The opening round of the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup saw plenty of action but also was interrupted five times by the Safety Car to clear the track of stranded cars.
The race began with the no39 Graff Racing Ligier of pole sitter James Sweetnam being challenged for the lead into the first corner by the no7 Nielsen Racing Ligier of 2021 champion Tony Wells. Wells went down the inside to briefly take the lead, but Sweetnam was able to carry more speed and regained the lead on the exit.
Behind them a spinning LMP3 car came across the track at Turn 1, collecting some of the back markers and forcing others off track in avoidance. Four LMP3 cars were damaged and had to be recovered under the first Safety Car period while others recovered to the pits for repairs.
After 16 minutes the race went back to green, but only for three minutes after something broke on the no7 Nielsen Racing Ligier under braking, pitching the unfortunate Tony Wells in the gravel trap. This brought out the Safety Car for a second time, this time for a further 10 minutes.
When the race went green again the no39 Graff Racing Ligier was coming under pressure from the recovering no16 Team Virage Ligier of Julien Gerbi, with Gerbi losing a couple of places at the start after starting from the front row. He went side by side with James Sweetnam at T10/T11, taking the lead of the race.
The GT3 leader was the nio86 HCR with Caffinesix Porsche of Tim Creswick, the British driver holding off the challenge from the no64 Team Parker Racing Porsche driven by Alex Martin.The no10 Racing Spirit of Leman Vantage had dropped back from pole to 6that the start as Arnold Robin avoided the issues at the first corner but now the French driver was making up places, getting back up to third by Lap 16.
The third Safety Car period was declared when the no14 Inter Europol Competition Ligier spun off with the rear wheels stuck in the gravel.This was cleared quite quickly only for another Safety Car to be deployed four minutes later when the no97 Cool Racing Ligier ended up in the gravel at Turn 10.
This longer period allowed many of the teams to perform their pitstops.
The green flag was waved with 50-minutes of racing left, with the no16 Team Virage Ligier, now with Gillian Henrion at the wheel, leading from the no87 Cool Racing Ligier of Cedric Oltramare and the no68 M Racing Ligier of Guilherme Oliveira.
In the GT3 battle the no10 Aston Martin, with Valentin Hasse-Clot now driving, was leading from the no18 Team Parker Racing Porsche of Scott Malvern and the no51 AF Corse Ferrari of Kei Cozzolino.
The fifth and final Safety Car was deployed with 43-minutes left on the clock after the no11 CD Sport Ligier of Franck Chappard clipped the no70 Leipart Motorsport Lamborghini into a spin and into the gravel at T1. Chappard was given a drive through penalty for causing the collision. After 10 minutes the race went green, which lasted until the chequered flag.
The battle for the lead of the race was between Henrion in the no16 Ligier and the no68 M Racing Ligier of Oliveira, after the Portuguese driver passed Oltramare in the no87 Cool Racing Ligier for second place. Just 1.4 seconds split the top two LMP3 cars as they negotiated the traffic.
The no88 GMB Motorsport Honda NSX of Jan Magnussen was moving up from the back of the GT3 field, the Dane passing several car to move up to 5th, with the no55 Honda of teammate Simon Birch right behind in 6th.
The GT3 lead was still held by the no10 Aston Martin, with the no18 Porsche keeping pace, just 5 seconds behind and just ahead of the no51 AF Corse Ferrari.
At the chequered flag the win went to Team Virage, with Gillian Henrion taking the victory on his MLMC debut.The no10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage took th eGT3 win, with three different manufacturers on the podium at the end of the 110-minute race.
The next round is Road To Le Mans on June 8th and June 09th.
CLICK HERE for the result from Round 1 of the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup.
