Luzich Racing Ferrari win in all-Dunlop European Le Mans Series LMGTE class

The European Le Mans Series (ELMS) began at the Circuit Paul Ricard for the 4 hours of Le Castellet.

Entering the fifth consecutive season as the sole tyre supplier in the LMGTE class, Dunlop provided the grip for some stunning wheel to wheel action between the Porsche 911 RSR and the Ferrari F488 GTE Evo.

The class honours went to the Luzich Racing team on their debut, driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, Nicklas Nielsen and Fabien Lavergne. In second place was the similar Kessel Racing Ferrari, making history as it was the first time an all female team competed in the championship. Manuela Gostner, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gating, racing together on Dunlop tyres for first time, pipped the 2018 championship winning Dempsey-Proton Porsche team to take a strong second place.

David Meenan, Dunlop Senior Track Support Engineer said: “The LMGTE cars were able to use a mixture of Dunlop’s A and B compound tyres throughout the race, showing the flexibility and durability of the range.

“The class is so tightly contested that it allowed for some great racing. As the sole tyre supplier for the class, Dunlop have developed a range of tyres that suited both the Ferrari and Porsche teams.”

In the LMP2 prototype category the new C-specification tyre that had a winning debut in last month’s FIA World Endurance Championship Sebring 1000 miles was used by G-Drive Racing to take a stunning pole position. Driven by Norman Nato, his time of 1:40.052 was a full second faster than the 2018 record.

The next round of the ELMS is the 4 hours of Monza on the 12th of May.