively. The pressure will be on for TF Sport tomorrow as they only have a point lead in the championship compared to JMW. 

Dragonspeed dominated this mornings second free practice session as Ryo Hirakawa went fastest in the #22 G-Drive ahead of Nicolas Lapierre in the #21 Dragonspeed Oreca 07. Hirakawa set a time of 1.34.024, which was 0,324 seconds faster than the Frenchman. Third fastest was Richard Bradley in the #40 Graff Oreca in 1:34.459.  The Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara of Andrea Bellichi was the quickest non-Oreca, getting into fourth place with a best time of 1.35.009. 

The crew of the #32 United Autosports Ligier still seemed to be looking for pace as Filipe Albuquerque didn't get higher than fifth place in the session but still 1.2 second slower than Hirakawa's best time. 

M.Racing-YMR set the pace in the LMP3 class, with a 1.41.124 by Alexandre Cougnaud in the #18 Ligier JSP3. Wayne Boyd in the #3 United Autosports Ligier was second fastest ahead of 2 Norma's; the #7 Duqueine Engineering and the #19 M.Racing-YMR.  Sean Rayhall was quickest in the #2 chamionship leading United Autosports Ligier in 7th place with a best time of 1:42.704. 

LMGTE was very close this morning, the top 3 finishing withing 0.228 seconds from eachother. Matteo Cairoli went fastest in the #77 Proton Competition Porsche in 1.42.966, just 0.072 seconds ahead of Nicki Thiim in the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin. Will Stevens in the JMW Ferrari was third fastest in 1.43.194.

Qualifying results
Results Free Practice 2

Kristof Vermeulen
John Stevens

ELMS 2017 - 4 Hours of Portimao: Dragonspeed sets the pace in FP1

The final weekend of the 2017 European Le Mans season kicked off this afternoon with the Bronze driver test and the first 90 minute free practice session.  The day started with fog and an occasional spot of (light) rain, but by the time track action was set to go, temperatures started to rise up and the sun broke through the clouds.

Nicolas Lapierre set the pace this afternoon in his #21 DragonSpeed Oreca 07 with a laptime of 1.34.182.  Second fastest was Nathanaël Berthon in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier, 0.240 seconds behind Lapierre. The #27 SMP Racing Dallara of Matevos Isaakyan and Egor Orudhzev took third place, Isaakyan the fastest of the 2 Russian youngsters in 1.34.942. All three manufacturers were present in the top 3 this afternoon, within a margin of 0.760 seconds. 

Both title contenders were further down the order. Ryo Hirakawa drove the fifth fastest time in the #26 G-Drive Oreca: 1.35.897.  Challengers United Autosports didnt get higher than 12th position, Filipe Albuquerque going round in 1.36.810, just under a second slower than Hirakawa. 

Apart from a few spins and minor offs there were no noteable incidents in this afternoons sessions. There was one short full course yellow when the #49 High Class Racing Dallara stopped on track and had to be towed off to the pitlane. The session was shortly red flagged due to the #10 Oregon Norma which also stopped on track. 

In LMP3, Mikkel Jensen in the #9 AT Racing Ligier showed his speed again, setting the fastest time of the afternoon in 1.40.758. An excellent start of the weekend for the Austrian team who won their class in Spa last month. Second fastest was Anontin Borga in the #7 Duqueine Engineering Norma M30 in 1.41.555, 0.144 seconds faster than Dario Capitano in the Oregon Team Norma. 

United Autosports won the first battle with M.Racing-YMR for the title. Sean Rayhall set the fifth fastest time in his #2 Ligier in 1.42.093. Antoine Jung was quickest in the #18 M.Racing-YMR Ligier, but got no further than 1.42.897 in 13th place overall. Alexandre Cougnaud's times have all been cancelled though, due to a pitlane infringement by exceeding the maximum speed in the pitlane.

There's one last minute driver change to be noted in the LMP3 class: Davide Roda isn't able to drive this weekend due to an injury. He will be replaced by Toni Forne in the #10 Oregon Team Norma M30. 

Ferrari dominated in GTE, Matt Griffin putting the #55 Spirit of Race 488 GTE on top of the leaderboard in 1.43.760. Will Stevens was second fastest in the #66 JMW Ferrari, 0.616 seconds behind Griffin. Euan Hankey in the championship leading TF Sport Aston Martin completed the top 3 in 1.44.671, just under a second slower than the fastest Ferrari. 

Fabien Barthez was fastest this morning in the Bronze driver test in Portimao. His best time of 1.37.491 was 0.046 second faster than Hendrik Hedman in the #21 Dragonspeed Oreca. Third fastest was Roberto Lacorte in the #47 Cetilar Villorba Cose.  Martin Hippe set the fastest time in the LMP3 class with his #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier in 1:42.877. Quickest GTE driver was Gianluca Roda in the #51 Spirit of Race Ferrari (1.45.358). 

The second free practice session for the 4 Hours of Portimao is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9.50h.  Qqualifying will start at 14.40h in the afternoon.  The qualifs will be streamed live on the series website: www.europeanlemans.com. 

Results Bronze driver test

Results Free Practice 1

Kristof Vermeulen. 

ELMS 2017 - 3 titles up for grabs in Portimao this weekend

The European Le Mans Series set up camp in the Algarve region in Portugal this weekend, for the final and title deciding race of 2017.  Two teams are still in the running for the title in LMP2 and LMP3, where as in LMGTE 3 to 4 cars still have a shot on the 2017 title and the auto entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year.  

After finishing the past 4 seasons in Estoril, the ELMS now returns to Portimao for the first time since 2010 when the Algarve 1000 kms was organised in the Le Mans Series. The Autodromo Internacional do Algarve opened its doors in November 2008 after just seven months of construction. The circuit is 4.648 km long and features 16 corners.  With a lot of elevation changes, a long start/finish straight and some challenging corners, this track always delivers some exciting races. Although being designed as a grade 1 Formula 1 circuit, there's never been an F1 race here in Portimao. Thanks to the climate in the south of Portugal and the warm winters, it's a track well used by many teams in winter testing. 

The title fight in LMP2 is down to two cars: the #22 G-Drive Racing  and the #32 United Autosports Ligier.  The G-Drive Oreca of Memo Rojas, Léo Roussel and Ryo Hirakawa leads the championship with a total of 98 points, including 1 win in Monza.  The United Autosports crew with local driver Filipe Albuquerque, Hugo de Saedeleer and Will Owen has scored 80 points so far but have wone two races: Silverstone and the Reb Bull Ring. The pressure will be on for the crew of the #32 as they have to win on Sunday to have a shot for the title. 

In third position is the #40 Graff Oreca of James Allen, Ricard Bradley and Gustavo Yacaman who won the last race in Spa-Francorchamps but with a total of 61 points they are too far away to take on the challenge for the championship.  With 26 points to score in Portugal this weekend, mathematically Graff could still finish second in the championship. The fight for third will alse be one to watch this weekend: the second Graff Oreca (#39) follows within four points (57), trailed by the #27 SMP Racing Dallara who won in its second race of the season at Paul Ricard. 

Memo Rojas and Léo Roussel are leading the drivers championship with 98 points, 18 points ahead of Filipe Albuquerque, Hugo de Saedeleer and Will Owen with 80 points. Ryo Hirakawa is in third position with 61 points so far after missing the 4 hours of the Red Bull Ring and Le Castellet due to his commitments in the Japanese Super GT championship. He is joined by James Allen and Richard Bradley who also have scored 61 points so far.

Not much driver changes in the class for the final race of 2017.  Paul Loup Chatin returns to the #28 IDEC Sport Racing Ligier for the second race in a row, joining Paul and Patrice Lafargue again. In the #39 Graff Oreca, Mexican driver Ricardo Sanchez replaces Eric Trouillet and will race together with Paul Petit and Enzo Guibbert. 

Next to their title challenge in LMP2, United leads the LMP3 class with the #2 Ligier of American drivers John Falb and Sean Rayhall. Having scored 85 points so far with wins at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps they are leading the #18 M.Racing-YMR Ligier with 19 points. Alexandre Cougnaud, Antoine Jung & Romano Ricci haven't won a race this season but consistently scored podium or top 5 finishes in all races so far. 

French team Ultimate is third so far after a strong start of the season, but faded away a bit with 2 less good results in the past 2 races, now with a total of 57 points.  They are being chased by Inter Europol Competition (56 points) in their #13 green & yellow Ligier which are just one point behind. The Polish team scored their first podium finish after a strong comeback race at Paul Ricard and will be eager to repeate that in Portimao this weekend. Fifth place so far is for the #11 Eurointernational (47 points) who won at the Red Bull Ring.

5 different teams have been on pole position so far with 4 different teams on the top spot of the podium after 4 hours of intense racing. This shows how close the LMP3 class has been this year. Basically the race at Portimao could be anyone's race again.  Both title contenders will be the teams to watch, but the likes of Ultimate, Inter Europol, AT Racing and Eurointernational will also be fighting for a good result on Sunday afternoon and might have their say in the fight for this years title.  The drivers championship reflects the teams' standings perfectly. John Falb & Sean Rayhall are leading with 85 points, followed by Alexandre Cougnaud, Antoine Jung and Romani Ricci with 66 points. Francois Heriau, Jean-Baptiste Lahaye and Matthieu Lahaye are third with 57 points. 

Although there's only 6 cars on the grid of this years LMGTE class, the title fight couldn't be more exciting than here with mathematically 5 out 6 teams still in the race for the championship.  Newcomers TF Sport who were crownded champions on the Michelin Le Mans Cup last season are on top of the leaderboad, winning the first race in Silverstone and scoring some hard fought podium finishes in three other races. Salih Yoluc, Euan Hankey and Nicky Thiim arrived in Portugal with 87 points and just one goal: winning another championship before likely stepping up to the FIA WEC next season.

Their main rival, just one point behind, is the #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari F488 GTE. The team started the season with their “old” F458 Italia before switching to the 488 at Le Mans, scoring am impressive win in the 24 hour race.  In the ELMS they won the race in Monza and were on the podium of every other race except for Silverstone. JMW lost the championship last season after a dramatic race in Estoril where technical gremlins smashed their title hopes. Robert Smith, Jody Fannin and Will Stevens – who races for the third time with JMW after Le Mans and Spa – this season will put up a hard fight for that 2017 title.

The Spirit of Race Ferrari's  occupy third and fourth place so far. The #55 of Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and Aaron Scott in third with 76 points, 6 points more than the #51 of Gianluca Roda, Giorgio Roda and Andrea Bertolini.  Both cars were very strong in the past 3 races, winning them all; the #55 in Austria and France, the #51 in Belgium last month. Cameron & co have closed the gap to the leading Aston Martin down to 11 points. Reminding what happened last season in the final race, they might still have a chance for the title if they win again on Sunday.

Last years champions Beechdean AMR season was less successful, with a provisional fifth place scoring 63 points so far in the #99 Aston Martin Vantage V8.  Andrew Howard & co will be out to end their season with a top result, on a track that might suit the Aston well over the weekend. Ross Gunn won't be racing with Beechdean this weekend, he will be replaced by Emmanuel Vinke who's in contention for a full season drive with the team next season. Closing the standings in GTE Am is the #77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR of Christian Ried ,  Joël Camathias and Matteo Cairoli (ITA) with 55 points. 

On track action starts this afternoon at 14.15h with the Bronze driver test. The first 90 minute practice session is scheduled for 17.00h.  A second practice session and qualifying will be run on Saturday, the race will get underway on Sunday at 13.00h.

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Kristof Vermeulen.