***UPDATE***
After the race the panel of stewards decided that the #38 Jota Sport Gibson 015S Nissan had exceeded the maximum driving time allocated to its platinum driver, Filipe Albuquerque. A 45 second time penalty was subsequently issued, therefore bumping the #41 Greaves Motorsport 015S Nissan up to first place overall and the #21 AF Racing BR01 Nissan to second place overall. Jota Sport has been officially classified in third position.
Harry Tincknell, driving the #38 Gibson 015S Nissan, crossed the line 30.290s ahead of Jon Lancaster in the #41 Greaves Motorsport Gibson.
Completing the podium was the #21 BR Engineering BR01, entered under the AF Racing banner.
The second of the BR Engineering cars came fourth for the team’s best ever net result, while the guesting Olivier Pla brought the Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2 home in fifth.
Thiriet by TDS Racing’s title hopes were dealt a significant blow during a challenging weekend for the French team. Ludovic Badey was handed a penalty after a first corner track limits violation, before a puncture called the team’s ORECA 05 in for an early pit stop.
Despite leading at halfway under Tristan Gommendy, third driver Pierre Thiriet was forced to bring the car in for an extra service in the third hour with an unspecified mechanical issue.
In LMP3, Chris Hoy and Charlie Robertson (#3 Team LNT Ginetta) clinched the class championship with a round to spare after the leading #2 car of Gaetan Paletou retired in the second hour. Villorba Corse was on hand to pick up its second consecutive second place finish, while SVK by Speed Factory completed the podium.
LMGTE honours went to Formula Racing for the second race in a row, with Andrea Rizzoli guiding the Ferrari 458 Italia to the finish after a trouble-free final stint.
BMW Team Marc VDS ended its succession of fourth place finishes by taking the second spot on the podium, while JMW Motorsport, featuring two new drivers in Johnny Cocker and Rory Butcher, completed the top three.
Despite experiencing trouble in the LMP2 race, TDS Racing had some reason to celebrate at Paul Ricard as the BMW Z4 GT3 line-up of Dino Lunardi, Franck Perera and Eric Dumont won a close-fought GTC battle. Second in class was the #62 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia that remains second in the class standings, while the #68 Massive Motorsport Aston Martin recovered from a back row start to finish third.
Full results and analysis from the 4 Hours of Le Castellet to follow.
