IDEC Sport Triumphs in 4H Le Castellet Thriller

Photo: MPS Agency

IDEC Sport took a resounding victory in the 4 Hours of Le Castellet, surviving changeable conditions that created strategy headaches for European Le Mans Series teams.

Jamie Chadwick, Daniel Juncadella and Mathys Jaubert headed a pair of LMP2 Pro-Am cars to deliver victory in the surviving No. 18 Oreca 07 Gibson, making up for the disappointment of losing the lead on the final lap of Barcelona’s season-opening contest.

IDEC beat the winning Pro-Am car, the No. 27 Nielsen Racing Oreca of Anthony Wells, Sergio Sette Camara and James Allen, by 1.885 seconds at the conclusion of a race that began in greasy conditions which worsened substantially before eventually drying out.

Chadwick, who becomes the first female outright winner of an ELMS race, had been among the many drivers caught out on the opening lap with a moment of wheel spin exiting the first complex of corners. But the first of two safety cars, triggered when Alexander Malykhin crashed the No. 37 CLX Pure Rxcing Oreca at Signes, helped to bring IDEC back into contention.

And the race was reset again with 67 minutes to go after a Turn 6 clash between Job van Uitert, in the second IDEC entry that had been fighting back from being spun at Turn 1, and Luca Ghiotto (Inter Europol Competition) resulted in the Dutchman becoming wedged in the tyre barriers to bring out the safety car again.

This was especially badly-timed for the erstwhile leaders, the No. 24 Nielsen Racing Oreca and No. 10 Vector Sport Oreca, which had gained time by switching back to slicks sooner than the opposition.

Ferdinand Habsburg (Nielsen) and Vladislav Lomko (Vector Sport) had to pit shortly after racing resumed with a little over an hour to go, cycling Jaubert to the front.

Allen closed on Jaubert in the latter stages, but didn’t have enough to challenge. Second overall and victory in the Pro-Am category still marked a remarkable result for a crew that had yo-yoed up and down the order, with Wells running second outright at one point in the opening hour as picking wets for the start paid off.

Sette Camara lost out to fellow Pro-Am contenders Rene Binder (Proton Competition) and Clement Novalak (TDS Racing) during the worst of the rain, but Allen remained in touch with Mathias Beche (in for Novalak) in what became the class lead battle after Binder’s team-mate Bent Viscaal was removed from their path.

Binder was deemed to have gained a lasting advantage when, battling with Novalak, he decided not to cede the lead after straight-lining the opening complex of corners and the resulting drive-through penalty cost Viscaal the lead.

Allen decisively ambushed Beche into the final corner with 38 minutes to go and never relinquished the position.

The outright podium was completed by Louis Deletraz, Dane Cameron and PJ Hyett in the No. 99 AO by TF Oreca, with a late charge from Deletraz taking him past Beche.

The Swiss also lost out to the eventual LMP2 Pro runner-up, the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca that had started on pole in the hands of Jakub Smiechowski. The Polish team’s race was badly thwarted by the first safety car, and the need to pit immediately after it, after Smiechowski’s choice of wet tyres had given it an early edge.

The crew began its recovery with Nick Yelloly before Tom Dillmann took over for the closing laps and passed Beche for fourth overall.

Viscaal ended up sixth outright, and fourth in Pro-Am, in the Proton entry started by Giorgio Roda. The Dutchman gained a spot when Marino Sato made a late pitstop in the No. 21 United Autosports Oreca he took over from Daniel Schneider and Oliver Jarvis.

A quiet run for the No. 37 CLX Motorsport crew of Pipo Derani, Enzo Fittipaldi and Manuel Espirito Santo netted eighth overall and third in LMP2 Pro, ahead of the unfortunate Vector entry that Lomko shared with Ryan Cullen and Pietro Fittipaldi.

Along with the No. 24 Nielsen car that ultimately finished 11th, the No. 9 Iron Lynx-Proton crew was also out of luck. It led with Maceo Capietto in the greasy interim period before switching back to slicks, but shed its front-right wheel on Matteo Cairoli’s outlap.

Pre-event LMP2 Pro-Am championship leaders, the No. 83 AF Corse crew, had a difficult day after winning outright in Barcelona.

It incurred heavy damage on the opening lap, when the spinning Francois Perrodo was hit hard by Jacek Zielonka’s pursuing Team Virage LMP3 entry, and ultimately finished nine laps down.

Ferrari Plays it Canny for LMGT3 Win, CLX Motorsport Retain LMP3 Dominance

Adrien Closmenil, Paul Lanchere and Theodor Jensen repeated their Barcelona heroics with a polished drive to victory in the LMP3 category.

Pole-sitter Closmenil overhauled M Racing’s Quentin Antonel to secure the second consecutive triumph for the No. 17 Ligier JS P325 Toyota, which had to fight back after losing time on slicks in the early stages.

A mammoth opening stint from Antonel’s team-mate Stephane Tribaudini, who spent over half the race in the cockpit, set up M Racing’s challenge as it correctly chose wets for the opening phase and Tribaudini pulled away from Torsten Kratz (WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine D09 Toyota).

Its lead appeared not to be threatened despite serving a drive-through for a pass-around procedural infringement, but the safety cars allowed CLX to close and ultimately pass once racing resumed.

Any slender hope of Antonel getting back on terms was ended when he made his final stop for fuel before Closmenil, whose winning margin stood at 24.911 seconds.

A shorter final stop for the No. 51 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 and a strong final lap defence from Lilou Wadoux earned a narrow LMGT3 win over the No. 63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Wadoux, sharing with Riccardo Agostini and Custodio Toledo, fended off Fabian Schiller at the flag by 0.305 seconds.

The Ferrari had run out of sync with the rest of the leading pack, Wadoux only making her final pit visit with 25 minutes to go, and held on as Schiller mounted an unsuccessful bid to resume a lead that had appeared secure prior to the final round of stops.

Schiller, Lorcan Hanafin and Martin Berry had appeared the most likely candidates to profit from a double dose of misfortune striking the No. 55 Spirit of Race Ferrari crew.

Duncan Cameron was the only LMGT3 driver to start on wets and built a commanding lead as a result. His 90-second advantage was trimmed by the Malykhin safety car, but Cameron still had over half a minute in hand when he was forced to take fuel around a minute shy of completing his drive time.

Cameron therefore had to stay on board when Berry could hand over to Hanafin on schedule, but the 296 he shared with Matt Griffin and David Perel was still on course for a podium until the closing stages when Riccardo Pera muscled ahead into the final corner.

Pera, sharing with Mike Wainwright and Tom Fleming, completed the podium just 1.669 seconds shy of the victorious Wadoux.

Conrad Laursen recovered from a late spin at Signes, while pursuing Pera, to finish fifth in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari previously driven by Charles-Henri Samani and Davide Rigon.

RESULTS: 4 Hours of Le Castellet