Race report
European Le Mans Paul Ricard
Paul Ricard ELMS: G-Drive ends WRT and Kubica's unbeaten run
G-Drive Racing took an emphatic victory in the European Le Mans Series race at Paul Ricard, as Roman Rusinov, Nyck de Vries and Franco Colapinto ended Team WRT's unbeaten run.
Nelson Valkenburg
Edited: Jun 7, 2021, 11:58 AM
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The Algarve Pro Racing-run G-Drive car, an Aurus-badged Oreca 07-Gibson, beat reigning champion United Autosports and dominant series leader Team WRT in the third race of the season after four hours of racing.
At the start, Yifei Ye took the lead in the WRT Oreca that had won the previous two races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the Red Bull Ring, and proceeded to build up a substantial gap over pole starter Rusinov throughout the opening stint.
But a full course yellow just around the first pit window and a safety car at the halfway mark wiped out the championship-leading team’s advantage and it was further hampered by a penalty handed to Ye for beaching in breach of the rolling start procedure.
As the race settled down, the #32 United Oreca came to the fore, albeit under pressure from G-Drive.
United driver Job van Uitert, sharing with Manuel Maldonado and Nico Jamin, was hunted down by fellow Dutchman de Vries and then forced to surrender the lead with an hour left to go.
Mercedes Formula E ace De Vries then remained faultless throughout the final stint as United driver Tom Gamble in the #22 car he shared with Phil Hanson and Jonathan Aberdein passed teammate Van Uitert just before the final round of pitstops.
De Vries crossed the line to win by 6.38s from the #22 and #32 United Autosports cars, while the Duqueine Oreca of Tristan Gommendy, Rene Binder and Memo Rojas pushed Ye, Louis Deletraz and Robert Kubica down to fifth at the flag.
The LMP3 class looked affected most by the on-track incidents as the field was immediately split on strategy, with some teams electing to pit early under yellow and others waiting it out. It soon became apparent however that strategy was not going to be enough to beat DKR Engineering at Paul Ricard.
The pole-sitting Duqueine machine was simply too quick in the hands of Laurents Horr and bronze-rated driver Jean-Philippe Dayraut, with the pair finishing well clear of championship leaders Nicolas Maulini, Matthew Bell and Niklas Krutten (Cool Racing) and reigning champions United Autosports’ lead entry of Wayne Boyd, Rob Wheldon and Edouard Cauhaupe.
Meanwhile in GTE, the Iron Lynx Ferrari team was able to celebrate victory as Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi and Miguel Molina took their second win and solidified their grip on the championship.
Ollie Hancock dominated the opening proceedings in his pole-sitting TF Sport Aston Martin before his lead was virtually wiped out by the safety car, diminishing the chance of a victory against the Porsches and Ferraris.
The most notable incident came when Manuela Gostner’s Iron Lynx Ferrari was spun by Hollywood actor Michael Fassbender's Proton Porsche mid-way through the second stint, taking both cars out of contention for victory.
Race results (top 10):
Cla # Driver Car Laps Gap 1 26 Roman Rusinov
Franco Colapinto
Nyck de Vries
Aurus 01 126 2 22 Philip Hanson
Jonathan Aberdein
Tom Gamble
Oreca 07 126 6.385 3 32 Job Van Uitert
Nico Jamin
Manuel Maldonado
Oreca 07 126 24.272 4 30 Tristan Gommendy
Rene Binder
Memo Rojas
Oreca 07 126 43.171 5 41 Robert Kubica
Louis Deletraz
Ye Yifei
Oreca 07 126 51.000 6 34 Salih Yoluc
Charles Eastwood
Harry Tincknell
Oreca 07 126 54.767 7 24 Diego Menchaca
Ferdinand Habsburg
Richard Bradley
Oreca 07 126 1'24.841 8 65 Julien Canal
Will Stevens
James Allen
Oreca 07 125 1 Lap 9 28 Paul Lafargue
Paul-Loup Chatin
Jean-Eric Vergne
Oreca 07 125 1 Lap 10 25 John Falb
Rui Andrade
Roberto Merhi
Aurus 01 125 1 Lap View full results
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