The novelties that were present to me when I didn’t know any of the drivers are gone, however, so I don’t really feel the need to go into the same detail I did before. The race recap industry is packed as it is. That’s my excuse and I am sticking to it.
Mathias Beche was the fastest of them all, as expected. The Thiriet by TDS car was so far ahead of everybody else; Ryo Hirakawa and Pierre Thiriet both had excellent pace as well. The car was so far out in front going into the last stint that Thiriet was able to replace Beche for the final stint and not have to worry about a threat from behind. In total, Thiriet did 91 of the car’s 160 laps. Some of that was down to the issues the #38 Jota Sport (or G-Drive, sure) entry had, including a puncture and ploughing into a spinning Pegasus, but Giedo van der Garde was the only one of them who ran a 20% average faster than any of the three TDS drivers. That said, Tincknell had damage on his final stint, so his numbers require an asterisk. The #38 finished third.
The #33 Eurasia Motorsport Oreca finished second. The problem for the car, like almost all of the ELMS entries, is that it has two am drivers. Tristan Gommendy is an excellent anchor for the team and Nico Pieter de Bruijn is a good silver driver, but Pu Junjin is a bronze. He was the fastest of the bronze drivers, but he is still a bronze in a prototype and that just doesn’t cut it against Thiriet or even Dolan. That said, the Eurasia entry could be a serious threat at Paul Ricard after Pu Junjin’s wreck in practice. It is an unfortunate thing to write about, a team gaining competitiveness because their meal ticket is hurt, but that’s how it is.
Panis-Barthez warrants mention, particularly Timothé Buret. He led in the opening stages, although it was deemed to be partially because of a false start. He held his own at the front, which was impressive. He still doesn’t have the pace yet to be a star driver, but he is getting there. Paul Loup Chatin was quicker again, but the gap between them has closed from two seconds/lap at Silverstone to a tenth/lap in Austria. That could be a track difference or a setup change, but if Buret can keep that kind of pace up and take another few tenths off, it will be a good sign for the team and good proof that they can train young drivers.
The other important LMP2 development was the use of bots at SMP Racing. They were still entered as individual drivers, but the evidence is there in the stint average laptimes. They were using bots:
- 1st stint: Andreas Wirth (1:24.733)
- 2nd stint: Julian Leal (1:24.737)
- 3rd stint: Julian Leal (1:24.711)
- 4th stint: Stefano Coletti (1:24.675)
- 5th stint: Stefano Coletti (1:24.773)
All they need to do is improve the collision avoidance AI and work on the pace of the car itself and SMP will be unstoppable in the LMP2 tech race.
Mike Conway is in for Ryo Hirakawa this weekend as Hirakawa is in the Suzuka 1000k. This could be a good time to see just how good Mathias Beche and Pierre Thiriet are.
The big news in LMP3 was that Duqueine Engineering crossed the line first, but was demoted to second after they were deemed to have not met the minimum requirements for pit stops, which is two stops with a minimum time that was in this case 90 seconds. They gained four seconds, it was determined, as were thus penalized four seconds after winning by 4.5 seconds. Everybody who thinks like I do will have seen that and plotted a new strategy for Paul Ricard: get the car out as fast as you possibly can and eat the time penalty. If there is no punitive measure, you might as well ensure that you will lose the least time possible, which is to get the car out as fast as possible, get out in front of any cars you can and lose the extra time after the race.
Giorgio Mondini, one of the very first GP2 drivers and former LMP1 driver (and a silver), was the fastest of all in the class for a doomed #11 Eurointernational. He and Marco Jacoboni are a dangerous team. They just need to stop retiring. They did finish second in the Almost Three Hours of Imola, but they didn’t finish at either of the other two rounds to date. They should be higher in the standings.
David Droux in the Duqueine was second quickest. He is also a silver. Then came Sean Rayhall and Alex Brundle, the gold drivers. Droux is very much worth watching. He is a 19-year-old Swiss driver and he is already putting in some excellent stints. He could be a good pickup for Rebellion in the near future if Rebellion Racing brings two cars again as Rebellion do like hiring quick, young Swiss drivers (like Jani, Beche and now Tuscher).
Thomas Laurent, still in his first year of car racing, is another one to keep an eye on. He is rated bronze, but he was fifth quickest by 20% times. A seven minute stop doomed the effort of his M. Racing effort, but this is another team that could and should be challenging for wins. Instead, they are eleventh in the championship with a best finish of fifth.
Whatever reasonable criticism can be applied to the LMP2 class in the ELMS, the LMP3 class has very instantly become an excellent class of racing. It does look a little uncompetitive strictly looking at the results sheet, but that is largely due to only one team having problem-free runs at any given round.
The greatest surprise of all at this race came from LMGTE. The fastest driver wasn’t a silver. Alessandro Pier Guidi set the quickest 20% time. However, a relatively unknown silver Matteo Cairoli saved the pride of the Am drivers by setting the fastest lap of the race. Cairoli has been spending his time in Porsche cup series in various places, and he is quick. He is yet another name to keep an eye on should an opportunity at Porsche arise in the near future, perhaps if and when they re-establish their WEC Pro programme. Neither Pier Guidi nor Cairoli’s efforts were properly rewarded, however, as they finished 3rd and 5th respectively.
The winner, unsurprisingly, was JMW Motorsport, the team that wasn’t good enough for Le Mans. They won by a lap. Rory Butcher could be a Ferrari factory driver tomorrow if a door opened up. He again beat Andrea Bertolini on 20% averages (by next to nothing, mind). Robert Smith was a little down to where he has been, but it matters less when you can give 82 laps to a silver who is basically a full professional. The other team with that option is the #51 AF Corse with the oft-mentioned Rui Águas. They were second. Marco Cioci did beat Águas this time around by a tenth and a half. In fact, this was a disappointing race for Águas given that he normally is higher up than toward the back end of the pros, but that just means I don’t have to spend another ten pages on why Águas is a daft excuse for a silver.
There was one silver driver who struggled quite a lot and that was Christina Nielsen. I draw attention to it only because it makes no sense. I don’t track IMSA very well, but what I know is that she is co-leading the championship (or was last time I looked). She is missing Paul Ricard because of it. I do know that IMSA championships can be one with a hero driver and a dud driver (see Pruett/Rojas), but I also know that Nielsen is not a dud driver. Both at Silverstone and at Austria, however, she has been well off where she should be to make Formula Racing competitive. Something else is that she has double-stinted at both places and both times, she has gained significant amounts of pace in her second stint. In Austria, she gained 0.4s/lap without changing tyres. Without knowing the circumstances, it reeks of a lack of testing. I would like to see just how fast she can go if she knew the tracks and the car just a little better.
The 6 Hours of Le Castellet starts not all that long from now. Let’s see how many of my predictions get blasted by it. If you somehow stumble across this and want me to tell you something specific, post below.
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