Ligier European Series: The Gods smile on Team Virage, RLR MSport and COOL Racing at the Temple of Speed!

The Ligier JS P4s and Ligier JS2 Rs arrived at the Monza Autodromo in Italy to do battle in the fourth round of the season.  And the Temple of Speed lived up to its reputation putting the drivers and teams to a severe test. Team Virage and Gillian Henrion racked up more victories and opened up an even bigger gap over their rivals in the Ligier JS P4 provisional classification. In the Ligier JS2 R category, COOL Racing scored their first win of the season thanks to Cédric Oltramare. RLR MSport and Haytham Qarajouli, who met with no luck on the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit the previous event, were back in the winner's circle in the second race of the Italian weekend.

 

Free practice: Team Virage and RLR MSport top the timesheets

The meeting kicked off with two 40-minute free practice sessions. The two teams leading the championship in their respective categories got down to the nitty-gritty straight away. Team Virage and RLR MSport came out on top thanks to the #16 Ligier JS P4 driven by Gillian Henrion and the #75 and #40 Ligier JS2 Rs in the hands of Haytham Qarajouli and Horst Felix Felbermayr.

Henrion set the fastest lap in a time of 1:53.614s in the first session compared with 1:53.754s in the second.  In the Ligier JS2 R category, Haytham Qarajouli (#75) was first in the first session in front of his team-mate Horst Felix Felbermayr (#40) with his best lap in 2:01.076s. In session 2 Felbermayr trounced all his rivals with a mind-boggling lap in which he posted the fastest time in 2:00.741s!

To consult the article on free practice 1, CLICK HERE.

To consult the article on free practice 2, CLICK HERE.

To consult the results of free practice, CLICK HERE.

 

Qualifying: Double pole position for Team Virage and RLR MSport

In qualifying in the afternoon, Team Virage and RLR MSport pulled off a double! Henrion gave Team Virage its fourth double pole of the season. The driver of the #16 Ligier JS P4 set the quickest lap in session 1 in 1:52.982s followed by Natan Bihel in #53 run by M Racing. In session 2 he got round in a time of 1:53.223s pursued by Andrei Vajda at the wheel of #85 entered by Smart Driving.

Haytham Qarajouli at the controls of the #75 RLR MSport Ligier JS2 R clinched his second double pole position of the season after Imola on May. He set the fastest lap in 2:00.226 in session 1, which he then improved to 1:59.521s in session 2. He clinched his two pole positions by the skin of his teeth at the end of the session from his RLR MSport team-mate, Horst Felix Felbermayr in #40.

To consult the article on qualifying, CLICK HERE.

To consult the results of qualifying, CLICK HERE.

 

Race 1: Team Virage and COOL Racing emerge victorious

In the sports prototype category, Gillian Henrion at the wheel of the Team Virage #16 Ligier JS P4 continued his flawless display since the start of the season. #85 run by Smart Driving stood out thanks to the skills behind the wheel of Andrei Vajda. He was mixing it in the top 3 during the first part of the race and even led for a few laps before being given a drive through penalty. He finally finished just shy of the podium. Natan Bihel (#53 M Racing) came home in second place followed by George King and Ronnie Valorie in #23 run by Monza Garage.

In the GT category, Cédric Oltramare, who already raced in 2021, was at the wheel of the #4 COOL Racing Ligier JS2 R and bagged his first victory in the series, which was also his very first win in motor sport! After a hectic start to the race he came out on top in front of #96 entered by CTF Performance and the duo of gentlemen drivers, Fabien Delaplace and Laurent Piguet. For the first time this season, David Caussanel and Christophe Weber, the bronze drivers in #29 entered by Pegasus Racing, finished on the podium. In addition, Caussanel set the fastest lap of the race in a time of 2:00.511s.

To consult the article on race 1, CLICK HERE.

To consult the results of race 1, CLICK HERE.

 

Race 2: Team Virage still the hot favourite and RLR MSport back on the topmost step of the podium!

In the second race of the weekend, the championship leaders defended their positions by winning their respective categories.

In Ligier JS P4 battles raged between the various competitors. The crew in the #3 LR Motorsport Ligier JS P4 Simone Riccitelli and Nicola Neri took the lead but were unable to fend off the attacks of Gillian Henrion. LR Motorsport was romping away at the head of the field after the pit stops followed by #44 run by Smart Driving in the hands of Alexandru Mirea. Henrion then decided it was time to go pedal to the metal and got the better of his rivals. Mirea took the chequered flag in second place giving Smart Driving its first podium finish of the season. In the closing laps, Natan Bihel (#53 M Racing Ligier JS P4) overtook #3 entered by LR Motorsport and crossed the finishing line in third place.

In Ligier JS2 R, Haytham Qarajouli the driver of the #75 RLR MSport took his revenge. He led the race from start to finish. Galvanised by his victory in race 1, Cédric Oltramare in #4 run by COOL Racing caught #40 (RLR MSport) with Horst Felix Felbermayr behind the wheel and snatched second place. It looked like the #40 Ligier JS2 R had third spot sewn up, but it stopped at the pit exit and retired two laps from the finish gifting the place to #69 run by M Racing and Laurent Millara who completed the podium.

To consult the article on race 2, CLICK HERE.

To consult the results of race 2, CLICK HERE.

 

To know more about the Ligier JS P4, CLICK HERE.

To know more about the Ligier JS2 R, CLICK HERE.