Team Virage and Racing Spirit of Leman have been crowned 2023 Le Mans Cup Champions after the final race of the season at Portimao today, which was held in treacherous conditions and red-flagged with 21 minutes to go.
It was far from a stress-free experience for the championship-winning teams.
In LMP3, Virage and its #16 drivers Julien Gerbi and Gillian Henrion claimed the title despite an early setback. Gerbi was hit and sent spinning into the gravel by Torsten Kratz’s Murphy Prototypes Duqueine in the first half of the race after the safety car start, dropping the car off the lead lap.
That set up a chase at the head of the field, with Virage’s title rivals – the #77 Team Thor Ligier and #2 CD Sport Ligier – (both 21 points back) gifted a chance to chase down the race leader and clinch the title.
In the second half of the race, Colin Noble found himself sixth and was tasked with steering the Team Thor Ligier after the round of stops with the rain intensifying. Kirill Smal meanwhile, would need to fight from third to first in the #2 CD Sport Ligier and nullify the #11 CD Sport Ligier’s 30-second lead.
But the field was bunched up by a safety car period with 33 minutes to go when the conditions became borderline undrivable. The showers only increased and the race was eventually red-flagged with just over 20 minutes to go.
The efforts of Smal and Noble were therefore not enough to seal the title, as the #7 Nielsen Racing Ligier JS P320 claimed the race win while Smal finished second and Noble was classified sixth. This meant that despite Gerbi and Henrion finishing 30th in the finale, their performances throughout the season were enough to seal the title by four points.
“It’s a rollercoaster of emotions. After I got hit and I saw the positions I thought it was done. We got hit three times this year and I thought it was lost. I am so happy. It took me 20 years to get an international title, I never thought it would happen. It’s a dream come true,” said Gerbi.
Behind the winning #7 Nielsen Racing Ligier of Josh Skelton and Tony Wells and the #2 CD Sport Ligier, the #11 CD Sport JS P320, which looked set to win when the safety car came out, was handed a 10-second time penalty for an FCY speeds infraction after the red flag. This cost Shahan Haig Sakissian and Franck Chappard a win and dropped them to the final spot on the podium.
The GT3 class was won by the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Vincent Abril and Hiroshi Hamaguchi, but the title was handed to Racing Spirit of Leman’s Aston Martin of Arnold Robin and Valentin Hasse Clot with a second-place finish.
The duo did well to keep calm and navigate the treacherous conditions to seal the title with a win and a further three podiums throughout the campaign. It marks Racing Spirit of Lemans second consecutive Le Mans Cup title, after the Swiss-flagged outfit claimed the LMP3 championship last season.
“It was definitely the right call to just stop the race because it was just undrivable even under the safety car,” said Hasse Clot.
“This is not only a good team, not only a good car, but it’s full credit to them because we’ve just turned the steering wheel. They (the team) were fully committed, not only on track but financially and they’ve just put everything on the table for us to win the title.”
Early in the race Team Parker Racing’s #64 Porsche led from pole and was involved in a lengthy battle with the #63 race-winning Huracan, but after the round of stops Charles Bateman had a spin at the final corner which left him stranded in the gravel. This dropped him to the back before the safety car was deployed for a second time.
“It was a very successful year in terms of collaboration and performance, but in terms of putting it all together, there’s been a few hiccups from our side, sometimes bad luck as well, I don’t like this word, but we’ve had our fair amount of bad luck this year,” said Iron Lynx’s Vincent Abril, who brought the #63 home for the win.
“Our pace and work ethic was never an issue and we really performed every time, so I was very happy to work with Iron Lynx this year, it was an unplanned programme set up at the last minute, but I’m very glad to have met one of the best bronze drivers I was able to race with.
“We finally put everything together and had a solid race after a good week in Portimão.”
The GT3 class podium was therefore completed by the #18 Team Parker Racing Porsche, which inherited third as a result of the #64’s misfortune.
More to follow…
The post Virage, Spirit of Leman Crowned Champions In Rain-Soaked Finale first appeared on dailysportscar.com.