New Blood by Morand Racing took victory in a fascinating four hours of ELMS action at Paul Ricard this afternoon with their Morgan-Judd. The Swiss team finished 5.518s clear of the series points leader – Signatech Alpine, after an undulating race that saw multiple leaders and some truly momentous wheel-to-wheel battles throughout the event.
Christian Klien took the chequered flag to banish any memory of his heart-breaking retirement in the final five minutes at Imola, in May. The Austrian was forced to manage the gap to the second placed Signatech Alpine, driven by Paul-Loup Chatin, in the final thirty minutes of the race as he double stinted a set of his hard compound Dunlop tyres.
“It was tough toward the end with the tyres but it was ok to judge the gap,” said Klien. “It was such a great release to take the win because the team deserved it so much, especially after Imola where we could almost see the chequered flag. We are so happy to have won this race.”
The foundations for the victory were set from the start by Pierre Ragues, who took over the lead after the first round of pit stops. Gary Hirsch then drove easily his finest stints at LMP2 level to build what was ultimately a race winning gap. The reigning LMPC champion managed to repel a charging Nelson Panciatici, not only defending his lead but also pulling away from the Alpine.
Hirsch also pulled off the move of the race by earlier taking Simon Dolan’s Jota Sport Zytek around the outside of the Le Beausset corner.
The Swiss racer was highly delighted with his first ever LMP2 victory and paid tribute to his team, saying: “It was exactly a year ago today that I first met Benoit (Morand), so it is nice we are here now talking about the win. The team were perfect and the car felt very nice today. It is a great feeling to be able to achieve this and I hope we can do it again at Estoril.”
It was also a happy day for a spectating Jacques Nicolet of Onroak. So too for Engine Developments (Judd) who celebrated their first win of the season at this demanding power track.
Signatech Alpine enhanced their title credentials by finishing runner-up at their home event. With Jota Sport finishing in 4th position they head to the finale at Estoril with a 10-point advantage with 26 to play for.
Oli Webb started his first ever endurance race and enjoyed a solid and trouble free first stint before Paul Loup-Chatin took over the Alpine-Nissan. The Frenchman wasted no time in getting up to speed and after Panciatici’s time at the wheel, he jumped back in and in to a titanic battle with Berthon’s Murphy Oreca-Nissan.
Murphy Prototypes had an eventful race and it was one which they, could and should have won. It was a bitter-sweet podium for the Irish team who lead from a well-earned pole in the opening exchanges through the very capable debutant, Pipo Derani. The Brazilian thwarted former F3 sparring partner Harry Tincknell’s Jota Sport Zytek for the first half an hour, showing impressive maturity that belied his complete lack of LMP2 experience.
Derani handed over to Rodolfo Gonzalez for the mandatory 140mins triple stint the silver categorised driver had to complete. The Venezuelan, who has always had a very good turn of speed led at times during the pit stops and enjoyed a spirited fight with eventual winner Klien. This battle saw both cars inches apart as they duelled it out on the Mistral, at 175mph, for the lead. It was reminiscent of the classic Senna v Mansell moment at Barcelona in 1991 and tremendous stuff to watch. Bravo to both.
With Gonzalez handing over to Nathanaël Berthon for the final stint it became evident that the green and white Oreca-Nissan was going to hunt down Klien and Chatin, who placed first and second with 45mins to run. Chatin repelled his countryman gamely and on one lap the two, lapped 0.001s apart, nose to tail. These laps remained the two fastest of the whole event and announced what was to be a mouth-watering climax to the race.
It never happened. Just as Berthon looked as though he was about make a move on Chatin, news came, devastatingly so for Murphy, that race control had served a stop/go penalty for a pit stop infringement.
The team had begun re-fuelling the car with the engine still running at the final stop. It was only by a matter of seconds but it was enough for the pit observer to report it and Berthon was forced to undertake the drive-through penalty, which cost him over 30-seconds. Salt was rubbed in to the blistering wound when he was baulked by a Ferrari as he entered the pit.
“It was a tough one for us, as I am sure we could have won the race,” said Berthon afterwards. “The team did a fantastic job all weekend. We got pole and a podium, so we should be proud but this team are winners, so there is still some disappointment naturally.”
With both Chatin and Klien nursing their tyres toward the end of the race the final exchanges were reasonably static. The real drama came slightly further down the order as 4th place changed hands on the very final lap.
The Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan, driven at the time by Mark Schulzhitskiy, looked to have 4th place signed and sealed but a last lap issue allowed Simon Dolan’s Jota Zytek-Nissan through in to what ultimately could be a vital two extra points for the team.
“We ran out of fuel on the last lap on the straight,” said a stoic Shulzhitskiy. “It stopped quickly and the Jota car almost hit me. I got the car over the line on the starter motor….just.”
The #28 Greaves entry was playing a little bit of catch up all weekend after the incident with the Gulf Aston in Free Practice. Still, both Luciano Bacheta and Shulzhitskiy had stellar races and ran as high as third at stages of the race.
Not so stellar was the fate of #41 Greaves Zytek-Nissan which sadly crashed out at the first corner when Matt McMurry speared in to the wall, rendering the car hors d’combat despite his best efforts to get it back to the pits. It was a tough one for McMurry who has been one of the stories of the season for the way he has performed in his rookie endurance racing year at international level, all at the age of 16 remember.
It was a hard race for Jota Sport at Paul Ricard. Lacking straight-line speed they couldn’t fight consistently with the New Blood by Morand, Signatech and Murphy cars at Paul Ricard. Like Imola, the team elected to split Simon Dolan’s stints, thrusting Filipe Albuquerque in to the cockpit for the penultimate hour. Despite the Portuguese’s best efforts, the Jota entry couldn’t get back on terms with the top three when Dolan got back in the car to complete his 140mins at the wheel.
The fact remains however that Dolan, a genuine bronze driver is ultimately up against the likes of the experienced 2013 champion Pierre Ragues, ex-F1 tester Rodolfo Gonzalez and LMPC champion and all-round ‘quickman’ Paul-Loup Chatin, all of whom are deemed to be silver drivers. Whatever the quirks of the driver categorisation rules and regulations, Dolan again drove sharp and faultless stints today.
In short, with the 10-point deficit to Signatech, if the Kent based team win at Estoril they will need someone to finish between them and Signatech to take the title. The permutations start already!!
The only other finishers in the LMP2 class were the Sebastien Loeb Racing and the Race Performance Oreca’s. The Loeb entry lost time in the race after a spin by Arthur Pic early on and then more time in the pits with a fuel pump issue. It was however a decent return to the series with the team blooding young talents Pic and Andrea Roda, possibly for future outings too.
Race Performance completed a spirited comeback drive after early race gear selection problems lost them several laps with it taking three consecutive pit stops to cure the issue. They eventually did rectify it, with both Michel Frey and Franck Mailleux lapping mightily Despite a drive-through penalty for a collision with the #57 SMP Racing Ferrari, driven by Mika Salo at the time, they salvaged six points for seventh place, which keeps them fourth in the points standings.
In the LMGTE class there were warm celebrations from the #55 AF Corse crew as they took their second consecutive, and third in total, win of the season. Again it was a hard won affair, as Matt Griffin, Michele Rugolo and Duncan Cameron all drove excellent races to ward off several challengers to extend their points lead to 21pts, as they head to Estoril next month.
“Duncan did an amazing job in the first stint really,” stated a delighted Matt Griffin. “The car was awesome all weekend as it has been all season. For the last 20 mins of our stints, Michele and I were the only guys who could regularly get down in to the 1m57s. It was a good battle with Mirko (Venturi) in the AT car and then for Michele (Rugolo) against Pierre (Kaffer) later, the traffic was difficult and you had to judge it correctly. Toughest race we’ve had this year, definitely.”
Michele Rugolo resisted that huge pressure from Pierre Kaffer in the AT Racing (AF Corse run) Ferrari 458 Italia in the final hour. The Italian was again up to that daunting task and finished 9.2s ahead at flagfall.
“We will approach the Estoril race in the same way but with obviously a little more caution,” said Rugolo afterwards. “You cannot pretend not to think about the title but we will give everything in qualifying as usual to try and be at the front away from the pack.”
It was a bad day for SMP Racing’s title protagonists, Andrea Bertolini, Sergey Zlobin and Viktor Shaitar. The Italian/Russian partnership got off to the worst possible start when Zlobin was adjudged to have jumped the start and given a drive-through penalty for his trouble. A further electrical problem that cut the engine to the car also cost it over a minute. A final nail in the coffin was hammered in, when yet another penalty for a pit infringement relegated the car further to an eventual 7th in the LMGTE class.
Rounding out the podium, and the second of their season was the JMW Motorsport Ferrari. It was a very efficient race from Jim McWhirter’s team with Daniel McKenzie driving an intelligent first two hours to tee-up the equally impressive George Richardson. James Walker completed the race on the return to his old team. The 15 points gained at Paul Ricard sees McKenzie and Richardson sit a very creditable fourth in the standings with 55pts
Gulf Racing had a very interesting weekend with their brand new Porsche 911 RSR. Ben Barker was scintillating in the first two hours as he raced in to a comfortable lead, showing the massive potential of the new package. Mike Wainwright, getting more and more confident in his new surroundings with the car, completed his stint before Adam Carroll took the flag. The team could feasibly have finished higher up but for a late race penalty dished out for one of their team touching the car when the engine was running during a pit stop. Estoril, where they tested last month, cannot come soon enough for the Milton Keynes based squad.
In the GTC class, the #73 SMP Racing Ferrari of Olivier Beretta, David Markazov and Anton Ladygin, took a firm grip on the title after taking their first win of the year. It comes after three consecutive runners-up positions and it was a richly deserved victory, owing much to Markazov’s eye-catching turn of speed and soaking up of pressure, chiefly from the #60 Formula Racing Ferrari, especially when it was driven by Jan Magnussen and Mikkel Mac.
Markozov made up for a mistake in qualifying which saw them start a lowly 11th on the GTC grid and drove superbly, acknowledging his pleasure by testing out his improving English. “I am very ‘appy. But after qualifying I said, ‘I have to improve…..I have to improve…and I did,” said the delighted Russian.
The trio now have an 18.5pt lead over Johnny Laursen and Mikkel Mac as they head to Portugal.
“Anton did a very good start and improved the position lap by lap,” said Beretta. “We stayed out of any trouble and the strategy was good. We have been on the podium at every race so it is great for SMP Racing that we have this lead in the GTC championship.”
The ART GP team took some satisfaction from their home race as the #98 McLaren MP4-12C finished in third place. Kevin Korjus was again the stand out performer and hunted down the #95 AF Corse Ferrari in the closing stages, putting a brave move on it in to Signes. The #99 car of Alex Brundle, Karim Ajlani and Ricardo Gonzalez had a weekend to forget and struggled to match its sister cars pace. It finished in 9th place.
Hard luck stories in GTC included the other two SMP Racing Ferraris, which were beset by penalties.
The #71 Persiani, Ladygin, Basov car, like its LMGTE counterpart was deemed to have jumped the start and received the same penalty. More misery was heaped on it when in the hands of Persiani it suffered a spectacular blow-out on the Mistral straight. The #57 entry, driven by Mika Salo, lost time with damage from contact with Frey’s Race Performance LMP2 and a penalty for using an external battery at a pit stop.
Again it was a race that had something for everyone. High entertainment, great wheel-to-wheel racing and in LMP2 another new winner. Four different winners in four event, with Morgan taking two, Zytek one and Alpine the other. There is sure to be more twists and turns in the titles battles as we head to Estoril on October 18/19. DSC, as ever, will be there.
Sam Smith
