Pole positions, victory and podiums: the Ligier JS P320s storming the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit
Edition eight of Road to Le Mans, the special round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup, was a curtain raiser to the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the legendary Sarthe circuit on 8 and 9 June. 32 Ligier JS P320s invaded the championship's LMP3 field to score two pole positions, podiums and victory. Let's have a look back at this action-packed weekend.
• Six Ligier JS P320s topped the timesheets in Free Practice 1 on Wednesday, 7 June. The #77 of Team Thor (Audun Gudmundsson and Colin Noble) led the way with the fastest lap of 3:49.296s.
• It was another lockout of the top six in the afternoon, in Free Practice 2. This time it was the #58 from Team Virage (Martin Rich and Manuel Espirito Santo) atop the LMP3 field, with a time of 3:49.296s.
• On Thursday, 8 June, two Ligier teams shared the pole positions. The #58 of Team Virage was quickest in session 1 with a time of 3:46.735s (Manuel Espirito Santo), while the #2 from CD Sport set the fastest lap in session 2 with a time of 3:50.349s (Fabien Michal).
Race 1 in brief:
• Starting from P2 on the grid, the #23 United Autosports Ligier JS P320 (John Schauerman and Wayne Boyd) led until half-distance. But the LMP3 was overtaken on lap seven. The #58 of Team Virage took control of the race and crossed the finish line first. A five-second penalty, however, was imposed post-race for failing to comply with the safety car procedure, which dropped it back to fourth place.
• The #77 Team Thor Ligier JS P320 and the #97 of COOL Racing (Luis Sanjuan and David Droux) finished second and third.
Race 2 in brief:
• After taking the lead on lap six, the #77 Team Thor Ligier JS P320 took first place in the race ahead of the #97 from COOL Racing. Penalised with a stop-and-go (converted after the race into a 36-second penalty), the #77 dropped to 15th in the classification.
• The #97 Ligier JS P320 inherited the win. After winning the pole the previous day, the #2 of CD Sport finished third, its second podium after Barcelona. Josh Skelton, in the #7 from Nielsen Racing, set the fastest lap of the race in 3:47.694s.
• Despite a difficult weekend for the #16 Team Virage Ligier JS P320 of Julien Gerbi and Gillian Henrion (P8 in race 1 and retirement in race 2 at Le Mans), the latter still leads the championship with 29 points. But CD Sport's #2 is only a few points behind with 25 points, as is COOL Racing's #97 with 22 points.
Round three of the calendar will take place at the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet on 15 July.