23Events Racing claimed victory in Race 2 of Road to Le Mans, on the morning ahead of the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours.
Matteo Quintarelli, driving the French squad’s #50 Ligier JS P325 – Toyota, successfully fended off R-ace GP’s Hugo Schwarze during a one-lap shootout following a late Safety Car intervention.
It is the French team’s first Michelin Le Mans Cup victory, with Quintarelli’s co-driver Lena Bühler becoming the first woman to win a Michelin Le Mans Cup race.
Bühler climbed from fourth to second on the opening lap of the 60-minute affair, and held the position until the pit stop window, when a slow stop for the leading #29 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier meant Quintarelli emerged in the race lead.
A Safety Car bunched the field up ahead of a 10-minute shootout, with Quintarelli leading Race 1 winner Theodor Jensen in the #37 CLX Motorsport Ligier, and Schwarze in R-ace GP’s #85 Duqueine.
Unfortunately, Jensen ran wide out of the Ford Chicane on the restart, and was pitched into the pit wall, necessitating another Safety Car. The race looked over, but strong work by the marshals meant there was time for one final racing lap.
Quintarelli got a strong initial jump over Schwarze, but the Duqueine driver slowly reeled the Ligier back in, making his first look for the lead at Indianapolis. Quintarelli felt obliged to defend into Arnage, enabling Schwarze to get a better exit and briefly draw ahead on the run to the Porsche Curves.
The Ligier driver, however, held the inside for the first right-hander of the sequence, and was able to definitively reclaim the lead. His winning margin was 0.531 seconds.
Third went to the #70 Gebhardt Motorsport Duqueine of Valentino Catalano and Oscar Tunjo, ahead of the #92 Forestier Racing by VPS and #25 Reiter Engineering Ligiers.
The pole sitting #16 Team Virage Ligier was sixth, having recovered from falling to 13th early on, ahead of the #68 M Racing Ligier and #12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine.
The race got off to a dramatic start, as third-placed starter Louis Rousset in the #29 Ligier made contact with the #8 Team Virage Ligier of Sebastian Gravlund, as he attempted to split Gravlund and pole sitter Sacha Lehmann at the Dunlop Curve.
Gravlund was pitched towards the inside, remarkably avoiding being collected by the rest of the 58-car field. Rousset proceeded to pass Lehmann around the outside at the Dunlop Chicane, claiming a lead he would hold until the pit window. A slow pitstop would cost the #29 Ligier the lead, with a subsequent Drive-Through for the contact with Gravlund ending any hopes of a comeback.
CLX Motorsport’s unbeaten streak in this year’s Michelin Le Mans Cup came to a disappointing end, with its best-placed entry coming home 35th overall. Alongside Jensen’s retirement, it’s #97 Ligier had to start from the back after pitting on the formation lap, whilst the championship-leading #87 was awarded a Drive-Through when Pierre-Alexandre Provost made contact with ANS Motorsport’s Axel Gnos at the Dunlop Chicane.
Victory in LMP3 Pro/Am, in ninth overall, went to the #2 DKR Engineering Ginetta-G61-LT-P325-Evo of Antti Rammo and Thomas Laurent. Rammo started the car from second, and the pairing never looked back after pole sitter David Pun ran wide in the #43 Inter Europol Competition Ligier at the opening corner.
It is Ginetta’s maiden win in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, and it’s first in ACO-rules racing since ARC Bratislava won the LMP3 class at the 2017 4 hours of Buriram. The LMP3 Pro/Am podium was completed by the points leading #71 Rinaldi Racing Ligier and the #88 R-ace GP Duqueine.
The fourth LMP3 constructor, Adess, also achieved a milestone with its AD25 as it led a lap for the first time, albeit by going off-strategy during the pit cycle.
GT3 honours went to the #65 Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Heiko Neumann and Lukas Dunner, after Dunner passed Steve Jans in the #14 GetSpeed AMG GT3 Evo at the Esses on the final lap.
The Mercedes-AMGs traded the lead multiple times during the race, as Bronze-ranked pole sitter Neumann was passed by Anthony Bartone in the opening stint, and Dunner fought to retake the lead in the second half of the race. Second went to the #5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren GT3 Evo, ahead of the GetSpeed AMG, after Optimum’s Bradley Ellis also passed Jans on the final tour.
The next round of the 2025 Michelin Le Mans Cup takes place at Spa-Francorchamps, on 23rd August.
Image courtesy of 23Events Racing
