The Silverstone race was the 4th round of the 6 races in the 2019 series, with an entry of 39 cars spread
across the three classes. The overall pole position was taken by the #21LMP2 Dragonspeed entered Oreca
07-Nissan driven by Ben Hanley, whilst in LMP3 the #19 M Racing entered Norma M 30-Nissan took the
honours, and in the LMGTE class it was the #60 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE EVO that was quickest, but
only a fraction over a second covered the whole class.
From the start, as the armada of cars barrelled into the first turn there was a distinct lack of space on the
ribbon of tarmac as they jostled for position, and a number had to take to the run-off areas to avoid serious
contact. After they had sorted themselves out the #21Oreca 07-Nissan emerged in the lead driven by James
Allen, whilst some of the other front runners dropped down the order in the melee. The race had started under
leaden skies, and after just over five minutes of racing the rain swept in, causing plenty of spins, with most
teams opting to pit for wet tyres, whilst others decided to try and brave it out on the slicks they had started
on, which jumbled up the running order, and then a full course yellow when the #66 JMW Ferrari beached in a
gravel trap, further dampening race proceedings. By the time the track had dried sufficiently for a return to
slick tyres, it was the #43 RLR MSPORT Oreca driven by Mathieu Vaxiviere that held a healthy lead, with the
# 11 Eurinternational Ligier leading the LMP3 class and the #60 Kessel Ferrari leading the LMGTE class from
the sister #83 example. The #51 Luzich Racing Ferrari, winner of the LMGTE class in the previous round at
Monza, had its usual class leading performance hampered by 35kgs of success ballast.
By the time that the race reached half distance it was the #37 Cool Racing entered Oreca that led the race
from the recovering #26 G-Drive entered Aurus, which had dropped down the order in the early melee. The #43
MSPORT Oreca had dropped well down the order after a lengthy pit stop with technical problems. Just after
half distance the #3 United Autosports LMP3 Ligier was pitched heavily into the concrete wall, when it was
clipped by an overtaking #24 Oreca LMP2 car, which brought out the safety car for a lengthy period whilst the
wreckage was cleared. When the course went green again there was almost immediately another safety car
period when the #30 Duqeine Engineering and #77 Cool Racing LMP2 Orecas were eliminated in another
crash, which left the former in the middle of the track. By the time that the race had reached three quarter
distance there was another new race leader, this time it was the #39 Graff entered Oreca, but there were still
a round of pit stops to come for most of the field.
The final hour of the race saw some great battles through the field, notably between the #83 and #60 Kessel
Ferraris and the #51 Luzich example going into the final 20 minutes, when the # 83 car had a quick splash
and dash fuel stop, dropping it back into the clutches of the other pair, for the final two podium spots, as the
#88 Proton entered Porsche had taken command of the class a little bit earlier. The # 83 managed to get a
little clear air over the other pair, who were swapping positions going into the closing laps, but a couple of
taps on the rear of the #51 car by the #60 example, allowed it to get past to take the final class podium spot.
Equally it was all action at the head of the field in the closing stages, with the #21 DragonSpeed Oreca
leading from the #26 G-Drive Aurus and the #39 Graff Oreca. However, both the #21 and # 26 cars had to
make splash and dash fuel stops, whilst the #39 Oreca had to take a penalty for dangerous driving under the
safety car, which allowed the #28 Idec Sport entered Oreca to take the team’s first ELMS victory.
Race Podiums
Overall & LMP2
1st – #28, Idec Sport, Oreca 07-Gibson, P. Lafargue / P. Chatin / M. Rojas
2nd – #26, G-Drive Racing, Aurus 01-Gibson, R.Rusinov / J. Vergne / J. Van Uitert
3rd – #39, Graff, Oreca 07-Gibson, T. Gommendy / A. Cougnaud / J. Herschi
LMP3
1st – #11, Eurointernational, Ligier JS P3-Nissan, M. Jensen / J. Petersen
2nd – #13, Inter Europol Competition, Ligier JS P3-Nissan, M. Hippe / N. Moore
3rd – #2, United Autosports, Ligier JS P2-Nissan, W. Boyd / G. Grist / T. Erdos
LMGTE
1st – #88, Proton Competition, Porsche 911 RSR, T. Preining / G. Giraudi / R. Sanchez
2nd – #83, Kessel Racing, Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, M. Gostner / R. Frey / M. Gatting
3rd – #60, Kessel Racing, Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, S. Pianezzola / N. Cadei / G. Piccini
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