Dragonspeed Secure Debut Win as United Autosports Take 2016 LMP3 Title

•Nicolas Lapierre, Ben Handley and Henrik Hedman stood on the top step of the podium after the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps securing USA team Dragonspeed’s debut ELMS victory after dominating the ELMS Weekend in Belgium.

•Belgian Team WRT take podium finish on ELMS debut while championship leaders Thiriet by TDS Racing take another podium finish to extend their championship lead to 14 points over G-Drive Racing, who finished 5th behind  the Greaves Motorsport Ligier with one race remaining.

•Graff takes their second LMP3 victory in a row with the no9 crew of Paul Petit, Enzo Guibbert and Eric Trouillet finishing 34 seconds ahead of the no2 United Autosports Ligier of Alex Brundle, Mike Guasch and Christian England.  

•Second place was good enough to secure the 2016 LMP3 Driver and Team titles with United Autosports, along with Alex Brundle, Mike Guasch and Christian England, on 108 points, 30 points ahead of the no9 Graff crew with 26 points available in Estoril.

•JMW Motorsport took their third win in a row in LMGTE, with Andrea Bertolini, Rory Butcher and Rob Smith finishing nearly a lap ahead of their nearest rivals.  The team and drivers are now 20 points ahead of the no99 Aston Martin Racing Vantage with one race remaining.  The UK team cannot finish lower than second place which means they have secured an automatic invitation to the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans on 17/18 June.

RACE HIGHLIGHTS

• Lap 1: No21 Dragonspeed Oreca (Nicolas Lapierre) leading from no38 G-Drive Racing Gibson (Giedo Van Der Garde)
• Lap1: the No33 Eurasia Motorsport Oreca (Tristan Gomendy) lost wheel at T8 causing the first Safety Car period (3 Minutes)
• Lap 1: No2 United Autosports Ligier (Alex Brundle) moved up to second in LMP3 on opening lap from 5^th on grid.
• Lap1: No66 JMW Motorport Ferrari (Rory Butcher) moved into lead of LMGTE on opening lap.
• 3h44m to go:     No4 Oak Racing Ligier (Eric Maris) spun at T18 and collected by the no77 Proton Competition Porsche (Michael Hedlund)
• 3h44m:                Collision between no60 Formula Racing Ferrari (Johnny Laursen) and no40 Krohn Racing Ligier (Tracy Krohn) with both cars ending in the gravel at T12 and requiring a Full Course Yellow period (10 minutes)
• 3h26m: Car 60 given Stop and Go Penalty for causing collision with car 40.
• 3h16m: no8 Race Performance Ligier (Bert Longin) slow at Eau Rouge.
• 3h14m: No40 Krohn Racing Ligier (Tracy Krohn) and no88 Proton Competition Porsche collided at T5, car40 stranded in run off area – rejoined.
• 3h12m: Car 40 given Stop and Go penalty for collision with no88
• 3h12m: No56 AT Racing Ferrari (Alexander Talkanitsa Jnr) spun off into the barriers at T1.
• 3h00m: No46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca (Pierre Thiriet) overtakes no21 Dragonspeed Oreca (Henrik Hedman) at T19 to take the lead.
•  2h55m: LMP3 championship contenders No19 Duqueine Engineering Ligier into pits and into the garage with engine covers off.
• 2h43m: No51 AF Corse Ferrari of Piergiuseppe Perazzini off at T16-T17 contact with an LMP2 car. Car 51 hit wall.
• 2h31m: No48 Murphy Prototypes Oreca (Gary Findlay) snaps right into the barriers on the exit of T8.  SAFETY CAR deployed for 17 minutes to repair the Armco barriers.
• 2h30m: No46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca (Pierre Thiriet) in from the lead to hand the car over to Ryo Hirakawa.
• 2h14m: GREEN FLAG - No38 (Simon Dolan) takes lead and goes ahead of no47 Team WRT at restart.
• 2h05m: No29 Pegasus Racing Morgan-Nissan (Remy Striebig) goes off at T8 in a similar place to the early off by the no48 Murphy Prototypes Oreca.  SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED to carry out further repairs to the barriers.
• 1h31m: GREEN FLAG to restart race
• 1h31m: no46 Thiriet by TDS Racing, no38 G-Drive Racing, no41 Greaves Motorsport and no23 Panis Barthez Competition pit.
• 1h28m: no32 SMP Racing pits promoting no47 Team WRT into the lead.
• 1h29m: After stops no46 Thiriet by TDS Racing challenging no38 G-Drive Racing for 6^th with no32 SMP Racing also in the fight.
• 1h19m: no32 SMP Racing passes both no46 and no38 into T5 after slower cars get in the way.
• 1h19m: no9 Graff given a Drive Through Penalty for refuelling the car with the engine running.
• 1h16m: no24 Oak Racing given a 30s Stop and Go penalty for speeding in the pitlane
• 1h13m: no38 G Drive Racing (Simon Dolan) spun at T19 and rejoins
• 1h09m: The gap between the no47 Team WRT and the no21 Dragonspeed is 11.5 seconds
• 1h06m: The gap between the no9 Graff and no26 Tockwith Motorsports is 31 seconds
• 1h05m: Battle between no32 SMP Racing and no28 IDEC Sport Racing for 4^th place sees the place change three times with Stefano Coletti taking the place at T5.
• 1h02m: No66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari (Andrea Bertolini) running 14^th overall and a lap ahead of the other LMGTE cars led by the no88 Proton Competition.
• 0h54m: no32 SMP Racing into pits to repair lights which were not working.
• 0h49m: no51 AF Corse (Rui Aguas) spun at T12 – rear right puncture
• 0h49m: no21 Dragonspeed given a 5 second penalty to be added to the next pitstop.
• 0h42m: no47 Team WRT (Laurens Vanthoor) leading no21 Dragonspeed (Nico Lapierre) by 8.7 seconds but no21 closing gap.
• 0h33m: no21 Dragonspeed takes lead with pass on no47 Team WRT at T5
• 0h30m: Rain Reported at T1
• 0h29m: no32 SMP Racing back into pits to repair headlights again.
• 0h26m: no26 Tockwith Motorsports (Phil Hanson) off at T5 with front left puncture after running in second place in LMP3.  Limps back to pits.
• 0h21m: no38 G Drive Racing (Harry Tincknell) into pits for fuel.
• 0h10m: no25 Algarve Pro Racing (Andrea Pizzitola) challenging no46 Thiriet by TDS Racing (Mathias Beche) for 3^rd place.  No25 passes no46 at T19, no46 fights back and regains place at T1
• 0h05m: no47 Team WRT in for short fuel stop
• 0h05m: Collision between no25 Algarve Pro Racing and no46 Thiriet by TDS Racing at T14, no25 ends up in gravel.  Yellow flags become FULL COURSE YELLOW.
• 0h00m: CHEQUERED FLAG – race ends under Full  Course Yellow conditions with the no21 Dragonspeed Oreca finishing first.
• The LMP3 race winning car, the no9 Graff Ligier, was handed a 30 second penalty for Enzo Guibbert not respecting the FCY Maximum speed.  This reduced the race winning margin from 34 seconds to 4 seconds.

The final round of the 2016 European Le Mans Series will take place in Estoril, Portugal on Sunday 23 October.

4 Hours of Spa Francorchamps - LM P3 & LM GTE... par ELMS

CLICK HERE for the result from Round 5, the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

CLICK HERE for the classifications after Round 5