The official result of the first 2022 European Le Mans Series race of the year, which was run at Circuit Paul Ricard in France, hasn’t been released yet.
The reason is due to the incompliance of some parts during the post-race scrutineering.
The case revolved around the LMP3 car, that crossed the chequered flag in second, Inter Europol Competition #13.
One of the things that were checked on the car, was the differential, where the Belleville Washer wasn’t the same, as the one that the car is homologated with. Alle LMP3 cars will have to run with the same homologated parts, and there is just a single official manufacturer – ORECA.
A representative from the team was of course to the stewards, to talk about the case. He did agree that the part was from their car, and there was a visual difference to the component that ORECA presented. He did however state, that the team had only bought, cleaned and mounted the gearbox, without making any changes to it.
Photo: JJ Media
The stewards decided to disqualify the car from the race, since this is potentially just as bad, as if Goodyear tires had been mounted on the car, with Michelin being mandatory in the LMP3 category.
Inter Europol Competition has appealed the decision, so that is why the LMP3 result of the 4-hour race, which was run on Sunday, still isn’t official.
If the disqualification remains, it will result in United Autosports #2 moving into second, while RLR MSport #5 with Alex Kapadia, Nick Adcock and Michael Jensen is the new third-place car of the race.
No matter how this case turns out, COOL Racing #17 will remain the winners of the LMP3 category.
There is no news yet, about when the appeal is going to be handled.
Update
The appeal has been handled at Imola, where all the stewards met again for Round 2 of the ELMS 2022 season. Their conclusion is, that the disqualification is upheld, so Inter Europol Competition loses their second place from Round 1 at Paul Ricard.
