Álvaro Fontes made his debut in ELMS at the wheel of by Speed Factory-entered Ligier-Nissan JSP3 LMP3. The Malaga-born driver, who shared the car with Jesús Fuster and Tom Jackson, headed to Silverstone having excellent prospects after positive official dress rehearsal at Paul Ricard last month and despite more than twenty prototypes were entered in LMP3 class. As usual, conditions were changeable and rain gave drivers and team a dilemma. Adapting the car to Silverstone track on Friday, qualifying session was held on Saturday and Jackson, at difficult weather conditions, climbed to seventh in class, an amazing result for the by Speed Factory driver trio. The 4-hour endurance race continued on the same positive path and Jackson moved up to sixth on lap one among LMP3 contenders. But, after twenty-two laps, a clash with a GT car damaged Ligier transmission and was forced to retire. Álvaro Fontes: “Well, my debut was certainly a bit bitter-sweet. Obviously this is a top series as a massive 45-car field was entered at Silverstone. We noticed how difficult to be competitive is immediately after arriving at the track. Tom delivered an amazing performance in qualifying putting the car 7th, and only half-a-second off pace in wet conditions. It was a big achievement for us! Race start was particularly difficult, on damp asphalt and with several incidents. We were running in sixth place when a small collision with a GT car damaged transmission. I think a topten finish was within reach, and it would have been a great result on our debut!”