4 Hours of Le Castellet – Qualifying: The TDS Racing x Vaillante surprise

The gaps were so minimal between the different LM P2s that anything could happen during qualifying for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet. This is what happened this Saturday for the first session of the year in ELMS with the surprise pole position of Mathias Beche at the wheel of the TDS Racing x Vaillante n°31 in 1:43.038. The Geneva driver got the better of Tom Gamble (United Autosports no. 22) and Louis Delétraz (Prema no. 9) by weaving through heavy traffic on the Paul-Ricard circuit track.

The session ended under flag following the Graff Racing stopped at the side of the track. Many teams were trapped by track limits, especially on the COOL Racing side. The Swiss team was the favorite, but a canceled lap then the red flag prevented the men from Nicolas lapierre to put any time in the bank. They will start at the back of the peloton, in the company of two other LM P2s without a timer: the Algarve Pro Racing n°47 (Falb, Allen, Peroni) and Graff Racing (Trouillet, Page, Droux).

COOL Racing consoles itself in LM P3

In the LM P3 category, it was the No. 17 of COOL Racing which set the best time by Malthe Jakobsen in 1:49.008 at the wheel of the Ligier JS P320 – Nissan. The Dane beat Briton Alex Kapadia in another Ligier, the No. 5 from RLR MSport, and the second COOL Racing, the No. 27 driven by Frenchman Antoine Doquin. A little satisfaction among the Helvetians despite a complicated session in LM P2.

The surprises come from the LMGTE category where Memo Gidley was the fastest with the Ferrari F488 GTE EVO n°32 from Rinaldi Racing in 1:54.755. Ahmad Al Harty on theAston Martin No. 69 Vantage AMR of Oman Racing with TF Sport and Sarah Bovy in the No. 488 Iron Dames Ferrari F83 GTE EVO completed the podium.

Find the Qualifications ranking HERE