MV2S Overcomes Opening Lap Incident to Win Race 2

MV2S Racing used a well-timed pitstop under safety car to recover from contact on the opening lap and win the second Road to Le Mans race at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

The No. 29 Ligier JS P320 Nissan, piloted by Christophe Cresp and Maximus Mayer, crossed the line 0.935 seconds ahead of the No. 97 Cool Racing Ligier to come out on top.

The win came after Cresp triggered a safety car intervention on the opening lap when he was tagged into a spin by Eurointernational driver Jean-Rene De Fournoux at the first Mulsanne chicane.

Cresp became stuck in the gravel and plummeted down the order, but fortunes changed for MV2S when a series of incidents throughout the field resulted in the safety car returning to the track on the fourth lap.

When this bunched the pack up, Cresp used the opportunity to pit a lap earlier than the bulk of the field, meaning Mayer was able to take the restart from first place.

He remained in the lead of the race for the final stint of green flag running, even as the No. 97 machine of David Droux closed in.

Mayer then almost went off exiting the Porsche Curves on the final lap, but kept his nose clean to be able to take the checkered flag just under a second ahead of Droux.

The No. 85 R-Ace GP Duqueine D08 Nissan led early on in the hands of Fabien Michal but dropped back amidst the pitstop cycle, only for co-driver Hadrien David to charge back up the order.

David, a champion in French F4 and race winner in the Formula Regional Championship powered by Alpine, notably stormed by High Class Racing’s Tommy Foster on the Mulsanne Straight and later overtook Clement Moreno at Indianapolis for third on the final lap.

However, a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage dropped him back to fifth position, with Foster and Jens Reno Moller completing the overall podium.

The No. 6 ANS Motorsport Ligier driven by Moreno and Nicolas Schatz finished fourth ahead of David and Michal.

Blackthorn Takes First European Win for Vantage GT3 Evo

In the GT3 class, a similarly early pitstop under yellow allowed Blackthorn to cruise to victory with their No. 90 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

Martin Berry was in the group of cars that came in to pit a lap early to hand over to Lorcan Hanafin, with the latter taking the restart in third place overall amidst the group of LMP3 front runners.

Although the car eventually dropped back to 18th overall, it finished clear of the second-placed No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Matthew Kurzejewski and Alessandro Balzan.

It marked the first time Aston Martin’s new-for-2024 GT3 challenger has won a race on European soil, just two weeks after the car’s maiden win in global competition came during the recent SUPER GT round at Suzuka.

The No. 18 High Class Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Nicolas Jones and Sven Mueller rounded out the class podium, just ahead of the No. 95 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin of Derek DeBoer and Valentin Hasse-Clot.

RESULTS: Race 2