Field on Radical entry
Former American Le Mans Series stalwart Jon Field is here this weekend at Portimao.
Field, the former owner of Intersport Racing who was jailed in 2014 after pleading guilty to tax evasion, is part of the 22-car Radical World Finals entry supporting the ELMS.
Mustang bodywork spotted
During a tour of the paddock on Monday afternoon while the teams were setting up, DSC spotted some Ford Mustang GT3 front bodywork outside the Proton garage. A tease of what’s to come for 2024!
Unpredictable Weather
The weather forecast trackside for this week’s meeting is looking ‘mixed’ to say the least.
Portuguese officials have warned of a meteorological depression named ALINE, which will result in extreme showers and wind until tomorrow night.
This has thrown a spanner in the works for the teams and drivers, who will have to deal with changeable weather conditions, including overcast skies, showers and strong gusts of wind.
The current forecast features a moderate amount of rain the whole day on Thursday and Sunday, with Friday being mostly sunny for the first of two 4-hour races lined up this weekend and Saturday with showers.
Entry down to 40
The entry list for the weekend in Portimao has dropped to 40 cars following the withdrawal of the #10 Eurointernational Ligier JS P320 from the LMP3 class. Initially, Glen Van Berlo and François Heriau were slated to drive the car.
This means Eurointernational has just one car for the weekend, its #11 Ligier, which will be driven by Matthew Richard Bell and Adam Ali and currently sits fourth in the LMP3 Teams standings. The #10 was 12th and last in the class, and by regulation, is unlikely to return to the ELMS in 2024.
“The last three placed cars in the final LMP3 team classification will not be given priority for entry to the 2024 ELMS season,” the sporting regulations state. “However, these last-placed teams will be given priority to place an entry for the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup.”
Panis ORECA fastest in ELMS testing
The Grand Season Finale at the Algarve International Circuit got underway yesterday with testing throughout the day for the ELMS and Le Mans Cup runners.
The 145-minute morning ELMS session saw the #25 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA top the timing sheets with a time of 1:34.646 at the hands of Alex Lynn, closely followed by Panis Racing’s #65 ORECA, which was 0.501 off at the hands of Job Van Uitert. Jonathan Aberdein rounded off the top three in LMP2 in the #43 07 Gibson of Inter Europol Competition.
LMP2 Pro-Am was led by the #19 of Team Virage, which was 0.614 seconds off the fastest LMP2 class car, followed by the #83 of AF Corse, driven by Ben Barnicoat and the #21 of United Autosports with Andrew Meyrick at the wheel was the third fastest car of the Pro-Am class.
The LMP3 class saw the #7 Ligier JS P320 of Nielsen Racing set the fastest time, closely followed by #8 Ligier of Team Virage with Portuguese driver Manuel Espírito Santo at the wheel, a mere 74 hundredths of a second behind. The fastest Duqueine M08 was the #12 of WTM by Rinaldi Racing with Leonard Weiss driving, which rounded off the three fastest cars.
LMGTE was led by the #77 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Proton Competition, with two Ferrari 488 GTE Evos, the #55 of Spirit of Race and the #51 of AF Corse, completing the top three.
The Afternoon Test saw track conditions get trickier as a light shower coated the Portuguese racetrack with a thin layer of water. This was no issue for the 42-car strong grid, which quickly dispersed any standing water and provided a bone-dry surface for the whole duration of the session. Despite this, track was still declared wet
LMP2 saw Panis Racing’s Job Van Uitert top the times with a 1:33.527. LMP2 Pro-Am was an extremely close with the top three cars separated by just 0.153. Ex-F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr. was fastest with the #21 car of United Autosports. The #37 COOL Racing at the hands of Malthe Jakobsen ended up second with the #81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA 07 third.
In the LMP3 class, it was the #8 Team Virage car of hometown driver Manuel Espírito Santo that led the field, with a 1:38.945. Just 65 hundredths off was the #12 Duqueine D08 of Oscar Tunjo, driving for WTM by Rinaldi Racing.
GTE saw Matteo Cairoli top the times in the #60 Iron Lynx Porsche.
MORNING TIMES >>> | AFTERNOON TIMES >>>
Noble fastest in LMC testing
Following the ELMS Morning Test, the Michelin Le Mans Cup went out for their own collective test in a shorter, 90-minute session before lunch at the Algarve.
The sole Duqueine M08 in the Top 10 was coincidentally, the fastest car. The #4 car of Nielsen Racing with a time of 1:39.223 with Matthew Bell at the wheel, followed by the two Ligier JS P320s of Colin Noble, driving the #77 Team Thor car, and the #23 United Autosports car, driven by Wayne Boyd, respectively.
The GT3 class saw seven different manufacturers occupying the top seven spots. Leading the charge was the #51 Ferrari 296 GT3 of AF Corse driven by Kei Cozzolino with a 1:43.468.
Wednesday’s final on-track session was the Afternoon Test for the Le Mans Cup.
The session was interrupted twice for red flags, but action quickly resumed after these brief interruptions.
The top three in LMP3 was led by the #77 of Team Thor driven by Colin Noble, followed by Matthew Bell in the #4 Nielsen Racing sports prototype and Wayne Boyd in the United Autosports #23. Noble’s best time was a 1:38.710.
GT3 continued its diversity streak, this time with the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 #63 of Iron Lynx quickest, at the hands of Vincent Abril with a 1:42.732, with the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Kei Cozzolino in second place and Jan Magnussen the third fastest car at the wheel of #88 GMB Motorsport Honda NSX GT3 Evo22.
