24h Le Mans
Here's what happened today in the various support races at the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans, including qualifying and races.
Two Road to Le Mans races are being held this year at the 24 Hours circuit. As such, two qualifying sessions were on the programme to determine the respective starting grids. The driver duos were divided, with each driver taking part in one qualifying session then in the corresponding race. In the first session, Laurents Hörr placed the #3 Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan in the lead with a time of 3:45.606. The French manufacturer's chassis run by the Luxembourg team dominated a field of Ligiers with six Ligier JS P320-Nissans trailing. Cool Racing's Malthe Jakobsen in the #69 will start from the first row in Race 1. In GT3, official Aston Martin driver Valentin Hasse-Clot proved fastest at the wheel of the #99 Vantage GT3.
Torsten Kratz at the wheel of a Duqueine secured pole position in 3:48.479 for Race 2 during the second qualifying session. Racing Spirit of Léman took the second spot thanks to Alexander Mattschull's lap in 3:50.552.
In GT3, Team WRT dominated GMB Motorsport. Arnold Robin clocked a lap in 3:58.827 with the Belgian team's #34 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. Kristian Poulsen followed in 3:59.836 at the wheel of the #55 Honda NSX GT3. Both drivers qualified in less than four minutes unlike the other GT3 competitors.
Race 1 was the highlight of today's action for the 48 drivers. It amounted to a 55-minute sprint with some never making it past the first lap. The #21 and #27 Ligier JS P320-Nissans and the #52 Ferrari 488 GT3 were forced to retire after only a few kilometers. While in the lead, Jon Brownson driving the #3 Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan made contact with a competitor and spun, plummeting to 25th in the classification. The new leader, Maurice Smith in the #69 Ligier JS P320-Nissan, failed to capitalise on the situation, leaving the track on the first lap just before the Forest Esses. Soon the hierarchy fell into place with ANS Motorsport's #6 Ligier ahead of Racing Spirit of Léman's #10 and Reiter Engineering's #76. Twenty-minutes into the race, Charles-Henri Samani had a violent incident with the Racetivity team's #83 Mercedes-AMG GT3, triggering a slow zone. Most of the competitors took advantage of the opportunity to head to pit lane. After changing drivers and respecting a minimum pit stop time of two minutes, Racing Spirit of Léman emerged number one thanks to Tom Dillmann, with the top 5 all within five seconds. In GT, the Honda NSXs were unable to carry on the domination they had established early in the race. The Ebimotors team's Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Fabio Babini fought hard with Arnold Robin's Audi R8 LMS GTE EVO II up until the final seconds of the race. A small mistake made by the French driver exiting the Mulsanne corner dashed his hopes, with Babini overtaking him decisively in the Indianapolis corner for a Porsche win.
Bashar Mardini started from the pole in Huber Racing's #83 Porsche 992, but was overtaken in the second lap by Marlon Hernandez at the wheel of CLRT's #33 Porsche 992. The 45-minute race was interrupted by a safety car deployment after an incident by Fouad Sawaya driving Manthey Racing's #35 Porsche 992 in the Motul chicane. The action got back underway 10 minutes from the chequered flag with the two leaders immediately resuming their battle. The order remained unchanged as a final red flag brought the round to an end.
Race 2 is scheduled for tomorrow, Friday 10 June at 09:30.
At 10:15, the 39 competitors in the 2022 Ligier European Series hit the track for a first 20-minute qualifying session.
Simone Riccitelli in LR Motorsport's #3 Ligier JS P4 set the pace with two stunning times in a row, 4:07 then 4:05, a full second faster than the rest of the field. However, Team Virage's #16 Ligier driver Gillian Henrion – pole-sitter and 19-year-old winner of every race of the season – was not to be outdone. He clocked a time of 4:05.377, propelling him to the top of the timesheet. Riccitelli qualified in second position and Dimitri Enjalbert in Pegasus Racing's #17 Ligier in third.
Mathys Jaubert driving ANS Motorsport's #6 Ligier JS2 R finished in the lead of the JS2 R class, but made a mistake at Tertre Rouge in his last lap.
The second qualifying session kicked off with a slow zone at the Motul chicane following an incident by the #7 JS2 R of Franco Lemma. Due to two yellow flags in the Mulsanne Straight, the drivers were unable to do a clear lap. The chaotic session saw Henrion clock the pole position time of 4:07.091 in one attempt. Ronnie Valori in Monza Garage's #23 Ligier qualified in the second spot and Natan Bihel driving MRacing's #53 Ligier in third. Hugo Rosati in the #10 Ligier JS2 R, ninth overall, led up the JS2 Rs.
Race 1 is scheduled for tomorrow, Friday 10 June at 11:10.
