ELMS: United Autosports wins final race in Portugal

The #22 United Autosports Ligier/Gibson of Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson took a second consecutive ELMS victory with a hard fought win on the twist and turns of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.  

Local hero Albuquerque crossed the line just 0.5 seconds ahead of Will Stevens in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier. The #32 United Autosports Ligier of Will Owen took the final podium position after the #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca, which had crossed the line in 3rd place, was given a 10 second penalty for an earlier track limits infringement.

The LMP3 category was won by the #13 Inter Europol Comptition Ligier of Martin Hippe and Jakub Smiechowski, a debut win for the Polish team.  However it was all smiles at RLR MSport when the crew of the #15 Ligier – Job Van Uitert, John Farano and Rob Garofall finished in 5th place to clinch the 2018 LMP3 Driver and Team titles.

History was made in LMGTE when Gianluca and Giorgio Roda became the first Father and Son driver pairing to win an ELMS title.  They brought home the #88 Proton Competition Porsche with their Italian teammate Matteo Cairoli in third place to secure the Team and Driver titles, with Cairoli, who had missed the race in Monza, securing the Vice Champions position in the Drivers Championship.  It was all smiles in the Proton Competition garage when the no77 911 took the chequered flag to take the first win of the 2018 season for Christian Ried, Dennis Olsen and Marvin Dienst.

The race started under sunny skies but air temperature was a low 15 degrees, especially in the strong wind blowing across the circuit.

Pierre Ragues in the #29 Duqueine Engineering Oreca led the 39 car grid across the line to begin the 4 Hours of Portimao but Timothe Buret in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier got alongside the pole car and took the lead.  The #9 AT Racing Ligier of Mikkel Jensen also got ahead of the LMP3 pole sitter Lucas Legeret in the #19 M Racing YMR Norma at the start, while in LMGTE Nic Jönsson in the #83 Krohn Racing Ferrari was leading the class by the end of the opening lap from the back of the grid.

There was a couple of incidents on the opening few laps with the #17 Ultimate Ligier heading to the pits with a puncture after contact with an LMP2 competitor and the #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca of Roman Rusinov being clipped into a spin by the #28 IDEC Sport Oreca of Memo Rojas, Rojas receiving a drive through penalty for causing the collision. The #88 Proton Competition Porsche of Gianluca Roda was clipped into a spin with the rear diffuser of the car coming away and spreading debris across the track.  The Race Director called the first Full Course Yellow of the race.

At the restart Pierre Ragues got a better run into the first corner, passing the #23 Ligier of Buret for the lead.  The #88 Porsche was missing the rear part of the car but Roda was still able to make progress through the field, catching and passing Jönsson’s Ferrari for the lead of the LMGTE class.

Felipe Nasr was pushing his way through the field towards the leaders and after one hour of racing was closing on the top two cars in the #47 Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara.  The Brazilian passed Buret for second and then closed up and passed Ragues for the lead after 1 hour and 18 minutes of racing.  

Pierre Ragues headed to the pits to hand the Duqueine Engineering Oreca over to Nelson Panciatici but on the out lap the rear left suspension collapsed and Panciatici was forced to head back to the pits for a long stop for repairs. The #6 360 Racing Ligier was also another retirement after a exhaust manifold cracked, melting a wiring loom.  The car that was lying in second place in the LMP3 championship was out of the running. Filipe Nasr headed to the pits from the head of the LMP2 field but cut right across the front of the #77 Proton Competition Porsche and was given a stop and go penalty for causing a collision.  The woes for the #47 Dallara continued when the car was pushed back into the garage for repairs, dropping the Italian team down the order even further.

Meanwhile in LMGTE the #80 Ebimotors Porsche of Fabio Babini was leading the class from the #77 Proton Competition Porsche of Christian Ried.  Babini handed over to Gianluca Giraldi but the Italian collided with an LMP3 car and the Porsche was left stranded with broken suspension.  The Safety Car was deployed to allow the Ebimotors Porsche to be moved to safety. At the restart the #77 Porsche was nearly a lap ahead of the chasing #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari of Alex MacDowall and the #88 Proton Porsche of Gianluca Roda.

In LMP3 the #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Martin Hippe was out in front, with the #7 Ecurie Ecosse/ Nielsen Ligier of Colin Noble 15 seconds up the road.  The German kept his cool and maintained the gap with Noble keeping the #2 United Autosports Ligier of 2017 champion John Falb behind him.  The #3 United Autosports Ligier of Tony Wells was ahead of the championship rival Rob Garofall in the #15 RLR MSport Ligier but a drive through penalty for Wells for exceeding Full Course Yellow speeds put the destination of the 2018 titles beyond doubt.

Back at the front and the #22 United Autosports Ligier of Filipe Albuquerque, the #26 G Drive Racing Oreca of Jean-Eric Vergne, the #32 United Autosports Ligier of Will Owen and the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier of Will Owen were separated by just 2.5 seconds with an hour to go. Vergne passed Albuquerque for the lead after several attempts but ran wide on the exit of the corner.  The French driver was judged to have gained an advantage by exceeding track limits and the #26 Oreca had to add 10 seconds to its race time at the chequered flag.

Vergne handed the car over to Andrea Pizzitola to finish the race.  After the final round of pitstops Albuquerque was leading by three seconds from Stevens, with Pizzitola holding a five second advantage over Owen.  The racing was edge of the seat stuff and the teams held their breath as the clock counted down to zero and the chequered flag was waved.

Filipe Albuquerque took a home victory in the #22 United Autosports Ligier, just 0.520 seconds ahead of Will Stevens’ #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier.  Andrea Pizzitola finished third, 4.6 seconds behind Stevens but, crucially, 9.462s in front of the #32 United Autosports Ligier of Will Owen. When the 10 second penalty was applied the #32 Ligier moved up to the final podium spot ahead of the #26 Oreca.

Race results

Text: Jeff Carter/europeanlemansseries.com

Pictures: Kristof Vermeulen & Jellybaby.media

ELMS: Duqueine Engineering on pole for a thrilling season finale in Portimao.

Nicolas Jamin claimed pole position this afternoon in a sunny but rather windy Portimao.  The Frenchman set his best laptime of 1.33.197 in the dying seconds of the session, giving Duqueine Engineering their first pole position in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series.  Will Stevens looked to have set the fastest lap in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier when the chequered flag fell, but ultimately came 0.060 seconds short. 

Filipe Albuquerque will start from the second row tomorrow with the third fastest time, 1.33.362 in the #22 United Autosports Ligier.  He will have Paul Loup Chatin next to him in the #28 IDEC Sport Oreca who was quickest in this morning’s practice session.  2018 champions G-Drive Racing will start from fifth place. 

© ELMS/Jakob Ebrey Photorgaphy

Lucas Légeret scored his first pole position in the European Le Mans Series and the second this season for the #19 Norma of M.Racing - YMR.  In another nailbiting session, Légeret’s time of 1.40.715 was just 0.061 seconds quicker than Mathieu Lahaye in the #17 Ultimate Norma.  Légeret set his time just before the #11 Eurointernational of Giorgio Mondini spun off at turn 5, causing a red flag. When the session was restarted, the top times weren’t improved anymore. 

Mikkel Jensen was the quickest of the Ligiers in third place in 1.40.999, almost 0.3 seconds behind pole position. Jensen will have another Norma next to him on the second row of the grid with the #8 of DKR Engineering of Marvin Klein.  All three contenders for the championship struggled for pace this afternoon.  Job Van Uitert in the leading RLR MSport Ligier didn’t get further than 7th place on the grid, almost a second off the pace of Légeret. Their main rivals in the #6 360 Racing Ligier and #3 United Autosport will start even further down the order, on 10th and 15th place. The race to the championship will be very tight and interesting tomorrow.

JMW Motorsport edges one point closer to the leading #88 Proton Porsche in the championship by claiming their second pole position of the season.  Miguel Molina put the #66 Ferrari on the top spot with a laptime of 1.42.765 and closed the gap to the leading Porsche down to 10,5 points.  Dennis Olsen in the #77 Proton Competition Porsche pipped Matteo Cairoli from a front row start with 0.026 seconds.  His time of 1.43.073 was just over three tenths of a second slower than Molina. Matt Griffin in the #55 Ferrari will start from fourth tomorrow.  As in the LMP3 class, anything is possible in the race tomorrow … 

Qualifying Results LMP2
Qualifying Results LMP3
Qualifying Results LMGTE

Free Practice 2

This morning in the second free practice session, Paul Loup Chatin set the pace in his #28 IDEC Sport Oreca 07.  His laptime of 1.33.097 was 0.227 seconds faster than Nico Lapierre in the #21 Dragonspeed. Another Oreca completed the morning session’s top 3, Jean-Eric Vergne setting the third quickest time in 1.33.614. 

Behind the 3 leading Oreca’s were 4 Ligiers, lead by local driver Filipe Albuqerque in the #22 United Autosports. Will Stevens in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition JSP2 and Will Owen in the second United Autosports LMP2 rounded out the top 6.  The leading Dallara was the #49 High Class Racing of Anders Fjordbach in ninth place. 

Lucas Légeret headed the LMP3 category in his #19 M.Racing-YMR Norma.  The Swiss driver posting a laptime of 1.40.145, holding off Mikkel Jensen in the #9 AT Racing Ligier with just over 0.4 seconds.  Third fastest was Giorgio Mondini in the #11 Eurointernational Ligier. 

In LMGTE it was Porsche - Ferrari - Porsche this morning. Matteo Cairoli quickest in his #88 Proton 911 RSR (1.41.786) ahead of Miguel Molina in the #66 JMW Ferrari and Riccardo Pera in the #80 Ebimotors Porsche.  

Apart from 2 short full course yellows - one early in the session when the #18 M.Racing - YMR Ligier went off in turn 3 and a second one mid session after the #47 Cetilar Villorba Corse ended up next to the track.  

The 4 Hours of Portimao will be green flagged tomorrow at 12h30 local time. 

FP2 Results

Kristof Vermeulen

Pictures: Kristof Vermeulen & Jellybaby.Media

ELMS: Duqueine Engineering sets the pace in opening practice session

Not exactly the weather we expected in the Algarve this morning with (heavy) overcast skies and rain treathening to fall down.  It did stay dry though during the first 90 minute practice session which ran without any notable incidents. 

Pierre Ragues in the #29 Duqueine Engineering Oreca set the fastest time this morning during the first free practice session for the 4 Hours of Portimao.  The Frenchman managed a best time of 1.32.846, just 74 thousands of a second faster than Filipe Albuquerque in the #32 United Autosports Ligier JSP2. Will Owen in the second United Autosports (#32) clocked the third fastest time. 

Felipe Nasr in the #47 Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara was fourth fastest, 0.6 seconds behind the leading Oreca.  Another Dallara rounded out the top 5 with Henrique Chaves in the #30 AVF by Andrian Valles.  LMP2 champions G-Drive Racing had a quiet morning session, only managing tenth fastest after 90 minutes. 

In LMP3 it was Matthieu Lahaye who put the #17 Ultimate Norma on top of the timesheet with a laptime of 1.40.097. Nicolas Maulini in the #8 DKR Norma was second fastest, 0.290 seconds slower than the Frenchman.  Championship leaders RLR Sport took third place with Job Van Uitert’s best time of 1.40.427.  Another Norma was fourth quickest with Swiss youngster Lucas Légeret at the wheel of the #19 M.Racing-YMR, ahead of Matt Bell in the #3 United Autosports Ligier.  The #11 Eurointernational of Giorgio Mondini and Kay Van Berlo didn’t set a time during this morning’s session. 

Proton Competition dominated the LMGTE class, with Marvin Dienst in the #77 Porsche 911 RSR (1.43.301) ahead of Giorgio Roda in the #88 sister car with a margin of just over 0.4 seconds.  Championship challengers JMW Motorsport were third quickest, Miguel Molina giving in just 0.1 seconds to Roda. 

Bronze driver test

With (heavy) rain and thunderstorms coming in by the end of the Michelin Le Mans Cup practice early in the afternoon, the bronze driver test was driven in wet conditions and a tricky track.  

Only 11 cars turned a few laps round the soaked track, just 9 LMP3 and 2 LMGTE cars, as non of the LMP2 cars made their way out of the pitlane.  Quickest overall was Alexey Chulkin in the #5 NEFIS by Speed Factory Ligier in 1.53.434, just under 0.7 seconds faster than Kay Van Berlo in the #11 Eurointernational Ligier.  Jacopo Baratto in the #16 BHK Motorsport completed the top 3 in its class.  Just 2 Porsches went for a swim in LMGTE, Gianluca Roda the fastest in his #77 Proton Competition 911 RSR (1.57.985), almost a second faster than Gianluca Giraudi in the #80 Ebimotors.  Ironically, when all track action was over this afternoon, the sun broke back through the clouds … 

The second free practice session is scheduled for tomorrow at 09h25. Qualifying for the 4 hours of Portimao starts tomorrow afternoon 14h25 with the LMGTE cars on track first.

Results FP1

Kristof Vermeulen. 

ELMS: All set for the season finale in Portimao

39 cars will be on the grid for the final race of this years European Le Mans Series at the Autodromo do Algarve  in Portimao this weekend. With the team and drivers titles in LMP3 and LMGTE still to be decided, tension will be high in the beautiful Algarve region.  The weather forecast seems a bit unstable and even unpredictable (chance of rain on Friday and Saturday, dry on Sunday but cold), so could play its role again this weekend.  And as we know from previous years, nothing is for granted until the chequered flag falls down on Sunday afternoon, so we should be in for another thrilling weekend of endurance racing ! 

LMP2: Three way battle for the podium 

G-Drive Racing secured their overall and LMP2 title in a rain soaked Spa last month, when Roman Rusinov, Andrea Pizzitola and Jean-Eric Vergne scored enough points after a disastrous race for them.  Rusinov and Pizzitola claimed the drivers titles, Vergne missing out on what could have been his second title of the season due to not being able to race in Silverstone. 

Behind the 2018 champions, the battle for the remaining podium places will be fierce with 3 teams fighting for 2 spots.  Racing Engineering and IDEC Sport both scored 56 points so far and are completely tied up.  Norman Nato, Paul Petit & Olivier Pla (#24 Racing Engineering) and Memo Rojas & Paul Loup Chatin (#28 IDEC Sport) all scored the same amount of points so far.  The #24 crew mainly by winning the first race of the season in Le Castellet and with a podium in Austria, the #28 by scoring podiums in Monza and Silverstone, and finishing in the points all other races too.  Paul Lafargue will have to miss his second race in a row, still recovering from a nasty back injury which also kept him out of the car in Spa.  He will be replaced by Gabriel Aubry again. 

The third car chasing down that 2018 podium spot is the #21 Dragonspeed of Ben Hanley, Nicolas Lapierre and Hendrik Hedman.  After a disappointing start of the season, and remaining without a win so far, the American team showed some good form in the last races, scoring 50 points so far, just 6 points shy of second place.  

Further down in the standings are TDS Racing, who only raced up until the Red Bull Ring before strictly focussing on their FIA WEC entry, the #22 United Autosports Ligier of Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque and the #23 Panis Barthez Competition of Julien Canal, Timothy Buret and Will Stevens.  Both Ligiers too far away though to challenge for the season’s podium.  One car is absent this weekend: the second IDEC Sport Ligier (#27).

  

LMP3: title showdown with 3 (or 5) teams

5 teams are mathematically still in the running for the 2018 LMP3 title and the auto invite in the LMP2 class at Le Mans next year.  On a more realistic view, the title fight is down to three cars, with the #15 RLR MSport of John Farano, Job Van Uitert and Rob Garofall in pole position after 5 of the 6 races.  With a total of 67,5 points so far, they have a lead of 14 points over Ross Kaiser and Terrence Woodward in the #6 360 Racing Ligier. Kaiser and Woodward didn’t win a race so far this season but were consistent in scoring points at every race, finishing on the podium in Monza and Spa. 

Anthony Wells, Gareth Grist and Matthew Bell in the #3 United Autosports are trailing 360 Racing with just 1 point, 15 points behind championship leaders RLR Sport.  They also still have a chance for the title, if RLR doesn’t make it to the top of the ranking on Sunday afternoon.  The #11 Eurointernational of Giorgio Mondini and Kay Van Berlo (46,75 points) and the #13 of Jakub Smiechowski and Martin Hippe (45,25 points) also could have a shot for the title, but they might have to pray for a miracle then.

As usual, there’s several driver changes to be noted in the LMP3 class.  Sean Rayhall apparently isn’t recovered fully yet and will be replaced again by Scott Andrews in the #2 United Autosports Ligier JSP3.  In the #4 Cool Racing Ligier, Iradj Alexander takes his place again after missing the deluge in Spa last month.  Another driver returning to his team is Mikkel Jensen in the #9 AT Racing of father and son Talkanitsa.  There's no sign anymore of last years Michelin Le Mans Cup winners Alexander Toril and Jean Glorieux at DKR Engineering.  The #8 Norma will be driven by Christian Vaglio, Marvin Klein and Nicolas Maulini.  Another new face in the LMP3 class is Vadim Meschcheryakov who joins James Dayson and Luca Demarchi in the #12 Eurointernational.  Romano Ricci won’t return to the #19 M.Racing-YMR Norma, his place is being taken by British driver Michael Benham who has been driving with Lanan Racing in the Michelin Le Mans Cup. 

LMGTE: The “Roda family” vs JMW and Spirit of Race

Everything is still to play for in the LMGTE class and with two auto invites for the 2019 Le Mans 24 hours the battle will be fierce and down to the wire on Sunday.  Leading the championship are father and son Gianluca and Giorgio Roda in the #88 Proton Competition Porsche.  With 80,5 points so far, they have a lead of 11,5 points over last years champions, the #66 JMW Ferrari of Miguel Molina, Alex MacDowell and Liam Griffin.  Matteo Cairoli - who also drives the #88 Porsche - has scored 70,5 points so far since he missed the race in Monza. Third in the championship, and also still in the running for the title is the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Duncan Cameron, Aaron Scott and Matthew Griffin, who have a total of 67 points after 5 races. 

To secure the championship, the “Roda family” just needs to finish on the podium after Sunday’s 4 hour race.  JMW takes the title if they win and the #88 doesn’t get a podium result. The #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari also still has a shot for the title, but they need to take pole position, win the race and the #88 has to finish on 4th place or lower. Which would then give them a margin of just 1 point !! 

As said before, all to play for in Portugal this weekend, and we know from past seasons that the final race still might have some surprises up its sleeve …       

Track action will start tomorrow at 11h35 local time, with the first 90 minute free practice session.  The Bronze driver test is scheduled at 16h20 in the afternoon.  Qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday will be streamed live on the ELMS website (www.europeanlemansseries.com) and their social media channels.  

Timetable

Provisional Entry List 

Spotter Guide 

Text: Kristof Vermeulen. 

Pictures: Bob Ten Kley

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.

Useful links:
Entry List
Timing
Spotter Guide

Kristof Vermeulen.