22
July
2018
|
17:03 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

G-Drive Racing Extends ELMS lead with win on Dunlop Tyres

  • Racing Engineering claims fastest race lap & second place with United Autosports third
  • Win marks Dunlop’s 24thconsecutive win and 45thLMP2 win out of 73
  • Proton Competition takes GTE win and class lead

Round three of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), the 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring, was drama-filled, with pit-stop strategies playing a key part in the overall result, and saw Dunlop teams finish first, second and third on the podium. G-Drive Racing won the race with the #26 car. JMW Motorsport retired from the race lead with a mechanical issue and conceded the LMGTE class lead in the standings to race winners Proton Competition’s #88 squad.

Race strategies became key for the 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring, with a host of yellow flags, ‘full course yellows’ and a safety car period helping or hindering individual teams. It took until the final hour for G-Drive Racing’s #26 Oreca to make its way to the front. From there the team extended the lead so that the last stop for fuel was short enough to stay at the front and take the top spot on the podium. The win was all the more impressive given that the team lost time due to a stop-and-go penalty for a jump-start. Racing Engineering also had a strong race, setting the fastest lap of the race and challenging for second place to the end. Ultimately the #24 Oreca finished third, just 0.363 seconds behind the second car across the line which was later disqualified. United Autosports was hence promoted to third after post-race scutineering. The Racing Engineering team moves up to second in the championship, nine points behind G-Drive Racing with TDS Racing in third.

In the all-Dunlop GTE class, pole-sitters JMW Motorsport was leading the race convincingly until the first hour mark when, shortly after its first pit-stop the Ferrari retired with a mechanical issue. From there the #88 Proton Competition Porsche dominated, crossing the line ahead of the Spirit of Race Ferrari with the Ebimotors Porsche taking third. Proton Competition now leads the standings followed by Ebimotors and Spirit of Race. 

Mathias Kipp, Dunlop Motorsport Sales Manager, EMEA

"That was a great race with a nail-biting end. It was a good job by our teams and was a good demonstration of how we are being pushed by our competition this year. It was a great win by G-Drive and a fantastic performance from Racing Engineering for that fastest lap and getting so close to second place - it's good that they picked up the extra points after the stewards' decision. It’s going to be a very exciting second half of the season."

The next round of the European Le Mans Series is the 4 Hours of Silverstone which takes place on 18thAugust.