ELMS – Thiriet by TDS Racing opens the ball at Silverstone

The Jota Sport seemed well on its way to victory at Silverstone where the first round of the new season of theELMS. Simon Dolan was leading the race with less than 50 minutes to go in a Zytek-Z11SN-Nissan which he shares with Harry Tincknell and Filipe Albuquerque. But with the return of the Oreca 03-Judd from Race Performance led by Franck Mailleux, the leader made a mistake while avoiding the Ferrari 458 n°55 from AF Corse by Michele Rugolo. The Zytek collided with the Larbre Compétition Morgan-Judd before hitting the wall head-on. The local pilot was taken to the medical center.

The intervention of the safety car offered a three-way fight for victory and it was ultimately the Morgan-Nissan of Thiriet by TDS Racing of Pierre Thiriet, Tristan Gommendy and Ludovic Badey which emerged victorious ahead of the Oreca 03- Judd from Race Performance by Michel Frey and Franck Mailleux. The Newblood by Morand Racing started the season well by securing a podium with the Morgan-Judd of Christian Klien, Gary Hirsch and Romain Brandela. Signatech-Alpine, the reigning champion team, ranks fifth with the A450 of Paul-Loup Chatin, Nelson Panciatici and Oliver Webb behind the Greaves Motorsport Zytek of Tom Kimber-Smith, Chris Dyson and Matthew McMurry.

AF Corse wins in GTE with the Ferrari of Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and Michele Rugolo. But the victory still remains provisional since the latter was summoned by the stewards following the incident with the Jota Sport Zytek. SMP Racing took second place with the F458 of Viktor Shaitar, Sergey Zlobin and Andrea Bertolini while the Porsche IMSA Performance Matmut by Ryamond Narac, Nicolas Armindo and David Hallyday completes the podium. The Prancing Horse also won in GTC with the F458 of Team Ukraine driven by Andriy Kruglyk, Sergii Chukanov and Alessandro Pier Guidi.

Discover the report of the first round of the ELMS at Silverstone in issue 1957 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.