Van Uitert: Pro-Am Qualifying Split “A Good Thing”

Panis Racing driver Job van Uitert thinks the increased separation for LMP2 Pro-Am entries in this year’s European Le Mans Series, enforced through a new qualifying format, will be of benefit for both Pro-Am teams and regular LMP2 squads.

The ELMS has seen an increase in Pro-Am entries in the wake of the FIA World Endurance Championship abolishing the category exclusively reserved for teams with a Bronze-rated driver in their lineup.

Out of the combined 18 LMP2 entries that form part of a bumper 42-car grid that will contest the upcoming season opener in Barcelona, 11 teams have been entered into the Pro-Am class.

This includes a two-car effort from United Autosports, joined by the likes of AF Corse, Proton Competition, Cool Racing and defending champions Racing Team Turkey.

As part of updated sporting regulations for the championship, ELMS introduced a new qualifying format ahead of the 2023 campaign.

Sessions will be lengthened to 15 minutes, matching the WEC, while a separate session has been introduced for the Pro-Am squads.

Participation for Bronze-rated drivers has also been made mandatory in qualifying.

Van Uitert, for his part, returns to the Panis Racing squad that finished runner-up behind Prema last year alongside new co-drivers Manuel Maldonado and Tijmen van der Helm.

Despite Prema not defending its title in favor of a two-car WEC operation, the Dutchman does not expect the season ahead to be ‘any easier.’

“It’s going to be very tough,” Van Uitert told Sportscar365.

“I definitely rate both United and Cool [highly] and also actually the lineup of Inter Europol is not too bad.

“And then you have Algarve Pro Racing, they’re all in it to win and definitely IDEC Sport have a good lineup too.

“So I wouldn’t say that it’s become any easier. It’s maybe even more hard.

“The only thing that is easier this year is that in quali we have now split up the Pro-Am and the Pros, which I think is a good thing.”

Van Uitert went on to point out several upsides to the new format, beginning with an increase in track time for Bronze-rated competitors.

“It makes it just more attractive for Bronze drivers to do LMP2 and more fun and it works, as we’ve seen in IMSA,” he noted.

“It can be a very healthy future also for LMP2 in the ELMS. As you see with 11 cars, it’s a very good step that they made in the organization there.

“Basically, they even up the whole Pro-Am [field] and they do it like how it is in IMSA.

“They make it more of a show and fight between who is the best Bronze instead of who has the fastest co-driver in the car who can do the qualifying.

“The Bronze basically never drives at the end of the weekend.

“He doesn’t do the mileage that someone who normally pays the most part of it should deserve.”

He further added that it will lead to less mixing between the two categories, providing a clearer picture in the running order.

As Van Uitert pointed out, TDS Racing’s Mathias Beche took pole position on two occasions last year, while AF Corse and Racing Team Turkey also led the field to green at Imola and Portimao, respectively.

“Not that they shouldn’t deserve to have a shot at it, but like this, they can still get on pole position but in their class,” Van Uitert spoke of the new system.

“And they don’t disturb our race as they could normally do.

“It can be frustrating when you have your race and then you are losing, for example, ten seconds in the first couple of laps, because you’re stuck behind a Bronze driver and your competitor, the other Pro, just managed to get ahead.

“And those ten seconds that you lose in the beginning fighting with a car, which is not in your class, can make you lose a lot at the end of the race and then be very costly.”