United Wins, APR Takes LMP2 Title In Wild ELMS Finale
United Autosports’ #22 ORECA of Oliver Jarvis, Marino Sato and Phil Hanson claimed a second consecutive race win to finish the season in the 4 Hours of Portimao today, but it was Algarve Pro Racing’s #25 crew that claimed the LMP2 titles.
A second-place finish from Alex Lynn, James Allen and Kyffin Simpson was more than enough to comfortably take the LMP2 class Teams and Drivers championships. It was a composed drive from all three but particularly from Lynn in the closing stages with the pressure mounting.
The result marks the first European Le Mans Series title for the multiple Asian Le Mans title-winning team and reigning IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup LMP2 champion. It is also the first ELMS LMP2 title for all three drivers.
United Autosports ended up second in the LMP2 standings with its #22 crew 13 points adrift, but will still receive a Le Mans invitation for finishing the season in the runner-up spot.
In the other classes, AF Corse hung on to win in LMP2 Pro/Am, clinching the Teams and Drivers titles in the process after a near-perfect performance from Francois Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Ben Barnicoat at the end, who had to fend off a hard-charging Malthe Jakobsen in the final hour.
It was essentially a straight fight for the LMP2 Pro/Am crown in this one, with dramas for both COOL Racing’s #47 and Racing Team Turkey’s #34 crews costing them dearly in pursuit of the title.
Eurointernational scored an impressive LMP3 class win with its #11 Ligier, and Proton Competition’s #16 Porsche 911 RSR 19 took the final-ever ELMS GTE race win and titles with a confident run to the flag from Zach Robichon, Ryan Hardwick and Alessio Picariello.
The 2023 ELMS finale was a memorable one for so many reasons, not least because the race start was delayed significantly due to heavy rain, then red-flagged for 45 minutes after a brief two-lap safety car start.
Initially, it looked highly unlikely that this ELMS race would even start. But the conditions improved remarkably quickly during the afternoon and allowed for three hours of action-packed racing.
More to follow…
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