In another action packed Michelin Le Mans Cup race the LMP3 and GT3 winners from the open round at Le Castellet last month triumphed again at the Temple of Speed, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, which hosted round 2 of the 2018 season.
LMP3: Two from Two for DKR Engineering
Leonard Hoogenboom and Jens Petersen brought the no3 DKR Engineering Norma-Nissan home to take another 25 championship points and a first place trophy home to Germany and The Netherlands. Petersen started the race from 5th on the grid but soon moved up to 3rd on the opening lap.
After being passed by the no21 DB Autosports Norma of Nicolas Schatz, the German settled into second place after passing the no25 Lanan Racing Norma of Michael Benham after a short Safety Car period to recover two stranded cars. Meanwhile Schatz disappeared up the road at the head of the field.
The no99 N’Race Ligier of Thomas Accary was running 4th but had to serve a drive through penalty for overtaking before the start, dropping the car back down the field. The no30 CD Sport Norma of Eric Debard also went off the track at turn 1, hitting the barriers before rejoining the track.
As the pitstops approached the front runners came in just after the hour. Nicolas Schatz came down the pitlane in the leading no21 DB Autosport Norma but incredibly the driver went straight down the pitlane on the orders of the team. However as the car approached turn 1 it slowed and then stopped on the runoff area, apparently out of fuel and out of the race.
Leonard Hoogenboom took over the no3 DKR Norma and was now in the lead of the race, just 1.2 seconds ahead of the no2 Ecurie Ecosse / Nielsen Ligier with James Littlejohn at the wheel having taken over from Tony Wells.
A few minutes later a Full Course Yellow was declared as the no25 Lanan Racing Norma, which had started from pole position and now had Duncan Tappy behind the wheel, went off into the gravel at T11 after challenging the no44 SPV Racing Ligier of Andy Cummngs for third place. The Norma was recovered onto the track but Tappy pulled off into retirement at T1 before the Full Course Yellow was withdrawn.
When the race went green again Hoogenboom pulled away from the chasing pack of cars, with Littlejohn’s Ecurie Ecosse / Nielsen Ligier 8 seconds behind with 30 minutes of the race remaining. Job van Uitert in the no14 RLR MSport Ligier had also made good progress after the pitstop and was up to 3rd and slowly gaining ground on the second placed car.
Christian England was making rapid progress up the field having taken over the no23 United Autosports Ligier from Richard Meins. The 2016 ELMS LMP3 Champion had made his way up to 5th but the British driver was forced to bring the car into the pits with an electrical issue.
As the clock counted down to the last lap of the no3 DKR Engineering Norma was cruising to the chequered flag, with Hoogenboom crossing the line 19.8 seconds ahead of the no2 Ligier of James Littlejohn, with Job van Uitert finishing the race just 2.8 seconds behind the second placed car to claim the final LMP3 podium place.
GT3: Pianezzola and Piccini Celebrate with Home Win
It was all smiles on the top step of the GT3 podium as Sergio Pianezzola and Giacomo Piccini took their second win of the season in the no8 Kessel Racing Ferrari F488 GT3, the pair amassing 51 points from a possible 52 from the two races in Le Castellet and Monza.
The race began with the no88 Ebimotors Porsche 911 GT3 R of Paolo Venerosi starting from pole position but the Italian was caught and passed by Pianezzola’s Kessel Racing F488 after a hard charge at the start from second place on the GT3 grid. The no8 Ferrari was reported to the stewards for going off line at the start but no penalty was given and Pianezzola continued to pull away from the rest of the GT3 field.
After the first safety car period the no8 Kessel Racing Ferrari held a 6 second advantage over the no71 AF Corse Ferrari of Piergiuseppe Perazzini, with the Ebimotors Porsche a further 8 seconds behind in third.
The GT3 runners all came into the pits to hand over their cars to their teammates and Giacomo Piccini was able to open the gap even further in the no8 Ferrari. The no71 Ferrari now had Marco Cioci behind the wheel but Cioci was 18 seconds behind Piccini and 14 seconds ahead of the no88 Ebimotors Porsche, which now had Alessandro Baccani at the wheel.
As the clock counted down towards zero Piccini continued to open up a gap and by the chequered flag the no8 Ferrari was over 20 seconds ahead of the rest of the field to claim the teams second win of the season and take a commanding championship lead.
CLICK HERE for the result from Round 2 of the Michelin Le Mans Cup
