The ELMS Top 40 in Le Castellet

Twelve cars will line up at the head of the field in the LMP2 class, with the no38 G-Drive Racing Gibson-Nissan of Simon Dolan, Harry Tincknell and Giedo Van Der Garde heading the championship table by just seven points.  The Silverstone race winners have scored three podium finishes in the first three races but will face stiff opposition from the no46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 05 as the French team will be looking for victory number three at home. 

Pierre Thiriet and Mathias Beche secured wins in Imola and Red Bull Ring with Ryo Hirakawa.  Hirakawa has to miss the event in France as he is on racing duty back home in Japan and will be replaced by Toyota’s WEC works driver Mike Conway for this event.

Eurasia Motorsport travel to France on a high after Pu Junjin, Nico Pieter De Brujin and Tristan Gommendy secured the team’s first ever ELMS podium in Austria. 

The no23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier-Nissan secured the team’s first pole position in Austria and the all French line up of Fabien Barthez, Paul-Loup Chatin and Timothe Buret will be hoping that home advantage will bring a better haul of points in round 4.

The massive twenty car grid in the LMP3 class continues to provide some great motorsport entertainment.  With three wins from three starts the no2 United Autosports Ligier-Nissan of Alex Brundle, Michael Guasch and Christian England have dominated the first half of the season but the Anglo-American team know that they can’t rest on their laurels if they want to secure the 2016 team and drivers titles. 

In Austria the first car across the line was the no19 Duqueine Engineering Ligier of David Hallyday, Dino Lunardi and David Droux, but the French team faced disappointment when they were handed a 4-second penalty after the race due to a pitstop infringement, dropping the French-Swiss trio down to second behind the no2 United Autosports Ligier.

After securing their first ELMS podium finish in Austria, the all British 360 Racing team are currently in 3^rd place, just ahead of the all French no9 Graff Ligier-Nissan and the similarly all French line up of the no16 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier, who, like their LMP2 teammates, secured their debut class pole position at the Red Bull Ring.

Britain’s Tockwith Motorpsorts will be making their ELMS debut in Le Castellet with Nigel Moore and Philip Hanson driving the team’s Ligier JS P3.

The eight car grid in the LMGTE category might be the smallest of the three ELMS classes but the quality of the field is in no doubt with victory for Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari in each of the three races run so far in 2016. 

AT Racing’s Belarusian Father and Son duo Alexander Talkanitsa senior and junior are the current points leaders thanks to three podium finishes in the no56 Ferrari 458 Italia and are just one point ahead of Silverstone race winners Andrew Howard, Darren Turner and Alex MacDowall in the no99 Aston Martin.

The no66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari of Robert Smith, Rory Butcher and Andrea Bertolini is in third place after finishing second in Imola and winning at the Red Bull Ring and are just five points behind the AT Racing Ferrari.  The no77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 of Imola race winners Michael Hedlund and Wolf Henzler is currently fourth, just 10 points behind the class leaders.

The 4 Hours of Le Castellet will be the highlight of the ELMS Week-end in the south of France, which will also feature races for the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup, the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and the Renault Sport Trophy.  There is plenty of entertainment for the whole family across all three days with free entry for all spectators, both young and old.

The action begins on Friday 26 August with Free Practice for the ELMS competitors, followed by Qualifying on Saturday and the 4 Hours of Le Castellet on Sunday 28 August at 14h00. 

ELMS qualifying and the race will be streamed live on the official ELMS website at www.europeanlemansseries.com

CLICK HERE for the provisional entry list for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet