European Le Mans Series

Lancaster Goes Quickest in Estoril FP2

2 Mins read

Jon Lancaster registered the fastest lap during second practice for the Estoril round of the European Le Mans Series, as the championship-contending cars all put in strong times.

Driving the Greaves Motorsport Gibson 015S Nissan, Lancaster set a 1:32.346s marker at the end of the session to lead the LMP2 order at the chequered flag.

The Briton was just 0.269s quicker than Nicolas Lapierre in the Thiriet by TDS Racing ORECA 05, while AF Racing’s Mikhail Aleshin split the three title contenders by edging out Jota Sport’s Harry Tincknell.

Fifth overall was the Eurasia Motorsport entry of Nick Pieter de Bruijn, who ended the session nine tenths in arrears to Lancaster’s effort, while James Winslow ended up sixth in the Algarve Pro Racing Ligier after setting the benchmark pace early on.

Following the deluge that forced race control to halt the opening practice session after an hour of running, the afternoon heralded brighter skies and warmer track temperatures, although grip was still at a premium. The race directors extended the second session to two hours, in order to make up for the time lost earlier in the day.

LMP3 was largely dominated by the Team LNT Ginettas, although the Ligier JS P3 interloper did split the factory and customer entries. Gaetan Paletou was the quickest of the bunch, recording a 1:39.712s best in the #2 LNT machine.

The Frenchman managed to take the top spot after squeezing out #3 LNT’s Charlie Robertson by less than a tenth of a second. Graff concluded another promising test by finishing third in class with the solitary Ligier, although its lap times better resembled that of the customer Ginetta entries rather than the front-running ‘works’ cars.

rsz_nd5_5872

JMW guest Calado topped the LMGTE group (Credit: Nick Dungan/Adrenal Media)

James Calado proved his worth as a guest to the JMW Motorsport line-up by delivering the fastest time of the day in the LMGTE class. The British driver’s 1:40.231s effort was 0.146s quicker than Andy Priaulx in the Marc VDS BMW Z4 GTE, while Richard Lietz continued Proton Competition’s impressive run this weekend with third in the category.

Raffaele Gianmaria submitted the fourth fastest time in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia, while Jonny Adam made it four different manufacturers in the top five places after setting a 1:41.039s lap aboard the Beechdean liveried #99 Aston Martin.

Fastest in GTC went to the championship-chasing #62 AF Corse Ferrari, driven by Francesco Castellacci. The Italian registered a 1:40.929s benchmark to place him within the LMGTE field, but only 0.075s ahead of the second best GTC entry – Marco Cioci in the #64 AF Corse Ferrari. Completing the leading trio in class was the TDS Racing BMW Z4 GT3 that had surged through the timesheets during first practice.

Qualifying for the ELMS 4 Hours of Estoril will take place tomorrow morning (October 18) at 09:00. The GT cars will run for 20 minutes, with one driver, before the Le Mans Prototypes take to the track for their session at 09:30.

Related posts
Asian Le Mans SeriesEuropean Le Mans SeriesFIA WECFormula 3Formula E

NEOM McLaren Confirm Charlie Eastwood and Luke Browning for Formula E Rookie Test

2 Mins read
Endurance driver Charlie Eastwood and F3 driver Luke Browning have been announced as NEOM McLaren’s duo for the Berlin rookie test.
24 Hours of Le MansEuropean Le Mans Series

Conclusion of ELMS Season Confirms Six Automatic Invitations to 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans

1 Mins read
Six teams confirmed themselves in the automatic invitation places for next seasons 24 Hours of Le Mans following the conclusion to the 2022 European Le Mans Series season on Sunday.
24 Hours of Le MansEuropean Le Mans SeriesFIA WEC

Michael Fassbender set for 24 Hours of Le Mans debut

1 Mins read
Hollywood star Michael Fassbender set to make 24 Hours of Le Mans Debut with Proton Competition in their Porsche 911 RSR.