ELMS

ELMS - United Autosports takes Pole for the 4 Hours of Barcelona

European Le Mans Series
13 Apr. 2024 • 18:11
by
EI
© MPS Agency

The no22 united Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson will start at the front of 43-car grid for the 4 Hours of Barcelona, Round 1 of the 2024 European Le Mans Series. Ben Hanley took pole position in the last couple of minutes, moving ahead of the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca of Reshad De Gerus.

 

De Gerus made his bid for the top spot early on in the session and held provisional pole position for most of the qualifying period, setting a best lap of 1m28.224 with two minutes left on the clock. Ben Hanley had held second spot at the midpoint of the session but had dropped back down the order, but the British driver bounced back with a 1m28.071 to finish the session at the head of the 14-car field.

 

Reigning champion Alex Lynn also put in a quick lap at the end of the session to put the no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca on the second row with a 1m28.381, 0.095 ahead of 4th placed no47 COOL Racing of Frederik Vesti. Row 3 will be headed by the no37 COOL Racing Oreca, with the no43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca alongside.

 

LMP2 Pro/Am: Proton Competition Claim LMP2 Pro/Am Pole

 

Giorgio Roda took the first ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am pole position of the season, with the Italian finishing the session with a 1m30.816, over half a second ahead of the rest of the eight-car field.

 

The second spot on the LMP2 Pro/Am grid will be taken by the no19 Team Virage Oreca after Tony Wells finished on 1m31.349 after challenging strongly for the top spot in the early part of the session.

 

Former LMP2 Pro/Am champion John Falb finished third after a great last lap in the no24 Nielsen Racing Oreca to move ahead of Rodrigo Sales in the no29 Richard Mille by TDS Oreca by 0.007s.

 

LMP3: COOL Racing Get Title Defence off to a Good Start

 

Reigning LMP3 champions COOL Racing took pole position for the opening race of the 2024 ELMS season after Manuel Espirito Santo snatched pole position with a flying 1m34.761 lap just before the chequered flag to push the no8 Team Virage Ligier of Gillian Henrion in second spot by 0.253s.

 

Henrion had pitted two minutes before the end of the session after posting two fastest laps and looked good for pole before Espirito Santo lap spoiled the party. The no15 RLR MSport Ligier of Gael Julien, which had also run at the top of the time sheet, finished in 3rd with a 1m35.249. The French driver will be joined on the second row by the no4 DKR Engineering Duqueine, with Wyatt Brichacek also having a good run in the final minutes of the session.

 

LMGT3: Iron Dames Claim First ELMS LMGT3 Pole in Barcelona

 

Sarah Bovy returns to the ELMS, taking the first ever LMGT3 pole position in the series. Bovy’s time of 1m41.850 was three tenths faster than her nearest rival, Hiroshi Hamaguchi in the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan.

 

The session started with Johnny Laursen making an early claim on the top spot in the no50 Formula Racing Ferrari, the Dane posting a 1m42.337, which he improved a lap later by a tenth of a second.

 

Hiroshi Hamaguchi briefly held the top spot before Sarah Bovy powered through to the front with a 1m41.953. She then improved the time to a 41.850 which was good enough to claim the pole position.

 

Johnny Laursen put the no50 Ferrari at the head of row 2, with Duncan Cameron alongside him in the no55 Spirit of Race 296.

 

The 4 Hours of Barcelona will take place on Sunday morning with the race due to begin at 11h30.

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