Posted on 16 June 2018

LM24 H+8: the #23 Panis Barthez Compétition Ligier JS P217 in 2nd position in LM P2

At precisely 3 o'clock, the 8 Ligier JS P217 entered in the 86^th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans took off to take on one of the most legendary, but also one of the hardest endurance races.

The first hours of the race matched the pace that was set in the qualifying sessions by the Ligier sports-prototype equipped with its new aerodynamic Le Mans kit. The #23 Panis Barthez Compétition Ligier JS P217 has had an excellent start to the race, competing with the leaders in the heart of the top 5 of the LM P2 category and switching between fourth and second place in the LM P2 category. At 23h00, they were running in 2^nd place, and the #34 Jackie Chan DC Racing and the #22 United Autosports Ligier JS P217 completed the trio of the brand running in the top 10 of the LM P2 cars.

Unfortunately, the #25 Algarve Pro Racing had to return to its garage after 86 laps following a mechanical issue. It is still immobilised.

LM P2 classification after 8 hours of racing:

1^er - #26 G-Drive Racing – Oreca 07

2e - #23 Panis Barthez Compétition – Ligier JS P217

3^e - #36 Signatech Alpine Matmut - Alpine A470

4^e - #48 Idec Sport - Oreca 07

5e - #39 Graff-SO24 - Oreca 07

6e - #28 TDS Racing – Oreca 07

7^e - #34 Jackie Chan DC Racing – Ligier JS P217

8e - #22 United Autosports – Ligier JS P217

9e - #29 Racing Team Nederland – Dallara P217

10e - #40 G-Drive Racing – Oreca 07