Action from start to finish at Red Bull Ring

There was action from start to finish, when Round 3 of the European Le Mans Series was run at Red Bull Ring in Austria.

G-Drive Racing #33 started from Pole Position ahead of DragonSpeed #21. The DragonSpeed car came into troubles in turn 3, when Nicolas Lapierre ran too wide and lost two positions.

Mikkel Jensen in the AT Racing #9 grabbed the lead in LMP3, while Duqueine Engineering #7 and United Autosports #2 battled for second.

United Autosports LMP3 #3 spun in the middle of the field on the second lap of the race, but luckily wasn’t hit by anybody, but only by a few centimetres.

In the GTE category, Christian Ried in Proton Competition Porsche #77 had got a great start and taken the lead. Shortly after, he was pushed wide by the 360 Racing LMP3 car #6, so he lost the lead to the Spirit of Race #55.

Nicolas Lapierre in DragonSpeed #21 and Timothe Buret in Panis Barthez Competition #23 fought side by side, and there was side to side contact. The elbows where out, before Lapierre got through, after a small driving mistake from Buret.

IDEC Sport LMP2 #28 stopped in turn 3 with a lot of smoke from the car, after only 23 minutes of running. The marshalls were quick with the extinguisher and got the fire turned out. But the car had to retire on the spot.

High Class Racing #49 with Dennis Andersen behind the wheel had a spin at turn one, like so many other drivers have had through the years.

The 360 Racing LMP3 #6 lost the left rear wheel again, just like it did in the qualifying. The car got back to the pits but had to retire there. Just like yesterday, it was Ross Kaiser who was behind the wheel. They had made repairs to the cars after yesterday, but it wasn’t clear if it was the same or a different part failing.

After the first pitstop round, it was DragonSpeed #21 into the lead.

High Class Racing #49 got a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane during his pitstop.

Shortly after there was drive-through penalty for the Oregon Team LMP3 #10 as well, for not staying within track limits.

Spirit of Race #51 got a warning after pushing the JMW Motorsport #66 class colleague onto the grass. Both could continue, but it surely wasn’t a pleasant experience for Jody Fannin in #66 with all 4 wheels on the grass.

There were more penalties heading towards #49 with a 10 seconds pitstop penalty, because they crossed the while line at the pit entry.

Inter Europol Competition LMP3 #13 spun right in front of Eurointernational LMP3 #12, and #12 received damage on the nose, while #13 could continue.

The Oregon Team #10 got another penalty, since they continued to exceed track limits. That gave them a 30 seconds Stop & Go for the team.

After the first stop for the GTE cars, we had JMW Motorsport #66 leading ahead of Spirit of Race #51.

Two hours into the race, there was a crash between Cetilar Villorba Corse LMP2 #47 and Duqueine Engineering LMP3 #8, following a collision between the #8 and the Ultimate LMP3 #17. #8 came back on the track right in front of #47, which gave damage to both cars. All three could, however, continue the race.

Algarve Pro Racing #25 got a drive-through penalty for not respecting blue flags. He blocked Nicolas Minassian in G-Drive Racing #22 through several laps, but it was seen by race control, and #25 was given a penalty for it.

Spirit of Race #51 had a wild ride through the gravel in turn 6 but continued.

With one and a half hours left of the race, G-Drive Racing #22 took the lead from United Autosports #32 with Will Owen behind the wheel. Following that, the lead changed in LMP3 too, with Duqueine Engineering LMP3 #7 overtaking Eurointernational #11. Then the GTE lead changed too with Spirit of Race #55 driven by Aaron Scott overtook JMW Motorsport #66 with Jonny Cocker. So all the class leads had changed within five minutes.

Only five minutes later we had Duqueine Engineering LMP3 #7 spinning and losing the lead. Paris Barthez Competition #23 and Algarve Pro Racing #25 came into contact with each other, when the #23 overtook the #25. Overall there were a lot of tough battles throughout the race.

SMP Racing #27 had run a great race, and had been right at the top of the race, but their airjacks failed and they had to use the high-jacks that they normally use in the garage, to be able to change the tires for a final time on the car. That cost them so much extra time in the pits, that every chance of a podium was disappearing.

JMW Motorsports #66 made it back into the lead, when Spirit of Race #55 was held up by an LMP3 car. Two minutes later the lead changed again.

TF Sport Aston Martin #90 had a close battle with Spirit of Race #51 in the fight for third in GTE, and the Ferrari made it past the blue Aston.

With a bit more than an hour left the race, the DragonSpeed #21 suddently went slow. Henrik Hedman tried to get the car back to the pits, but was nearly hit by Duqueine Engineering #8, who arrived at full speed from behind. Thankfully it didn’t happen.

Algarve Pro Racing #25 had wild trip through the gravel in turn 5, where the car didn’t appear to brake at all.

The two stranded cars made the race control go for Full Course Yellow, so they could get the cars removed, without bringing a Safery Car on the track. Number 21 had to retire while number 25 made it back to the pits, after being pulled out of the gravel.

Shortly after the #21 reported that they had fuel problems. If that was a lack of fuel in the tank or a fuel pickup problem wasn’t further specified from the team.

After those hectic minutes, there was a calm time of the race, until Nicki Thiim in TF Sport Aston Martin #90 was strapped into the car, and quickly afterwards overtook the Beechdeam AMR #99, and then started chasing top 3 in the category.

With 40 minutes left of the race, we saw a battle emerge between the leading LMP3 cars once again. United Autosports #2 had caught Eurointernational #11 and John Falb tried to make it past Davide Uboldi.

At the same time, JMW Motorsport Ferrari #66 and Spirit of Race Ferrari #55 continued to battle for the GTE lead, and once again the Duqueine Engineering #7 came into the limelight in a bad way, when they drove into the side of #66, when it was overtaking the Ferrari by a lap. That cost the lead for #66, which JMW probably wasn’t too pleased with.

High Class Racing #49 was pushed back into the garage with just under 30 minutes left of the race, with some damage to the front of the car. The race was one to forget for the Danish team, which was placed third in the Championship before this race.

With 20 minutes left of the race, Nicki Thiim #90 dived past Giorgio Roda #51, in the battle for third in GTE.

Filipe Albuerquerque in United Autosports LMP2 #32 led the race with 15 minutes left, but G-Drive Racing #22 driver Leo Roussel caught him with up to several seconds per lap. The Portuguese driver had the Frenchman under control and could manage the gap through the last minutes of the race.

With seven minutes left of the race, there was drama for the leading LMP3 car. United Autosports #2 got a drive-through penalty for not respecting track limits. Falb i #2 managed to dive into the pits and get out back again, with only 3 seconds lead to Uboldi in #11.

Nicki Thiim in #90 came under big pressure Giorgio Roda in #51 through the last few minutes of the race. Roda tried to overtake, but Thiim defended well. On the very final lap of the race Roda tried to outbrake Thiim, but went too far and Thiim could get back in front.

United Autosports #32 won the LMP2 race ahead of G-Drive Racing #22 and Graff #39

In LMP3 United Autosports #2 beat Eurointernational #11 and M.Racing YMR #18.

The GTE race was won by Spirit of Race Ferrari #51 ahead JMW Motorsport Ferrari #66 and TF Sport Aston Martin #90.

G-Drive Racing #22 still leads the LMP2 Championship ahead of United Autosports #32 while Graff #39 and High Class Racing #49 are equal 3rd.

United Autosports #2 jumped into the lead of LMP3 ahead of Ultimate #17 and M.Racing – YMR #18.

In GTE TF Sport Aston Martin #90 continues to lead ahead of JMW Motorsport Ferrari #66 while Beechdean AMR #99, Spirit of Race #55 and Proton Competition #77 are all equal in third.

The next round of the European Le Mans will be run on August 27th at Paul Ricard in France.

Update – United Autosports #2 got a post-race penalty in the form of a drive-through for going too fast under Full Course Yellow. That send them back to second in the race result, and instead the victory went for Eurointernational #11. That means that United Autosports #2 and Ultimate #17 are equal on points in the top of the Championship.