The number 22 G-Drive Racing by DragonSpeed ORECA 07 Gibson of Ryo Hirakawa, Memo Rojas and Léo Roussel scored a historic victory in the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Monza.
The crews’ first win of the 2017 season headlined a 1-2 for DragonSpeed, with its number 21 ORECA 07 of Ben Hanley, Nicolas Lapierre and Henrik Hedman finishing just two seconds behind the winners after a frantic run to the finish.
As a result the number 22 crew leave Monza as the leaders in the overall points standings after two races; the team finishing second in the opening round at Silverstone.
“The team did a fantastic job of assessing the tyre issues at Silvestone. We were able to overcome those, and take the win,” said Rojas after the race. “This is great preparation for Le Mans, and a historic result for the team.”
It was a frantic race in the hotly-contested LMP2 class, with both DragonSpeed cars leading the race at points after taking tactical splashes of fuel during Full-Course Yellows to give them an advantage at the end.
Early in the race Lapierre ran second in the number 21 before taking the lead and handing over to Hedman, the Swede doing an admirable job to keep the car in the mix with the frontrunners, allowing Hanley to push hard and shoot for a podium in the final hour.
Rojas meanwhile, started the race in the number 22 and kept the car in the mix for Léo Roussel’s stint. After getting in the car, the Frenchman charged to the lead from fourth, getting past Hedman with just over two hours remaining. From there Roussel built a healthy margin at the front of almost a minute for Hirakawa to work with for the run to the flag.
“I can’t believe it,” Roussel said after the race. “What a way to take my first victory in the European Le Mans Series. I pushed really hard in my stint to build a lead, and it paid off in the end.”
While Hirakawa was out front, Hanley behind was making his way back into the fight for the podium spots, the British driver joining the race action in fourth after a flurry of pit stops saw the car slip down the order. Hanley made moves for third and later second in the dying minutes of the race with a daring move up the inside at the Variante della Roggia chicane on the penultimate lap while lapping traffic.
Hanley crossed the line just 2.2 seconds behind the winning G-Drive Racing by DragonSpeed ORECA, after Hirakawa spent the final laps conserving fuel for the finish.
“We knew if we had the perfect car and tyres, we would have a chance to win. In the end it was perfect, we pushed a lot, and leave here with a perfect result,” added Hirakawa. “We will be competitive at Le Mans!”
The next round of the 2017 European Le Mans Series is the 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring on 23 July. Prior to that, DragonSpeed will participate in the 85th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours at the world-famous Circuit de la Sarthe on 17-18 June with both its ORECA 07 Gibsons.
