Optimum Motorsport secure podium finish at Le Mans
Okay…it might not have been at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it was still at Circuit de la Sarthe where last weekend, Nick Halstead and Brad Ellis secure a second-place finish in Road to Le Mans’ race two.
A week of high temperatures, both on and off track set the scene for Le Mans Cup’s blue-riband races, the duo of 60-minute sprints in support of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Nick Halstead and Brad Ellis joined forces in Optimum’s #5 McLaren GT3 EVO, heading out open track for Wednesday’s two practice sessions ahead of Thursday’s qualifiers. The grids for the two races were due to be set by a qualifier apiece. With both sessions hampered by multiple red flags, no official times were able to be set, thus the starting positions were determined by the results from free practice.
Starting from fifth on the grid in Thursday evening’s race, Brad quickly found himself towards the front of the pack and eventually leading the race before handing over to Nick at the midway stage. Holding off from the pressure of the charging Mercedes-AMG behind, Nick maintained the lead until the final few laps, where Optimum’s McLaren had to later serve a drive-through penalty for a pitstop infringement.
Race two rolled around on the morning before lights out for the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Nick lined up P12 on the grid. No sooner had lights got out, the racing action was neutralised due to a duo of Ferraris GT3s stranded at the Dunlop chicane.
In amongst the opening lap dramas, the #5 McLaren had climbed to P5 ahead of the Safety Car restart. Pitting from fifth at the midway stage, Nick handed over to Brad, who was at the wheel for the closing stages of the race.
Yet another Safety Car had hampered progress as the #33 Ferrari slowed on rack and an Aston Martin Vantage, in unrelated circumstances, found itself in the wall at Indianapolis. Racing was set to resume with 12 minutes on the clock, however as the Safety Car came in, as did the #37 LMP3 into the pit entry wall. Yep, another Safety Car was deployed.
With just one racing lap to go once the prototype had been recovered, Brad made the move on the #14 Merc, crossing the line second in class to stand on the podium at Le Mans.
Okay…it might not have been at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it was still at Circuit de la Sarthe where last weekend, Nick Halstead and Brad Ellis secure a second-place finish in Road to Le Mans’ race two.
A week of high temperatures, both on and off track set the scene for Le Mans Cup’s blue-riband races, the duo of 60-minute sprints in support of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Nick Halstead and Brad Ellis joined forces in Optimum’s #5 McLaren GT3 EVO, heading out open track for Wednesday’s two practice sessions ahead of Thursday’s qualifiers. The grids for the two races were due to be set by a qualifier apiece. With both sessions hampered by multiple red flags, no official times were able to be set, thus the starting positions were determined by the results from free practice.
Starting from fifth on the grid in Thursday evening’s race, Brad quickly found himself towards the front of the pack and eventually leading the race before handing over to Nick at the midway stage. Holding off from the pressure of the charging Mercedes-AMG behind, Nick maintained the lead until the final few laps, where Optimum’s McLaren had to later serve a drive-through penalty for a pitstop infringement.
Race two rolled around on the morning before lights out for the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Nick lined up P12 on the grid. No sooner had lights got out, the racing action was neutralised due to a duo of Ferraris GT3s stranded at the Dunlop chicane.
In amongst the opening lap dramas, the #5 McLaren had climbed to P5 ahead of the Safety Car restart. Pitting from fifth at the midway stage, Nick handed over to Brad, who was at the wheel for the closing stages of the race.
Yet another Safety Car had hampered progress as the #33 Ferrari slowed on rack and an Aston Martin Vantage, in unrelated circumstances, found itself in the wall at Indianapolis. Racing was set to resume with 12 minutes on the clock, however as the Safety Car came in, as did the #37 LMP3 into the pit entry wall. Yep, another Safety Car was deployed.
With just one racing lap to go once the prototype had been recovered, Brad made the move on the #14 Merc, crossing the line second in class to stand on the podium at Le Mans.
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