Valentino Rossi added another winner’s trophy to his impressive collection when he stormed back up the GT3 field to win the second Road to Le Mans race in the no46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, standing on the top step of the famous podium with his teammate Jerome Policand.
The LMP3 win went to the no97 COOL Racing Ligier-Nissan of David Droux and Luis Sanjuan after a fantastic battle with several other cars.
The no77 Team Thor Ligier of Colin Noble crossed the line first but had failed to serve an earlier Stop and Go penalty and was classified as 15th. The same happened for the no51 AF Corse Ferrari, with Kei Cozzolino taking the chequered flag but was given a time penalty for not serving a drive through during the race, dropping the Japanese driver down to 16th in GT3.
Once again, the weather was perfect for the start of the Road to Le Mans with sunshine and temperature hitting 26 degrees Celsius.
At the no33 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine of Torsten Kratz leapt ahead of the pole sitting no2 CD Sport Ligier, while in GT3 the no86 HCR by CaffeineSix Porsche of Tim Creswick and the no57 Winward Racing Mercedes of George Kurtz went ahead of the no46 Team WRT BMW of Jerome Policand.
Further back Felipe Fernandez Laser in the no30 Frikadelli Racing Team Ligier was making up places, finishing the second lap in 8thfrom 26thon the grid, only to clash at Mulsanne with the no16 Team Virage Ligier of Barcelona winner Julien Gerbi. Lazer rejoined but Gerbi’s Ligier was damaged, and a Slow Zone was declared to recover the car.
Another Slow Zone was declared when several cars went off at Dunlop, with the no15 Inter Europol Competition and the no59 Team Virage Ligiers needing to be recovered.
Back at the front of the field Belen Garcia in the no25 360 Racing Ligier had moved up to second spot, the Spaniard being chased down and passed by Wayne Boyd in the no23 United Autosports Ligier on Lap 4 at the Michelin Chicane.
Another incident saw the no12 Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier of Jacques Wolff and the no39 Graff Racing Ligier of James Sweetnam clash on the exit of the Michelin Chicane, eliminating both cars and bring out the Safety Car.
During the Safety Car period the no77 Team Thor Racing Ligier of Audunn Gudmundsson pitted a lap earlier than anyone else, handing over to Colin Noble, with the Scot leading the race behind the Safety Car after the other cars pitted. The no51 AF Corse Ferrari pitted early and Kei Cozzolino emerged in second place overall behind the no77 Ligier.
After 20-minutes the Safety Car was withdrawn, and the race resumed.
At the restart David Droux in the no97 COOL Racing Ligier was moving up the field, passing the no23 United Autosports Ligier of John Schauerman for third and closed the gap to the no33 WTM Racing by Rinaldi Duqueine of Leo Weiss in second.
A one second Stop and Go penalty for not respecting the pitstop time was issued to the no77 Team Thor Ligier with 8 minutes left on the clock, the team choosing to leave Noble out in front as the no33 and no97 Ligiers battled for second and third. The no51 AF Corse was also issued a drive through penalty for erratic driving, which the team also chose to leave Cozzolino out on track.
The LMP3 lead changed as the no97 Ligier went ahead of the no33 Duqueine at the second chicane. Weiss tried to come back but Droux held on to his hard-fought position.
In GT3 Valentino Rossi in the no46 Team WRT BMW was moving up the field and was challenging the no86 Porsche of Anders Fjordbach for second, but with Cozzolino’s penalty they were actually fighting for the lead. Fjordbach kept the Italian at bay but at Tertre Rouge Rossi went down the inside and ahead of the Porsche. The no31 Team WRT BMW of Max Hesse also caught and passed the no86 HCR by CaffeineSix Porsche to score a WRT 1-2 podium finish.
At the chequered flag David Droux finished second on the road behind Colin Noble but was classified in 1st place after the penalty was applied to the Team Thor Ligier. The no33 WTM Racing by Rinaldi Duqueine was second, with the no2 CD Sport Ligier of Kyril Smal taking the final podium position.
The two Team WRT BMWs finished 1st and 2nd, with the no57 Team Winward Mercedes of Russel Ward moving ahead of the no86 HCR by CaffeineSix Porsche to score a podium finish in Le Mans.
CLICK HERE for the final result from Road to Le Mans Race 2.
