Michelin Le Mans Cup: Victory for United Autosports and a full Ligier JS P320 podium at Spa-Francorchamps

The Spa-Francorchamps circuit hosted an action-packed weekend for the Michelin Le Mans Cup on 22 and 23 September. After leading free practice and qualifying, the Ligier JS P320s took the bull by the horns at the Spa Round race. It was a chaotic race, punctuated by four safety car periods, ending with victory for the #23 of United Autosports. CD Sport's #2 and MV2S Racing's #28 completed the podium in second and third place.

• On Friday, 22 September, the Ligier JS P320 set the 13 fastest times in free practice 1, with the #7 from Nielsen Racing (Anthony Wells and Josh Skelton) leading the way with a best lap of 2:13.480s.

• Late in the day, on a wet track, the #97 of COOL Racing (Luis Sanjuan and David Droux) was fastest in free practice 2, with a lap of 2:29.377s.

• On Saturday, the #7 Nielsen Racing Ligier JS P320 took pole position. Anthony Wells set the fastest lap in qualifying at 2:13.178s.

• Several collisions marked the start of the Spa Round. Among the casualties were the #97 of COOL Racing (Luis Sanjuan and David Droux), the championship-leading #16 from Team Virage (Julien Gerbi and Gillian Henrion) and its sister car, the #58 (Alessandro Bracalente and Oscar Bittar), the #13 of Inter Europol Competition (Ben Stone and Santiago Concepcion Serrano) and the #9 from Racing Spirit of Leman (Christian Gisy and Ralf Kelleners). The race-leading Nielsen Racing #7 escaped the chaos.

• A few minutes later, as the first safety car period began, the #22 of United Autosports (Gérald Kraut and Scott Andrews) went off the track. Like the #58 and the #13, its race concluded in retirement.

• The race resumed 20 minutes later. As it began to overtake another competitor, the #68 of M Racing (Sacha Lehmann and Erwin Creed) collided with a rival, causing a second safety car period.

• The safety car made its return to the track twice more. Once, following a collision between the #6 from ANS Motorsport (Jonathan Brossard and Nicolas Schatz) and the #11 CD Sport entry (Shahan Haig Sarkissian and Franck Chappard), then after the #7 of Nielsen Racing went off the track.

• The race resumed for the final time with 10 minutes remaining. The #23 of United Autorsports (John Schauerman and Wayne Boyd) led ahead of the #26 from 360 Racing (Terrence Woodward and Tommy Foster) and the #97 of COOL Racing. The classification remained the same for the rest of the race.

• The #23 took the victory and recorded the fastest lap of the race with Wayne Boyd in 2:13.407s. But post-race penalties for the #26 and #97 dropped them in the classification. As a result, the #2 of CD Sport (Fabien Michal and Kirill Smal) and the #28 of MV2S Racing (Christophe Cresp and Jerôme de Sadeleer) finished second and third.

• Team Virage's #16 continues to dominate the championship with 72 points in the general classification. CD Sport's #2 is second with 51 points, level on points with #77 from Team Thor.

The title will thus be in the balance on 21 October at the season finale in Portimao at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.

For results, CLICK HERE.

 

For more information about the Ligier JS P320, CLICK HERE.