The no37 Cool Racing Ligier-Nissan of Nicolas Maulini and Edouard Cauhaupe took victory in Round 2 of the 2020 Michelin Le Mans Cup at Spa-Francorchamps, with the Franco-Swiss driver duo finishing well ahead of the rest of the field at the end of the 2-hour race.
Under blue skies and temperatures in the mid-thirties, the grid formed up behind the safety car with Nicolas Maulini starting from pole position in the no37 Ligier. The race had been delayed by an accident on the Kemmel Straight when the no77 Iron Lynx Ferrari of Claudio Schiavoni went off into the barriers on its way to the grid after contact with another car. The Ferrari was badly damaged but Schiavoni walked away unharmed.
Once the track was cleared the race could start and Maulini was able to keep his place at the head of the field as the rest squabbled over the other positions. Jean Glorieux in the no3 DKR Engineering Duqueine was able to move up to second ahead of the no26 Graff Ligier of Rory Penttinen.
Maulini pulled away from Glorieux as the Belgian driver started to be caught by Penttinen.For lap after lap the no3 Duqueine and the no26 Ligier were battling for second place and on lap 12 Glorieux ran wide on the run into the Bus Stop after being unsighted by a back marker and Penttinen went through to take the position. Once clear the Finn pulled away from Glorieux.
Meanwhile Maulini had opened up a 20 second gap at the head of the field and was still pulling away from the chasing Penttinen.
Further back, the no24 United Autosports Ligier of Daniel Schneider became the second retirement from the race after a clash with the no50 Ferrari of John Hartshorne at the final corner. Both cars were damaged in the encounter and Schneider was forced to park the car in a safe position at Les Combes as he attempted to complete a full lap at slow speed to get back to the pits.But it wasn’t to be.
After the first pitstops, Maulini handed over the no37 Ligier to Edouard Cauhaupe but a delay in the pitstop cost the French driver over 20 seconds and he re-joined just 7.6 seconds ahead of the no26 Graff Ligier now driven by Matthias Kaiser.However, Cauhaupe was able to pull away from his nearest rival and Laurents Hörr, now at the wheel of the no3 DKR Engineering Duqueine started to challenge for second place.
The reigning LMP3 champion dived down the inside at Les Combes to take the place on lap 35 and he then had Cauhaupe to catch.However, the French driver was now 23 seconds up the road and still pulling away.
The no7 Nielsen Racing Duqueine M30 of Colin Noble was starting to reel in the no26 Ligier and the Scottish driver gained the final podium position before the final 75 second pitstops.
At the chequered flag it was the no37 Cool Racing Ligier of Edouard Cauhaupe that crossed first, 24 seconds ahead of Laurents Hörr in the no3 DKR Engineering Duqueine, with another 9 seconds separating the second and third placed car of Colin Noble and Tony Wells, the no7 Nielsen Racing Duqueine M30-D08-Nissan.
The no24 United Autosports Ligier of John Schauerman and Wayne Boyd was fourth after Boyd pulled the Ligier up the order in the final hour, setting the fastest lap of the race (2m14.949).
Round 3 of the 2020 Michelin Le Mans Cup will take place on the 29th August at Le Castellet after the race was moved from Barcelona due to the Covid-19 situation in Catalunya.
CLICK HERE for the result from Round 2 at Spa-Francorchamps.
CLICK HERE for the winners reactions
