European Le Mans Series : Pole position and victory for Ligier JS P320s at Spa-Francorchamps
The fourth round of the 2024 European Le Mans Series took place on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit from August 23 to 25. At the end of an eventful four-hour race, the #11 Eurointernational Ligier JS P320 driven by Adam Li and Matt Bell won for the second time in a row. It was followed by two other Ligier teams, Racing Spirit of Leman's #31 (Jacques Wolf/ Jean-Ludovic Foubert/ Antoine Doquin) and COOL Racing's #17 (Miguel Cristovão/ Cedric Oltramare/ Manuel Espirito Santo).
- In the first free practice session on Friday, August 23, COOL Racing's JS P320 #17 topped the timesheet with a lap of 2:11.211 set by Manuel Espirito Santo. Team Virage's #8 driven by Gillian Henrion, 2022 Ligier European Series champion, was third.
- Later in the day, Gillian Henrion, in the #8 Ligier JS P320, dominated the second free practice session with a lap of 2:12.674.
- Saturday August 24 saw qualifying under the blue skies of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Gaël Julien is the first driver of the 2024 season to claim a second LMP3 pole. At the wheel of RLR MSport's #15 Ligier, he set the fastest time of the session with a lap of 2:11.847.
- The race got underway late Sunday morning. The ten entries in the LMP3 class all got off to a good start, without any major incidents. Miguel Cristovão, driving the #17 COOL Racing Ligier JS P320, took the lead on the first lap, ahead of the #15 RLR MSport Ligier driven by Michael Jensen.
- After 15 minutes of racing, the Safety Car entered the track following a collision between an LMGT3 and an LMP2.
- On the restart, the #17 COOL Racing Ligier LS P320 spun at the Raidillon and rejoined the track in ninth place.
- A few laps later, the Safety Car came back on track following an accident involving LMGT3s, from which all the drivers emerged unscathed.
- The race resumed, but only for five minutes. Several on-track incidents again called for the safety car to intervene. It was at this point that Matt Bell, driving the #11 Eurointernational Ligier JS P320, was hit from behind at Les Combes, ending his race in the gravel trap. Fortunately, Matt Bell drove off unharmed.
- After another neutralization fifteen minutes later, the race resumed with two hours remaining.
- In the final hour of the race, Adam Ali, at the wheel of the #11 Eurointernational Ligier JS P320, was second after a fantastic stint that enabled him to work his way up the field.
- The Canadian finally managed to take the lead, then widened the gap. He crossed the chequered flag 15 seconds ahead of his rivals. It was the second win in a row for the Eurointernational team and its drivers, following the Imola round.
- In second place were the #31 Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier JS P320 (Jacques Wolf/ Jean-Ludovic Foubert/ Antoine Doquin) and the #17 COOL Racing Ligier JS P320 (Miguel Cristovão/ Cedric Oltramare/ Manuel Espirito Santo).
- With this second victory, Eurointernational consolidates its position at the top of the LMP3 championship with 77 points. It is followed by three other Ligier teams: RLR MSport and its #15 (63 points), Team Virage and its #8 (57 points) and COOL Racing with the #17 (48 points).
The next round of the European Le Mans Series takes place from September 27 to 29 at the Mugello circuit in Italy.
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