Ligier European Series, Le Mans: Team Virage and M Racing triumph at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
For the third Heat of the 2024 season, the Ligier European Series opened the Le Mans 24 Hours on June 9 during Test Day. The field swelled with 32 cars on track and the battles raged in both categories. The Colombians in the #66 Team Virage, Jeronimo Berrio and Pedro Moreno, emerged victorious in the JS P4 class. This was their first win of the season and the fourth for Team Virage. M Racing and Natan Bihel, reunited for this round only, won the Le Mans Heat for the second year running in the JS2 R with the #69.
Le Mans Heat: Thirty-two cars at the start
- The third edition of the Le Mans Heat, the must-attend round of the Ligier European Series calendar, saw 32 Ligiers take to the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours circuit, including 14 Ligier JS P4s and 18 Ligier JS2 Rs.
- In addition to the two Ligier JS2 R cars entered for the season, Les Deux Arbres fielded a third car for the race, the #58 JS P4, driven by Jacques Nicolet.
- P4 Racing and LR Motorsport also joined the series with the #27 P4 Racing for British driver Andrew Fergusson, who is already well acquainted with the series and also races a Ligier JS P320 in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, and the #81 LR Motorsport for Pierre Kaffer and Michael Doppelmayr, making their first appearance in the Ligier European Series.
- Winners of the 2022 Le Mans Heat, Zosh Compétition returned to attempt another victory on the Sarthe circuit. The Le Mans-based team entered a JS2 R with Anthony Perrin and Léo Pinquier. Vice-Champion of the JS2 R in 2020, JS2 R Champion in 2021 and JS P4 Vice-Champion in 2022, Natan Bihel came back as well, at the wheel of the #69 M Racing Ligier JS2 R.
- Last but not least, four other French teams signed up especially for this Le Mans Heat: Loire Valley Racing with the #9 (Edouard Hery), No Limit Racing with the #46 (Sébastien Margot), LADC Motorsport with the #49 (Hervé Tremblaye), the #61 (Léo Payen and Steven Palette), and the #90 (Clément Loeul), and AGS Event with the #89 (Clément Mateu).
For a full breakdown of the Le Mans Heat entry list, CLICK HERE.
ANS Motorsport and M Racing claim coveted pole position
- The 32 Ligier JS2 R and Ligier JS P4 cars opened Test Day at 8am on Sunday June 9 on the Le Mans 24 Hours circuit. The forty-five minute free practice session was extremely competitive. The drivers set the fastest times in both categories in the last five minutes.
- The #7 Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P4 set the fastest time in the sport-prototype category with Romain Favre. Natan Bihel, winner of the 2023 Le Mans Heat, was the fastest Ligier JS2 R in the #69 M Racing car.
- The twenty-minute qualifying session took place thirty minutes after the end of free practice. ANS Motorsport and M Racing followed up their performances in free practice with pole position in the JS P4 and JS2 R categories, with Iko Segret and Natan Bihel setting respective best times of 4:07.592 and 4:21.476.
To read the article on free practice, CLICK HERE.
To read the article on qualifying, CLICK HERE.
Victory for Team Virage and M Racing on the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit.
- The start of the only one-hour race was given at the very beginning of the afternoon.
- After a fierce battle under the Sarthe sun, Team Virage with its #66 JS P4 driven by Pedro Moreno and Jeronimo Berrio crossed the chequered flag in the lead. It is the Polish team's fourth win at Le Mans in the Ligier European Series. It is also Team Virage's fourth win of the season, and the first with the line-up of Pedro Moreno and Jeronimo Berrio.
- Just behind, Iko Segret, driving the #6 ANS Motorsport, put up a merciless fight against Romain Favre in the #7 Inter Europol Competition, and crossed the line in second place ahead of Favre.
- In the AM classification, Jacques Nicolet, driving the #58 Les Deux Arbres JS P4, took his first win of the 2024 season, after a hard-fought race with Andrew Ferguson in the #27 P4 Racing car. Yuki Tanaka (#16 Pegasus Racing) rounded off the AM podium.
- In PRO-AM, the #81 LR Motorsport JS P4 (Pierre Kaffer and Michael Doppelmayr) finished first.
- In the JS2 R category, Natan Bihel dominated the first part of the race before being demoted after the compulsory pitstops. He made a fine comeback to claim his second consecutive Le Mans Heat victory with M Racing.
- Steven Palette and Léo Payen finished second in the #61 LADC Motorsport car, ahead of Julien Shell and David Caussanel in the #29 Pegasus Racing Ligier JS2 R. The latter claimed first place in PRO/AM.
- In AM, Louis Stern took victory in the #18 Pegasus Racing car, followed by Clément Moreno in the #31 ANS Motorsport car and Hervé Tremblaye in the #90 LADC Motorsport car.
To read the full article on the race, CLICK HERE.
Competitors in the Ligier European Series will meet again at Spa on August 23 and 24 after a well-deserved summer break.
For more information on the series, CLICK HERE.
For full results, please CLICK HERE.