COOL Racing No. 37 wins the 4H of Portimão, AO by TF the championship

The three young guns from COOL Racing therefore imposed their Oreca 07 LM P2 bearing the number 37, as they had done at the beginning of the year on the Barcelona circuit. The winning trio took control in the second hour of the event, never to let go, and ended the season on a high note. Second, the crew of the number 14 from AO by TF (Jonny Edgar/Louis Delétraz/Robert Kubica) won the title in the LMP2 category, ahead of the number 43 from Inter Europol Competition, which finished the race in fourth place, behind the number 47 from COOL Racing, which was nevertheless penalized for a drive-through at the start of the event. The latter had hit the number 34 from Inter Europol Competition on the first lap of the event. Having started well, the number 28 from IDEC Sport was in the running for the win after the first hour, before being hit by the Ferrari #86 and lose any chance of a podium.

In LM P2 Pro/Am, while the battle for the championship was initially played out at a distance, the final hour was the scene of a magnificent fight between the No. 83 AF Corse, driven by Matthieu Vaxivière, and the No. 29 Richard Mille by TDS, with Mathias Beche on board. The two drivers passed and repassed each other, going as far as contact several times, for fourth place in the category standings. The duel was finally won by the No. 83 that Vaxivière shares with François Perrodo and Alessio Rovera, the No. 29 being penalized for not respecting track limits. Victory went to the No. 77 Proton Competition (Viscaal/Binder/Roda) ahead of the No. 20 Algarve Pro Racing… which very nearly snatched the title from the No. 83, very discreetly, finishing the season two points behind!

In LM P3, the fight for the title seemed to concern Eurointernational and Team Virage, who also occupied the top positions in the race for a long time. RLR M Sport, the third team involved in this fight, spent the first half of the race outside the top 5, but it was in the second half of the race that the trio composed of Michael Jensen, Nick Adock and Gael Julien made their effort, moving up to second place… and winning the title by a small point ahead of Eurointernational! COOL Racing also won the event in LM P3, thus winning in both prototype categories.

The victory and the LMGT3 title came down to the final corner, although the finish is likely to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of many observers, Kessel Racing and the Iron Dames. Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting took control of the race as we entered the final hour. Seventh in the championship heading into the Algarve, the three Iron Dames at the wheel of their Porsche found themselves… virtual champions, by virtue of the many problems of theAston Martin #59 of Racing Spirit of Léman and the overall lack of performance of the other title contenders. In the last half hour, the #55 Kessel Racing Ferrari managed to move up the rankings and secure the title, with a fifth place in the race standings.

However, the Porsche Iron Dames led the race ahead of the Lamborghini Iron Lynx, which needed the win to secure the title. As a result, the #85 car let the #63 car pass in the final corner, handing victory and the European title to the trio of Andrea Caldarelli, Axcil Jefferies and Hiroshi Hamaguchi. The Japanese driver was involved in a collision with the #59 Racing Spirit of Léman car after 18 minutes of racing, but just under four hours later, he is celebrating his victory and his title on the podium!

4 Hours of Portimão – Ranking

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