The second round to the Michelin Le Mans Cup Series has just come to an end from the south of France with one of the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 crews getting favour through another chaotic two-hour race to secure a podium finish for their efforts.
With the #11 Code Racing Development of Sebastian Moreno taking his second pole start within the GT3 class of the season, the race was quickly back under the control of the Safety Car after an LMP3 car spin off on the opening lap at the Mistral Straight chicane to claim another competitor in the carnage.
Losing close to twenty minutes with the clean-up operation, it was back to green with all three bronze classed drivers within the #11, the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman (Philipp Sager) and #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn (Claude Bovet) Aston Martins.
With the #11 car holding the class lead on the restart, there were early gains for Sager as he moved up to sixth from his P8 starting position whilst Bovet was being held in ninth but Sager would suffer defuser damage after contact from the #88 Ferrari just a few laps later.
A late charge in his hour’s stint saw Bovet elevate his #91 up to seventh before the mandatory pit stops loomed with his fastest lap his race so far as Moreno became the first of the GT3 class to pit from the lead of the class at the halfway point of the race with a near faultless display.
That left his co-driver Ethan Ischer to put in his first racing laps within the series as temperatures slowly started to cool outside, but he would maintain the teams class lead with the #10 RSL of now Hasse-Clot still in fifth but with Tom Canning getting his first racing laps in this season within the #91 car in eighth.
A late charge in his hour’s stint saw Bovet elevate his #91 up to seventh before the mandatory pit stops loomed with his fastest lap his race so far as Moreno became the first of the GT3 class to pit from the lead of the class at the halfway point of the race with a near faultless display.
That left his co-driver Ethan Ischer to put in his first racing laps within the series as temperatures slowly started to cool outside, but he would maintain the teams class lead with the #10 RSL of now Hasse-Clot still in fifth but with Tom Canning getting his first racing laps in this season within the #91 car in eighth.
Just after his pit change, however, Ischer would suffer a rear wheel suspension issue half-way around the lap and that would effectively destroy their race. Making it back to pit lane, the rear right tyre was still very much inflated making a quick fix impossible and that was them done.
As for the other two Astons, it was still a chase to the final podium places as Hasse-Clot was still P4, but Canning was now not too far behind in P6 with just over thirty minutes still to go. That incentive took the Frenchman just half that time to pick up third in class but anymore was simply too much to ask – even for the AMR factory driver.
As for the other two Astons, it was still a chase to the final podium places as Hasse-Clot was still P4, but Canning was now not too far behind in P6 with just over thirty minutes still to go. That incentive took the Frenchman just half that time to pick up third in class but anymore was simply too much to ask – even for the AMR factory driver.
Just after his pit change, however, Ischer would suffer a rear wheel suspension issue half-way around the lap and that would effectively destroy their race. Making it back to pit lane, the rear right tyre was still very much inflated making a quick fix impossible and that was them done.
As for the other two Astons, it was still a chase to the final podium places as Hasse-Clot was still P4, but Canning was now not too far behind in P6 with just over thirty minutes still to go. That incentive took the Frenchman just half that time to pick up third in class but anymore was simply too much to ask – even for the AMR factory driver.
As the light finally began to fade, the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman car of both Sager and Hasse-clot claimed third in class whilst the #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn crew of Bovet and Canning sealed their first finish of the season so far with their P6 finish.
Next stop for the series will be during the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June with their new single race format.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media