The first 55-minute Road to Le Mans race ended under a Safety Car after a late accident involving the no64 Team Parker Racing Porsche 911 caused the race to be neutralised. Manuel Espirito Santo crossed the line in the no58 Team Virage Ligier ahead of the rest of the field but a post race penalty (Stewards Decision no53) dropped the car to 5th and the race win was claimed by the no4 Nielsen Racing Duqueine of Matt Bell and John Melsom.
The no31 Team WRT BMW of Max Hesse came back up through the field to secure the GT3 win ahead of the top MLMC runner, the no86 HCR With CaffeineSix Porsche of Anders Fjordbach.
Like in the qualifying sessions earlier in the day, the weather was warm and sunny, perfect for the opening Road to Le Mans encounter on the full 13.6km circuit. The no14 Inter Europol Competition Ligier would not be taking part in the race, so the remaining 57 cars lined up behind the pole sitting car, the no58 Team Virage Ligier of Martin Rich.
At the start the no23 United Autosports Ligier of Wayne Boyd swept into the lead past Rich. There was some contact between the cars at Turn 1, with some cars taking to the run off areas to avoid an accident. The no46 BMW M4 of Valentino Rossi also moved up into the lead of the GT3 field, with his teammate Timothy Whale in the no31 Team WRT BMW falling back down the order.
At the Daytona Chicane several cars spun off with others, including Rossi’s BMW taking avoiding action and losing places as a result. The first Safety Car was deployed to recover the four cars stuck in the gravel and those with terminal damage, while other recovered to the pitlane.
After 16-minutes behind the Safety Car, the race went green once again, with Valentino Rossi making up four places on the next lap to move from 10th to 6th. The battle for the GT3 lead was also hotting up as the no57 Winward Racing Mercedes of Russel Ward and the no42 Stellar Motorsport Audi R8 LMS of Sennan Fielding swapping places a couple of times, which allowed the flying BMW of Valentino to close up and join the challenge for the lead.
Back at the front the Wayne Boyd was leading in the no23 United Autosports Ligier, ahead of the no66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Daniel Keilwitz.
The pitstop window opened with the back markers coming in to change drivers and a lap later the front runners did the same. The no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Vincent Abril went off into the gravel, with a Slow Zone being declared to recover the car. The no46 Team WRT BMW M4 of Jerome Policand spinning out of contention at Dunlop after being hit by the no74 Kessel racing Ferrari, with Policand rejoining further down the field.
The no57 Mercedes was leading GT3 but was soon passed by the no86 HCR With CaffeineSix Porsche 911 of Ander Fjordbach and also the no31 Team WRT BMW of Max Hesse.
The LMP3 leader was John Schauerman in the no23 Ligier, with Steven Parrow in the no66 Ligier in second place, but the two bronzes were being rapidly caught by the no4 Nielsen Racing Duqueine of Matt Bell and the no58 Team Virage Ligier of Manuel Espirito Santo.
A Slow Zone was declared when the no20 United Autosports Ligier of Andy Meyrick and the no97 COOL Racing Ligier of David Droux made contact on the start finish straight, putting Meyrick’s Ligier into the tyre barrier.
Matt Bell’s Nielson Racing Duqueine swept into the lead but then slowed and dropped back to third behind Espirito Santo and Schauerman. Bell got back up to speed and was soon back up to 2ndplace, with Antoine Doquin in the no12 Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier passing the no23 United Autosports Ligier for 3rd. However, Doquin was soon being challenged by David Droux and Colin Noble in the no77 Team Thor Ligier. With 8 minutes on the clock, Noble passes both Droux and Doquin to take the third step of the podium.
The GT3 lead battle was also getting hot, with the no31 BMW right on the back of the no86 Porsche. The two cars were side by side into the Daytona Chicane, with Hesse taking the lead in the Team WRT BMW.
The no64 Team Parker Racing Porsche of Alex Martin spun into the barrier at MP33 and came to rest in the middle of the track forcing the Safety Car to be deployed. With just 7 minutes left on the clock the race finished under the Safety Car.
The chequered flag was shown but the race result was amended in the early hours of Friday morning after the no58 Team Virage Ligier was judged to have overtaken car no76 and the Safety Car and given a 5 second penalty (Decision no53).The no4 Nielsen Racing Duqueine of Matt Bell and John Melsom was promoted to first place, with the no77 Team Thor Ligier of Colin Noble and Audunn Gudmundsson finished 2ndand the no97 COOL Racing Ligier of David Droux and Luis Sanjuan third.
Race 2 of the 2023 Road to Le Mans will take place on Friday morning at 11h30.
CLICK HERE for the result from Road To Le Mans Race 1
