Hedman tops Bronze Test
30 of the 45 cars headed out for the Bronze Test this afternoon at Ricard, in the sunshine.
Fastest after the 30 minutes of running was DragonSpeed’s Henrik Hedman, the Swedish driver setting a 1:44.767, half a second up on the other runners in the class in the team’s ORECA 07 Gibson.
Five of the LMP2 cars made it out for the session, Francois Perrodo in the TDS Racing ORECA ending up second with a 1:45.284, ahead of Roberto Lacorte, who finished up third in the Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara.
In LMP3, the #11 Eurointernational Ligier of Kay Van Berlo finished top of the class with a 1:52.587. The GTE category meanwhile, was topped by the #88 Proton Competition Porsche of Gianluca Roda, who toured the circuit in 1:56.991.
Camathias parts ways with Proton Competition
Joel Camathias will not compete with Proton Competition in this year’s ELMS season, after announcing that he’s parted company with the team following his off in testing earlier this week, damaging the #77 911 RSR beyond repair on his first lap behind the wheel.
“I am sad about the development, but I understand and accept the situation,” he said in a statement. “The accident itself was very unfortunate, and something that never happened to me before in 25 years of racing. I was in my first lap and coming to the third corner, the car just ‘went’ as soon as I touched the brakes. It was completely sudden and unexpected. Unfortunately, the car has suffered serious damage. I understand the trouble for Proton Competition a few days before the start of the ELMS season.
“Eventually, it was decided to take different paths. I have spent two very nice and successful seasons with Proton Competition, in the FIA WEC in 2016 and in the ELMS in 2017. Out of 15 races together, we took 7 podium finishes and one win, finishing 3rd in the ELMS’ in the LMGTE class in 2017. I thank Proton for their trust and wish them all the best for the future.
“I will now focus on re-directing my 2018 racing plans, which won’t be easy at this period of the year. But challenges are what this sports is about, and I am confident something new and positive will come out!”
He will be replaced here at Paul Ricard by Marvin Dienst, who drove with the team in the WEC last season, and may well get the call up for the remainder of the season.
The damaged 911 in question, has been replaced by the #77 WEC chassis, and is now in the full ELMS livery.
Algarve Pro fuel leak
The rather slow and unexpected times this morning for the #31 APR Rebellion ORECA 07 Gibson, were explained by race engineer Greg Wheeler to DSC as a result of lost time in the session, the car suffering a fuel leak in the cockpit.
It’s been a frustrating start for the #31’s campaign so far.
SVC departs the scene
SVC Sport Managment’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3, which was a late entry to the Michelin Le Mans Cup pre-season test, will not take part in this weekend’s race.
The team has left the circuit, using the test on Wednesday for track time only. This brings the GT3 class field down to seven runners.
RLR Le Mans Cup Ligier withdrawn
The #59 RLR Ligier has been withdrawn from the weekend, driver Ross Warburton having suffered a shoulder injury, the recovery time from that if he aggravates it could be very much longer.
The team has opted not to take that risk, and will return to the series for Round 2 at Monza.
Weather
After a shaky start to the day, with the opening sessions being held under light rain, the weather has finally turned, the sun coming out in the afternoon, allowing the Bronze drivers to turn laps in the Bronze test, in fully dry conditions.
As it stands, the weather is set to be sunny both tomorrow and Sunday too, news very much welcomed by those in the paddock who have been soaked through to the skin each day this week.
Lapierre gunning for qualifying record
Qualifying tomorrow for the ELMS will see Nicolas Lapierre in the #21 DragonSpeed ORECA potentially break the record for the most ELMS pole positions, he currently shares with Harry Tincknell, Oliver Turvey and Filipe Albuquerque. The all currently have four.
How to follow
Both the ELMS and Le Mans Cup Qualifying sessions and the Races this weekend will be streamed live on the ELMS and Le Mans Cup websites respectively, with commentary from RSL’s Jonny Palmer and the DSC editor.
Here’s the schedule:
Michelin Le Mans Cup Qualifying: 11:50am Saturday
European Le Mans Series Qualifying: 13:40 Saturday
Michelin Le Mans Cup Race: 16:00 Saturday
European Le Mans Series: 12:00 Sunday
