In its first race on the European continent after having set the fastest time in the official test session at Monza, the Ligier JS P217 won the Silverstone 4 Hours, the opening round of the 2017 European Le Mans Series, thus scoring the first victory of a new-generation LM P2, thanks to United Autosports, which also came first in the LM P3 category with the no. 2 Ligier JS P3. This LM P2-LM P3 double is the first scored by the same make in the history of the European series.
This weekend, United Autosports managed by Richard Dean won the Silverstone 4 Hours as well as coming first in the LM P3 category with the Ligier JS P217 and the Ligier JS P3 respectively. This superb result underlines the sheer professionalism of the Anglo-American team.
At the end of a closely-fought race the no. 32 Ligier JS P217-Gibson-Dunlop entered by United Autosports took the chequered flag in front of the no. 22 Oreca 07-Gibson-Dunlop run by G-Drive Racing and the no. 49 High Class Racing Dallara P217-Gibson-Dunlop. The presence of three constructors on the first ELMS podium of the season confirms just how competitive the LM P2 field is in 2017.
The no. 34 Ligier JS P217 run by Tockwith Motorsports, which made its debut this weekend in the LM P2 category, came home fifth setting the second-fastest lap in the race, only one-tenth-of-a-second slower than the quickest. The IDEC Sport Racing and Panis Barthez Compétition JS P217s finished in eighth and ninth positions. Algarve Pro Racing had to retire at half-distance when it looked on course for a top-3 finish.
With 15 Ligier JS P3s on the grid the LM P3 built by Onroak Automotive had the same success as in 2016, and as was the case in last year’s Silverstone 4 Hours in its first race in sports prototypes, United Autosports won and its two Ligier JS P3s finished in the first three with one on the topmost step of the podium.
This outcome was the result of a 1-lap penalty that hit 360 Racing. The English team’s car crossed the line in second place in LM P3, but fell back to seventh because it failed to respect the driving time of its Bronze driver.
Thus, French outfit Ultimate, after an encouraging learning season in 2016, was rewarded with a great second place in front of no. 3, United Autosports’ second Ligier JS P3.
AT Racing, making its debut in the LM P3 category this weekend, brought its no. 9 Ligier JS P3 home in fourth place after setting pole position in the category and good performances in the race, while M.Racing – YMR rounded out the top 5 with the no. 18 Ligier JS P3.
The next round of the European Le Mans Series will take place between 12 – 14 May on the Monza circuit. This coming weekend Onroak Automotive has three rendezvous with the Ligier JS P3s:
– At Barber for the second round of the IMSA Prototype Challenge,
– At Donington for the first round of the Henderson LM P3 Cup Championship,
– At Portimao for the official Michelin Le Mans Cup.
Jacques Nicolet: “I would like to congratulate the whole United Autosports team for its exceptional achievement. It was extraordinary to share the joy of this double victory with them over the weekend. We’re delighted with the performances of the Ligier JS P217 and the overall level of competition in the LM P2 field with three constructors on the podium, which confirms that the season is going to be a hotly-contested one. Concerning the LM P3s, I’m very pleased that there was no fall-off in effort. We still have as many cars racing and new teams have arrived while others have renewed their trust in us. Once again this weekend the Ligier JS P3 demonstrated its excellent reliability/performance ratio.”
