The Barcelona-Catalunya circuit produced two highly entertaining races to open the 2024 Ligier European Series on Saturday.
Team Virage scored two wins with the British duo of Theo Micouris and Haydn Chance aboard the #1 JS P4. In the JS2 R class, Antoine Lepesqueux and Noé Da Cunha took their first victory in the #50 of Les Deux Arbres. In race 2, it was Louis Stern’s turn (Pegasus Racing #18) to climb onto the top step of the podium.
Race 1: Team Virage and Les Deux Arbres win in the season-opening race.
The first race of the 2024 Ligier European Series season kicked off on a sunny Saturday morning at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. It was an eventful start, with the safety car deployed for the race start following two on-track stoppages. With the safety car’s return to the pits, the competitors were given the green light on the Catalan circuit for a race full of twists and turns, which saw Inter Europol Competition and Les Deux Arbres take the chequered flag in the lead for the first time this season.
However, following post-race investigations, the #7 of Inter Europol Competition was penalised an additional 36 seconds on its race time for failing to respect the minimum pit-stop time. As a result, the #1 of Team Virage won race 1, and the #7 was relegated to 9th place.
The #53 M Racing JS2 R with Cindy Gudet at the wheel went wide on the formation lap and off the track. A few seconds later, the #16 Pegasus Racing Ligier JS P4 (Yuki Tanaka) came to a standstill, prompting the race to start behind the safety car.
Poleman Jeronimo Berrio in the #66 Team Virage Ligier JS P4 led by Romain Favre in the #7 of Inter Europol Competition and Ian Aguilera in the #77 from RLR MSport. As the laps ticked by, Jeronimo Berrio extended his lead over the #66, while the midfield battle raged between Ben Caisley in the #4 of Nielsen Racing and Lucas Medina in the #32 Team Virage entry.
Halfway through the race, the safety car reappeared on track following the stoppage of the #60 Iron Lynx by LRMotorsport JS2 R. During the neutralisation of the race, the mandatory pitstop window opened, and the teams implemented their strategies to take advantage and gain positions. Nielsen Racing won the battle of the pitstops to return to the track in the lead with Logan Hannah at the controls of the #4 Ligier JS P4. The race restarted seven laps later, and Logan Hannah was overtaken by Pedro Moreno in the #66 for the race lead, followed by Romain Favre (#7) and Theo Micouris (#1 Team Virage). The three young drivers battled hard, with each wanting to move into first place.
Unfortunately, their momentum was cut short with another safety car period to remove Clément Moreno and his #31 ANS Motorsport Ligier JS2 R from the gravel trap.
The race resumed with five minutes to go, and Romain Favre launched an attack on Pedro Moreno to take the lead in his #7 Ligier JS P4, followed by Theo Micouris in the #1. Romain Favre held off his Colombian counterpart to take the chequered flag, giving Inter Europol Competition its maiden Ligier European Series victory. The British crew of Haydn Chance and Theo Micouris in Team Virage #1 finished second, followed by the other JS P4 from the Polish team, the #66 of Pedro Moreno and Jeronimo Berrio.
However, following post-race investigations, the #7 of Inter Europol Competition was penalised an additional 36 seconds on its race time for failing to respect the minimum pit-stop time. As a result, the #1 of Team Virage won race 1, and the #7 was relegated to 9th place. The #66 Team Virage was promoted second ahead of the #71 Monza Garage with Chun-Ting Chou and James Winslow.
Lucas Medina and Alim Geshev won the PRO-AM category in the #32 Team Virage JS P4.
The race in the JS2 R category was just as eventful as in JS P4.
When the green flag flew, Matteo Pianezzola in the #60 from Iron Lynx by LRMotorsport Ligier JS2 R passed poleman Clément Moreno in the #31 from ANS Motorsport, with Julien Schell in the Pegasus Racing #29 entry close behind in third place.
Unfortunately, Matteo Pianezzola encountered a technical issue on lap six and stopped on the track, causing the second safety car period of race 1. Julien Schell, in #29, took the lead ahead of Antoine Lepesqueux (#50 Les Deux Arbres) and Clément Moreno, who spun.
Following the mandatory pitstops, David Caussanel entered the track in the lead in the #29, followed by Clément Moreno in the #31 and Louis Stern in the #18 of Pegasus Racing. When green-flag racing resumed, Clément Moreno took advantage of the traffic on the restart to retake the lead from David Caussanel in the #29.
In midfield, Cindy Gudet, in the #53 from M Racing, made up ground and gradually climbed up the order.
The battle raged between Clément Moreno (#31) and Noé Da Cunha in the #50. However, Moreno got caught under braking for turn one of his 20th lap and came to rest in the gravel trap, causing the third Safety Car period of the morning.
The race restarted five minutes from the chequered flag, with Noé Da Cuhna in the lead, followed by David Caussanel and Louis Stern. Cindy Gudet managed to climb back up to fourth place in her #53 JS2 R.
After a hard-fought battle, Noé Da Cuhna crossed the chequered flag in the lead, giving the Les Deux Arbres team and his teammate Antoine Lepesqueux their first win of 2024. David Caussanel and Julien Schell (#29 Pegasus Racing) and Louis Stern (#18 Pegasus Racing) finished behind and were first and second, respectively, in the AM classification.
Jacques Nicolet and Sita Vanmeert won the PRO-AM category after an error-free race in the #86 of Les Deux Arbres.
Race 2: Team Virage repeats, and Pegasus Racing wins in JS2 R
The second one-hour race of the Barcelona Heat was run this afternoon in July-like temperatures on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit. After winning the day’s first encounter, Team Virage did it again with a start-to-finish victory for the #1 JS P4 in race 2. In the JS2 R category, Louis Stern, in the #18 of Pegasus Racing, claimed his maiden Ligier European Series win and first-ever victory in motor racing.
The start of race two went off without a hitch, and the pole car, the #1 of Team Virage driven by Theo Micouris, maintained its lead. The #77 of Ian Aguilera and RLR MSport went immediately on the offensive at the green flag to move into second place ahead of the #66 of Team Virage driven by Pedro Moreno, who regained the position on lap four.
Just behind, a fourth-place battle broke out between the #6 of Iko Segret (ANS Motorsport) and the #7 of Romain Favre (Inter Europol Competition).
Meanwhile, Theo Micouris extended his lead with his #1 Ligier JS P4. In the midfield, Chun-Ting Chou, at the controls of the #71 Monza Garage, was lying in wait before he took fourth place from Romain Favre (#7).
The pit-stop window opened, and the strategy was to get out as quickly as possible. Haydn Chance took over in the #1 of Team Virage and put the metal to the peddle to take the lead and pull away from the rest of the field by nine seconds.
Romain Favre (#7) was then penalised with a drive-through penalty for abusing track limits.
On his 23rd lap, Jeronimo Berrio began to slow dramatically in the #66 of Team Virage. A few laps later, he came to a complete stop on the track, causing the first safety car period of the race, with six minutes remaining on the clock. The green-flag action resumed with three minutes remaining. James Winslow pursued Haydn Chance (#1) in the #71 from Monza Garage, which was unfortunately run into by the #60 Iron Lynx by LRMotorsport Ligier JS2 R and sent into the gravel trap.
Haydn Chance and Theo Micouris, aboard the #1 Team Virage, won their second race of the day, followed by their teammates Lucas Medina and Alim Geschev in the #32 who also took the win in the PRO-AM classification. Ian Aguilera completed the podium in the RLR MSport #77.
Race two of the JS2 R category was less eventful than the first, with no significant incidents to report.
Following the absence of the #31 ANS Motorsport (Clément Moreno) at the start, Cindy Gudet, aboard the #53 M Racing, took the lead. But Noé Da Cunha, in the #50 from Les Deux Arbres, attacked to take first place on the opening lap. Clément Moreno, in the #31, joined the race at the back of the pack, while Gregorio Bertocco, in the #60 of Iron Lynx by LRMotorsport, who didn’t have the opportunity to drive in race 1, set about gaining positions one by one. He moved up to third on lap four.
Meanwhile, Noé Da Cunha, in the #50, extended his lead over Cindy Gudet’s #53 and Bertocco’s #60. They pulled away to build a gap of more than 14 seconds from the rest of the category.
During the pitstops, Julien Schell, in the #29 of Pegasus Racing, left the pits with the lead, followed by the #50 (Les Deux Arbres), now in the hands of Antoine Lepesqueux and the #18 of Louis Stern (Pegasus Racing). Unfortunately, Julien Schell received a one-second stop-and-go penalty for failing to respect the minimum pit-stop time and lost first place to teammate Louis Stern in the #18 JS2 R.
Following the #66 Ligier JS P4’s pitstop was a three-minute safety car period. Louis Stern maintained his lead on the restart and took the #18 Pegasus Racing JS2 R to the chequered flag, giving the French team its first win of the season. In addition, he scored the points for victory in the AM classification. The #50 of the Les Deux Arbres team, driven by Antoine Lepesqueux and Noé Da Cuhna, crossed the line in second place, followed by Clément Moreno in the #31 of ANS Motorsport.
Jacques Nicolet and Sita Vanmeert, in the #86 Les Deux Arbres JS2 R, took top honours in the PRO-AM class.
