FIA WEC: New entry list for COTA

The latest provisional entry list for the upcoming Lone Star Le Mans at COTA is down to 30 cars after the withdrawal of Ginetta in LMP1 and the addition of Dragonspeed in LMP2. 

Ginetta pulled out both of their G60-LT-P1 cars, which are back on their wa the factory after the Bahrain round in December.  The team released a short statement on their website this morning.  

The WEC calendar is challenging, especially for any team with a new car in it’s first season and we have not had the chassis' back at the factory since before Silverstone in August.  

The cancellation of the earlier WEC race in Brazil and the new race at COTA made it impossible to do the planned work at our facility in Virginia, so the cars were shipped post race back to Ginetta UK, the cars hopefully arrive at the factory today.

This puts the LMP1 class down to just 3 cars for the Lone Star Le Mans race with both Toyota's and a single Rebellion. Although still on the provisional entry list for Sebring, it's not clear whether the Ginetta's will make the trip across the pond for the 1000 mile race in March. 

Dragonspeed is a new addition to the LMP2 class. The American team which has raced in LMP1 in the past Super season has shifted its focus back to the LMP2 class this year, winning the Daytona 24 hours last month in IMSA and planning an assault for the title in the European Le Mans Series.  Ben Hanley (who initially would race with Ginetta in LMP1) will share the car with Henrik Hedman and Colin Braun.  

It's unclear yet if this is a one-off appearance in the WEC, or Dragonspeed will run a double program in Sebring; combining IMSA and WEC.

© Richard Prince for Chevy Racing

In GTE, the brand new Corvette C8.R will make its debut in the World Endurance Championship, facing the competition of Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin.  Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller make an unexpected return to Corvette racing after their contracts with the manufacturer ended at the end of last year.

Magnussen raced with Corvette for 16 years, and has 4 Le Mans wins under his belt.  Rockenfeller was part of the endurance squad but would have been unable to race at Le Mans this year due to a date clash with DTM.  Jan Magnussen should be at the start of the French endurance race this season with Danish team High Class Racing in the LMP2 category.

In GTE Am, so far Thomas Preining is the only confirmed driver so far on the #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR.

The updated entry list can be found HERE.


Kristof Vermeulen. 

FIA WEC: 2019/2020 season entry list updates

With the final race of the FIA WEC "Super Season" right around the corner, more news and updates about the forthcoming 2019/2020 season is being released in the past days/hours.  Some teams will leave the championship unfortunately others return or will make their debut on the world stage of endurance racing. 

Ginetta files request for 2 cars in LMP1

Ginetta Chairman Lawrence Tomlinson has confirmed that, following an intensive development and testing programme with the Ginetta LMP1 car, the Yorkshire, UK-based company has submitted a request for two entries with the intent to rejoin the FIA World Endurance Championship next season in the premier LMP1 class.

“I’m pleased to confirm that two entry requests have been submitted to the FIA WEC for our Ginetta G60-LT-P1 cars to contest the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship. If the entries are accepted, both cars will be powered by the AER P60B turbocharged V6 engine that we have been testing in recent months in a developed version of the Ginetta. Details of the team, drivers and other parts of the package will be released in due course.”

Ginetta has been testing at Spa-Francorchamps this week, as did Toyota and other teams preparing for Le Mans.  Following the statement made by the team, they have filed an entry request for 2 cars but haven’t found any customer to enter the cars for them so far.  If Ginetta would run the cars under their own flag, they actually would be a factory team and not eligible to run in the non-hybrid class.

Dragonspeed ends LMP1 program, returns to LMP2 on race-by-race basis

Dragonspeed decided to cut down on their sportscar efforts, confirming the ‘retirement’ of their LMP1 program after next months 24 Hours of Le Mans and a reduced LMP2 presence in the World Endurance Championship.

Elton Julian said “The Le Mans 24 Hours next month will be our final LMP1 and regular WEC outing, allowing us to ramp up our IndyCar efforts on both the technical and marketing fronts. We’re not leaving the WEC entirely, as we plan to enter our #21 LMP2 ORECA O7-Gibson in individual rounds, including Spa, Brazil, and Le Mans, with Le Mans, of course, subject to us earning or being granted an invitation. We’re also considering running Daytona and Sebring with IMSA again.”

The team will however stay active in the European Le Mans Series, which for Julian offers the best sportscar racing on the planet: “We’ll definitely continue in the ELMS, which we think offers the best sportscar racing on the planet and remains the ideal series for the top gentleman drivers. With the kind of competition you get from 19 regular LMP2 entries, we take pride in the fact that the last two ELMS victories with a Bronze driver, in 2016 and 2019, have been ours.”

The American team had a successful attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 last weekend, Ben Hanley securing 27th place on the grid for Sundays race.

We got a car 3 months ago, 2 races under our belt, doing it without alliance, driver is a rookie, no oval experience, we have less budget for the race than some teams catering budget, we don’t care, we do what we do, WE RACE!!!! @IndyCar @IMS @benhanley85 #oneteamonedream pic.twitter.com/33OXNUW9yy

— DragonSpeed (@DragonSpeedLLC) 20 mei 2019

Signatech Alpine Matmut continues in WEC

Current championship leaders in LMP2 Signatech Alpine Matmut have confirmed their entry in the 2019/2020 FIA World Endurance Championship.  Present in sportscar racing since 2013, the team will announce its driver line-up after the Le Mans 24 Hours next month.

“We are very proud to represent the sports programme of Alpine” said Régis Fricotté, commercial director of the Alpine competition division. “Our engagement in LMP2 gives us a global visibility , with great results since 2013.  The Alpine community supports our approach, and it’s just by going to Le Mans to realize what endurance racing means for Alpine and vice versa”.

It’s a fantastic opportunity to be able to work with a constructor which is active on track and in rally” added Philippe Sinault, manager of Signatech. We are proud to be representing Alpine in the FIA World Endurance Championship, working towards podiums, victories and world titles”.

Racing Team Nederland switches to Oreca next season 

Dutch Racing Team Nederland presented their 2019 Le Mans livery last week, a tribute to the Minardi F1 team which used to be Frits Van Eerd’s favorite team. Giancarlo Minardi, founder of the late F1 team attended the unveiling of the car.  The team also announced that Le Mans will be its last race with the Dallara P217 and Davytec.  As from next season they will switch to an Oreca 07 which will be run by French team TDS Racing.  Frits Van Eerd, Giedo van der Garde and Nyck De Vries will continue to race in the World Endurance Championship. 

Team owner and driver Frits Van Eerd explained why they will change to the Oreca next season: “We’ve been racing with the Dallara since our debut in 2017.  First in the European Le Mans Series, now in the FIA WEC. The Davytec crew has worked day and night for 2 years to improve the Dallara, and I’m very grateful for that as they have done a terrific job: we’ve been at the finish for 14 consecutive races.  The Oreca however has been the dominant car in the LMP2 class, which is why we decided to race an Oreca 07 in the world championship as from next season. This also implies we had to choose for a new technical partner which has experience with the car. With TDS we’ve managed to sign one of the best Oreca teams in the paddock.  But first we will focus fully on the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans where we’ll be out to give it our best and end our cooperation with Davytech in the best possible way. 

“I’ve got a special friendship with Frits Van Eerd” said Giancarlo Minardi “and I’m very honoured the Minardi team has always inspired him. It’s fantastic to see the colours of my Formula 1 cars back on the Racing Team Nederland car.  Frits and I will continue to see how we can intensify the connection with Minardi, and it will be a pleasure for me to keep guiding him - as a kind of godfather - with his raceteam, new talents and new projects”. 

Nyck De Vries added: “This will be my first 24 Hours of Le Mans, so I’m very curious about it. I really like to be able to combine my F2 programme with the races of Racing Team Nederland, of which Le Mans will definitely be a highlight. Continuing to race in 2019/2020 is also fantastic, since we’ve only grown stronger as a team in the past year. 

BMW ends WEC program

BMW announced this morning that they will bid farewell to the WEC at the end of the Super Season.  The upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans will be the final race of the BMW M8 GTE in the championship.

BMW Group Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt talks about the strategy going forward of BMW’s Motorsport division. “Motorsport has always been an important pacesetter for the BMW Group, and a relevant testing ground for future development in the automobile industry as a whole – and that will remain the case.

“We will not compete in WEC going forward. Therefore, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June will be another highlight for us in drawing to a close – just like in 2018, when we celebrated the successful world premiere of the BMW 8 Series Coupe there. But in light of us sharpening our focus as part of our strategy for the future, continuing our WEC involvement in the coming years does not fit with our direction. 

The global presence of BMW M Motorsport is safeguarded by customer racing and the DTM in Asia and Europe, as well as the IMSA series in North America, even without competing in a world championship. We would like to thank BMW Team MTEK for its dedication over recent years and we wish WEC all the best and hope that it makes good progress.”

The Munich based manufacturer will however keep on racing in the IMSA series:  “The IMSA series plays a central role for us in North America and is developing well. The USA is the most important market for BMW M cars, so it is very fitting to build a direct bridge to our production models there with the BMW M8 GTE.” Said Jens Marquardt.

TF Sport to continue their effort WEC in GTE Am

TF Sport confirmed today they have submitted its entry for the forthcoming WEC season which gets underway at Silverstone in September.  The British team intends to enter the championship in the new Aston Martin Vantage GTE, which would be the first in the GTE Am class.

The 2018/19 Super Season is the team’s first in the Championship, having moved through the sportscar ranks with title-winning success in the Michelin Le Mans Cup and then the European Le Mans Series, before stepping up to the World Endurance Championship.

The Super Season has also been a successful one for TF Sport, with podiums in the #90 Aston Martin Vantage GTE at Spa Francorchamps, Silverstone, Fuji and again in Belgium heading to the conclusion of the current championship at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Further details of the programme and the driver line-up will be announced in due course. 

Tom Ferrier, TF Sport Director said:  “It has always been our intention to continue in the FIA World Endurance Championship and we have worked hard behind the scenes to ensure that we remain at the highest level of GT racing. We have high hopes that our entry will be accepted and that we can return to Silverstone in the new Aston Martin Vantage GTE.”

Kristof Vermeulen. 

Le Mans: Dragonspeed confirms return to the LMP1 class

Elton Julian, owner and team manager of Dragonspeed, announced the teams' return to the LMP1 class at Le Mans in a video posted on twitter yesterday.

Julian started off with Pietro Fittipaldi's recovery which is going very well in Indianapolis.

The Dragonspeed LMP1 program will be started up immediately again, beginning with the Le Mans test day next week.  The reason is that the Dragonspeed team is happy with the findings regarding Fittipaldi's accident. Everything posts to a very obvious problem that will be rectified by the Dallara and gives the team the confidence to build a new car which will be hopefully ready in time for the test day. 

An announcement regarding our LMP1 @FIAWEC @24hoursoflemans participation from Team Owner Elton Julian #oneteamonedream @DallaraGroup @SMP_Racing @Michelin_Sport @gibsontech1 @GerardNeveuWEC @fillon_pierre @Rengervdz @benhanley85 @PiFitti #HenrikHedman @fia pic.twitter.com/PSlXBg4Jx6

— DragonSpeed (@DragonSpeedLLC) 25 mei 2018

There's a lot if work to be done to build a new car in less than two weeks time but the team is confident and will go for it ... it's Le Mans ! Dragonspeed heads toward the Le Mans testday with confidence and excitement.

With the funding issues CEFC suffered from in Spa also likely to be resolved, it seems we'll see a full grid of LMP1 cars at Le Mans next week !

Kristof Vermeulen.
Picture: Jellybaby.Media

FIA WEC: Spa-Francorchamps pre-race updates

#7 Toyota lost pole position 

The #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing lost its pole position yesterday afternoon due to an incorrect identification number for the car's fuel flow meter.  The decision saw the cancellation of all lap times in the qualifying session, ensuring that the car will start from the pit lane only after the last car in the field has covered the first lap and following directions from the Race Director.  Toyota declared "they accept full responsibility for the error, which had no impact whatsoever on car performance. The fuel flow meter which was used in the #7 was fully homologated and calibrated."

This means that the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Fernando Alonso, Kazyuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi will start from pole position. The #1 Rebellion R13 of Neel Jani, Andre Lotterer and Bruno Senna now joins the Toyota on the front row of the grid. 

#86 Gulf Racing Porsche to the back of the grid

The #86 Gulf Racing Porsche has been set back to the grid due to a pitlane infringement during qualifying. Michael Wainwright exceeded the pitlane speed limit and saw all his qualifying times cancelled.

Both Ginetta's withdrawn from the race

Yesterday evening, Ginetta released the following statement confirming that both G60-LT-P1 cars will not start for the opening round of the FIA WEC Super season at Spa-Francorchamps:

It is with great disappointment that we have to announce that Ginetta will no be releasing the two LMP1 cars that successfully ran at the FIA WEC Prologue at Paul Ricard earlier this month.

Unfortunately, funds promised have not arrived from TRS (China) to CEFC TRSM Racing (UK).

The required funds for Ginetta were due some time ago and whilst we understand that TRS (China) has been working with its sponsors to sort the issues, without payment, Ginetta cannot allow the cars to race.  Ginetta remains committed to working with CEFC TRSM Racing (UK) on this programme.

We are aware that CEFC TRSM Racing has visited TRS many times in China and can also confirm that TRS have visited Ginetta three times recently, the last time to attend a Royal visit. We have been informed by TRS that the current situation is a short-term cash flow problem and that the main funds are in place for payment before Le Mans.

Chairman of Ginetta, Lawrence Tomlinson said:“We’ve got to a situation where a UK-based team with excellent ability, kit and personnel, plus a pair of the latest LMP1 cars with confirmed and fully paid up entries for the 2018/19 FIA WEC (including two entries at Le Mans in both 2018 & 2019) are unable to race simply due to funds not flowing."

Rumours about financial woes have been going round the paddock all weekend, both Ginetta's only completing an installation lap at the practice sessions and staying in the garages during qualifying.  Apparently Manor's main sponsor CEFC China has been under investigation by the Chinese government concerning financial fraude.  How this will affect Ginetta's further involvement in the World Endurance Championship and the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans is still uncertain.  

Dragonspeed's tub damaged after Fittipaldi's shunt

The Dragonspeed BR1/Gibson in which Pietro Fittipaldi had a big shunt on the Raidillon has - as expected - been withdrawn from the race.  The car suffered from substantial damage on its tub.  

The FIA has published a new bulletin this morning stating Fittipaldi is well and his condition is stable.  He was operated on last nights for fractures to both his legs, and the operation went well. He remains under observation at the hospital.  The left leg, which suffered a complex fracture, has been satisfactorily operated upon. Pietro was completely conscious on exiting the Operating Suite and was able to describe what happened to him.  At 10.30h today he left intensive care.  His father was with him throughout the night.  

Busy pit walk and autograph session

Glorious sunshine this morning at Spa-Francorchamps and a good coming into the track for the opening race of the FIA WEC Super season.  The traditional pitwalk and autograph session was really packed, especially at the Toyota Gazoo Racing pitboxes where Fernando Alonso had his first taste of the fan-friendly and open atmosphere of the WEC paddock. 

The green flag for the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps will be waived at 13.30h local time here Belgium. 

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps start grid

Text: Kristof Vermeulen

Pictures: JellyBaby.Media

FIA WEC: Dragonspeed adds Maldonado to LMP2 line-up

Dragonspeed has confirmed former Formula 1 driver Pastor Maldonado as its second driver for their LMP2 car in the 2018/2019 FIA WEC Super Season. Maldonado will join Roberto Gonzalez behind the wheel of the #31 Gibson powered Oreca 07. The third driver for the car is still to be announced after a deal with Esteban Guttierez fell through earlier this month.

The 33 year old Venezuelan will make his sportscar debut at the Prologue in a few weeks, after a two year break from competition. Maldonado raced in Formula 1 for Williams and Lotus between 2011 and 2015. In 96 starts he won the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona in 2012.

Very pleased to announce the new addition to our @FIAWEC @24heuresdumans LMP2 driver lineup for the 2018-2019 SUPER SEASON !!! @Oreca @fia @Michelin_Sport @gibsontech1 Check out who 👇🏻#oneteamonedream pic.twitter.com/0xFlCklYHm

— DragonSpeed (@DragonSpeedLLC) March 21, 2018

Roberto Gonzalez who was announced as designated driver at the presentation of the FIA WEC entry list, already built up some experience in prototype racing.  The Mexican drove for Manor in the World Endurance Championship last season and competed with AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports (Ligier JSP217) in the Daytona 24 hours this January. 

The driver line-up for the teams BR1 in the top class of the FIA WEC has been announced before with Renger Van der Zande, Ben Hanley and Henrik Hedman. Van der Zander will be replaced by Pietro Fittipaldi - grandson of two-time Emerson - in two rounds for which he is unavailable due to a clash with the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship. 

Kristof Vermeulen.

FIA WEC: Renger van der Zande joins Dragonspeed in the BR1

Dragonspeed completed its driver line-up for its first season in the FIA World Endurance Championship.  Renger van der Zande will join Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley behind the wheel of the Gibson powered BR1 LMP1 prototype. 

© van der Zande/facebook

Signing for Dragonspeed means a return to the team van der Zande already raced for in the 2013 American Le Mans Series with an Oreca FLM09 in the LMPC class.  He moved up the prototype category where he won at Laguna Seca last season with Marc Goossens in the Visit Florida Ligier .  This year van der Zande got a seat in the Wayne Taylor Cadillac DPi and immediately set pole for last months 24 hours of Daytona. 

The Dutch - gold rated - driver has raced one before in the FIA WEC in 2012 with a Lotus/Lola coupe at the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps.  He will make his debut at Le Mans in June.  It's unclear yet if will be able to race at Spa in May, since the opening race of the WEC season clashes with the IMSA race at Mid-Ohio. 

The US based team will also remain active in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series. Drivers for their Gibson powered Oreca07 still to be announced. 

FIA WEC: Dragonspeed to run customer BR1 next season

Dragonspeed to run a customer BR1 next season

During the launch of the BR1 at Bahrain yesterday evening, Dragonspeed has been announced as the team's first customer to run a second BR1 in the 2018/2019 FIA WEC superseason.

After securing the 2017 ELMS title in Portimao last month, Dragonspeed announced their intent to race in LMP1 next season. Initially they kept all options open towards chassis and engine manufacturer, but were looking into a collaboration with Oreca. Since Oreca couldn't give any assurance about a possible LMP1 project, contact were laid with Dallara and SMP Racing, resulting in the decision to opt for the BR1/Dallara chassis and a brand new Gibson LMP1 engine.

Ben Hanley and Henrik Hedman have already been confirmed as drivers for next season, the third driver is yet to be selected and announced. Nico Lapierre, who is now racing with Dragonspeed in the ELMS and Signatech Alpine in the FIA WEC might be one of the main contenders for the third seat given his experience in LMP1 with Toyota.

It's also confirmed that the American based team will continue to compete in the European Le Mans Series with one of their Oreca 07's, for which they are looking to find a customer.

Dragonspeed will use the all new Gibson GL458 engine in their BR1. The new LMP1 engine supplied by Gibson will be based upon their successful LMP2 engine. Design, development and production of the new GL458 are taking place at Gibson’s Repton facility, with the first engine being scheduled for delivery to DragonSpeed in late February. All LMP2 WEC, ELMS and Le Mans 24 Hour teams are currently powered by Gibson engines, with over 500,000kms covered so far with the GK428 engines. The new LMP1 contract with DragonSpeed is a natural progression for Gibson’s highly motivated engineers to prove their reliability and success at the top level of endurance racing.

“I am delighted to forge this alliance with Gibson Technology” said Elton Julian, DragonSpeed team owner. “Having personally raced with their engines in the past and now winning our first LMP championship as a team owner with their power plant, I can’t think of a better partner for DragonSpeed’s next challenge. Reliability, support and the common desire to succeed make this the obvious choice for our programme”.

“Everyone at Gibson is thrilled that one of our most successful LMP2 engine customers has opted to remain with us to continue with this excellent partnership and we look forward to tackling the challenge of LMP1 together” said John Manchester, Gibson Technology’s Operations Director. “Work has been underway for a while on the new LMP1 power unit and we will aim to ensure that we can deliver the required combination of power, fuel efficiency and good reliability from the moment the DragonSpeed Dallara Gibson goes on track.”

Kristof Vermeulen. 

FIA WEC: Dragonspeed steps up to LMP1 in 2018/2019 "Super season"

Newly crowned European Le Mans Series LMP2 champions 10Star DragonSpeed are wasting no time in charting their next step up the endurance racing ladder, today announcing their intention to contest the LMP1 class of the 2018-2019 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Sweden’s Henrik Hedman, 10Star DragonSpeed team patron and driver since 2014 (as well as the last Bronze pilot to win an ELMS race), and 32-year-old British star Ben Hanley, back for his third season with the team, are confirmed as two of the three drivers for the programme. The team is evaluating a range of chassis, engine, and third driver options, and looks forward to getting in on the ground floor of the revised LMP1 category, whose future regulations are due to be unveiled in December.

10Star DragonSpeed team principal Elton Julian said: “The whole team is thrilled and up for the challenge. Having won sportscar titles in GT3 and LMP2, the natural progression for our highly talented and motivated crew is to move up to LMP1. We’re carefully studying potential partners who can help us put together a programme which will deliver the progress and success we want for DragonSpeed. Everyone is on the same page in terms of the package and approach we need, and we can’t wait to get started.”

“I look back to 2005, when I first drove at Le Mans,” continued Julian. “You had a single works team with Audi plus a great supporting cast of privateers running six different chassis and four different engines. In fact, the pole went to one of the privateers. If Toyota continues – and we all hope they will – I think over the next couple of years we can bring back that variety and tradition of privateers being genuinely competitive in the top class.”

Henrik Hedman said: “The chance to progress to the premier level of endurance racing with such a successful and close-knit group made this an easy decision. Step by step, we’ve grown together and achieved a lot. I applaud the ACO and FIA for the new schedule and the opportunity it has created. I'm committed to preparing myself and applying everything I’ve learned over the past few seasons to racing the new generation of LMP1 cars with Elton and the team.”

Ben Hanley added: “I’m really happy to continue with DragonSpeed on its journey. Moving up to the WEC and LMP1 is a great chance for us to fight for overall podium results, especially at Le Mans given the issues the hybrids have had there the last few years. Henrik never stops improving and his commitment is an inspiration to the entire team. Having enjoyed one-off drives with a few WEC LMP2 teams this season, I can say for certain that DragonSpeed are up to the job.”

European Le Mans Series - 4 Hours of Estoril: Third pole position for DragonSpeed

Nicolas Lapierre scored the third pole position this season for the Dragonspeed team in his #21 Oreca 05/Nissan. With a drying track in the final qualifying session of the day, Lapierre set his fastest lap at the very end of the 10 minute session. 

Early in the session, Dimiti Enjalbert in the #28 IDEC Sport Ligier set - quite surprisingly - the fastest time ahead of Paul Loup Chatin in the #23 Panis-Barthez Ligier. Chatin then took the lead, staying on top of the leaderboard until the dying moments of the session. 

In a frantic final minute, the whole starting order had been shaken up several times. Chatin was the first driver to improve his time on the drying track, but soon was beaten by Olivier Pla in the #40 Krohn Racing Ligier. Chatin reacted and took provisional pole again, now with Van der Garde moving up into second in his #38 G-Drive Gibson.  In his final charging lap, Lapierre put in a 1.44.146, beating Chatin with 0.407 seconds who wasn't able to improve his time once more. 

Mathias Beche in the championship leading #46 Thiriet by TDS Oreca never got into the battle for pole. Beche went off track in his opening lap and only managed to set the seventh fastest time at then end of the session. 

In LMP3 the sixth race of the season gave us the sixth different car on pole position. United Autosports took the first two places on the grid. Alex Brundle was fastest in class, scoring the first pole position for the #2 championship winning car in 1:50.355. Wayne Boyd set the #3 sister car on second place, 0186 seconds behind Brundle. Third fastest was Dino Lunardi in the #19 Duqueine Engineering, just edging out Antonin Borga in the second Duqueine Ligier (#20).

The GTE class were the first out for their qualifying session today and had to cope with a (very) wet track. Ben Barker impressed in the #88 Proton Competition Porsche, claiming the teams second pole position of the season and the first pole for Ben Barker. 

Behind the Englishman who took pole with a time of 1:54.754, Alessandro Pier Guidi fought himself into second in the #56 AT Racing Ferrari, giving in 0.337 seconds to Barker. Third fastest was Marco Cioci in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, only 0.068 seconds behind Pier Guidi. 

The second free practice this morning saw all kinds of weather. Starting on a damp track while the morning fog was still hanging down, over bright sunshine to rain in the dying minutes of the session.

The damp track proved to be tricky with lots of spins during the session.  The championship leading #46 Thiriet Oreca05 was one of the first victims early in the session, hitting the barrier with some damage on the front bodywork of the car. Frederic Vervisch in the #33 Eurasia was not so lucky when he went off and into the barriers in turn 7, suffering damage to the front and back of the Oreca. The car had to be towed out and away, causing a brief full course yellow.

Jota Sport set the pace early on with Harry Tincknell going fastest, followed by Giedo van der Garde who improved his teammate's time. After the full course yellow the track quickly dried out and laptimes started falling down. 

Lapierre was flying and drove a 1:35.671 in the #21 Dragonspeed Oreca, no less than 0.670 seconds faster than Giedo van der Garde in the #38 G-Drive Nissan. Third fastest was the #41 Greaves Ligier driven by Julien Canal, just under a second slower than van der Garde. Rain started to fall down in the final 10 minutes of the session, leaving the Dragonspeed Oreca on top.

In LMP3 both United Autosport Ligiers were fastest after 90 minutes. Wayne Boyd quickest in the #3 with a 1.40.753, over 2 seconds ahead of Alex Brundle in the #2 Ligier. Matthieu Lahaye put the #17 Ultimate on third place, just under half a second behind Brundle. Yann Erlacher was fastest on track at the beginning of the session in the #18 M. Racing - YMR but fell down the order as track conditions improved.

GTE was a tight battle again with several cars fighting for the top spot on the leaderboard. The best times were set just before the rain fell at the end of the session. Marco Cioci drove a 1.45.976 in his #51 Ferrari, 0.356 seconds faster than Darren Turner in the #99 Beachdean Aston Martin. The championship leading JMW Ferrari only came out late in the session, Andrea Bertolini just 0.010 seconds behind third fastest Mikkel Mac in the #60 Formula Racing Ferrari F458 Italia.

The green flag for the final ELMS race of 2016 will be waived at 13.30h local time. The race will be streamed live on the ELMS website and can be seen at MotorsTV. 

Results Free Practice 2

Results Qualifying

Kristof Vermeulen.