After two podium finishes at Le Mans and Spa, the no76 Reiter finished the year with a win in Portimao, with Mads Siljehaug taking the lead in the final minutes of a dramatic, red flag shortened race. The Norwegian driver took the chequered flag 2.5s ahead of Colin Noble in the no7 Nielsen Racing Ligier after the Scot went from 5th to 2nd just before the chequered flag.
It was also a first win in the Michelin Le Mans Cup for Japanese drivers Koizumi Hiroshi and Kei Cozzolino in the no51 AF Corse Ferrari 488, with Cozzolino finishing ahead of the no88 GMB Motorsport Honda of Jan Magnussen, with Kasper Jensen finishing third in the no55 Honda NSX to confirm the 2022 Michelin Le Mans Cup GT3 Drivers title for himself and Kristian Poulsen.
The race went under the Safety Car after four minutes of racing when the no6 ANS Motorsport Ligier of Jonathan Brossard went off into the gravel at T11 after contact with the no9 AT Racing Ligier of Alexander Talkanitsa.
When the Safety Car was withdrawn, there was confusion at the start and the no29 MV2S Forestier Racing Ligier of Jerome de Sadeleer hit the barriers at speed trying to avoid the no76 Reiter Engineering Ligier which was slower at the restart.The Swiss driver was conscious and talking to his team and marshals.After checks at the circuit medical centre, De Sadeleer was then taken to the local hospital for further precautionary medical checks.
The race was red flagged to clear the debris and for repairs to the barriers to be carried out before the race could resume.
After 95 minutes the race resumed under Safety Car and this allowed the teams to take the mandatory pitstops before the race went green with 21 minutes on the clock.
Leo Weiss in the no11 WTM Racing Duqueine had taken over from pole sitter Torsten Kratz, who had been leading the race prior to the red flag, and was leading from the no76 Reiter Engineering Ligier of Mads Siljehaug, who had replaced Freddie Hunt in the car.Siljehaug was challenging for the lead but Weiss was holding on.
In the GT3 category the no8 Schnitzelam Racing Mercedes of Gunnar Jeannette was coming under pressure from the no99 Bullitt Racing Aston Martin Vantage of Valentin Hasse-Clot, with the French driver diving down the inside of the American’s car, only for contact to spin the Mercedes out of the track.
At the same corner a lap later there was contact between the no8 Mercedes and the no44 Honda NSX, with both cars stopped, a Full Course Yellow was declared with 10 minutes on the clock.
The race went green with just under three minutes left with the LMP3 front runners all bunched up as they negotiated the slower traffic.The no76 Ligier went into the lead at T11, with Siljehaug getting ahead of Weiss.The no69 Cool Racing Ligier of Malthe Jakobsen was also challenging for a podium place, but was jumped by Colin Noble in the no7 Nielsen Racing Ligier for 4th, with Noble passing Weiss and then Tom Dillmann in the no10 Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier to move into second place.
The no99 Aston Martin was given a drive through penalty for causing the earlier collision, which put the no51 AF Corse Ferrari into the lead, with Kei Cozzolino holding off a determined challenge from Jan Magnussen in the no88 GMB Motorsport Honda after the Dane had got past his teammate Jasper Jensen in the no55 Honda NSX.
At the chequered flag the no76 Reiter Engineering Ligier-Nissan of Mads Siljehaug crossed the line 2.5 seconds ahead of the no7 Nielsen Racing Ligier of Colin Noble, with 2022 Champion Tom Dillmann taking the final podium position half a second behind Noble in the no10 Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier.
CLICK HERE for the result from the Portimao Round of the 2022 Michelin Le Mans Cup.
