United ready to debut second ORECA
United Autosports’ second ORECA 07 Gibson (the #32) is here for the first time at Spa.
Alex Brundle, Will Owen and Ryan Cullen all turned their first laps in the car at the pre-event test here on Wednesday. There, the car ran faultlessly all day and topped the times, an early reward for the team’s hard work on to prep the ex-JDC Miller car, which was still ongoing on Tuesday.
This switch from Ligier to ORECA brings the total number of 07 Gibsons (including the Aurus) in the ELMS LMP2 field to 14. Here in Spa, there are just three JS P217s left in the field, one apiece from Panis Barthez, Inter Europol and IDEC Sport. There are no Dallaras on the entry this time meanwhile, but we’ll get to that later.
Testing incidents
There were two significant incidents in the aforementioned pre-event private test here at Spa.
The biggest of the two saw the G-Drive Racing Aurus 01 of Job van Uitert have a big off at Eau Rouge/Raidillon, the car hitting the barriers on driver’s right at Raidillon with the principle damage being to the front-left corner.
Since then the Russian-flagged team has been forced to prep a spare Aurus for the race weekend. By the time DSC reached the circuit yesterday afternoon the team’s new car already ready for free practice.
Thankfully DSC can report that van Uitert is ‘ok’ and will race this weekend.
Kessel Racing’s #83 Ferrari was also understood to have had an off, at the hands of Michelle Gatting. Both the car and Gatting are also ready to race.
First confirmed LMP3 sales for Duqueine
Some of the choices for the ELMS and Le Mans Cup teams in 2020 when the new range of LMP3 cars will be introduced are beginning to become clearer.
DSC is aware of at least two teams that intend to field both Ligier and Duqueine chassis in 2020, one of which DSC can name today as RLR Msport.
Another Duqueine customer looks set to be Lanan Racing, Graham Johnson confirming to DSC yesterday evening that it will acquire a car, this on the weekend that its replacement Norma M30 for the car destroyed in Spain will race for the first time. The new car is the ex-TFT Racing car which raced sporadically in VdeV; it has been fully refurbished and looks all-but brand new.
Further to the news from RLR, Ligier’s customer base looks to be building rapidly, with the French brand telling DSC that 360 Racing, AF Corse, United Autosports and GRAFF have all purchased new cars.
Ginetta and Adess on the other hand, are yet to confirm any buyers. Adess is still searching for a partner team to race in Europe as it continues to test its car with the brand new engine, and Ginetta is looking to ensure that its “major commercial interest” translates into strong sales figures.
Hoogenboom not present
Panis Barthez Competition’s Ligier JS P217 is running with two drivers again here at Spa. Reigning Le Mans Cup champion Leonard Hoogenboom is not present here in Belgium, after missing Silverstone, meaning Timothe Buret and Konstantin Tereschenko will again compete as a pair for the race. DSC understands that Hoogenboom will also not race at Portimao.
#88 Proton Porsche withdrawn from entry
Proton Competition’s #88 Porsche, which won at Silverstone, will also not race this weekend. The 911 RSR is here in Belgium but the German team has once again been unable to get a driver squad together. In the UK last month, Ricardo Sanchez, Thomas Preining and Gianluca Giraudi teamed up and took the win in the GTE class.
Project 1’s #56 Porsche, which didn’t race at Silverstone, is also not present at Spa, the GTE class down to six cars for the weekend.
Onboard video
The ELMS YouTube channel has released a pair of onboard videos from the private test earlier this week, one on the #2 United Autosports Ligier JS P3, the other from the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche.
