The no22 United Autosports Oreca took the win at the 4 Hours of Aragon from Pole Position, with Oliver Jarvis taking the chequered flag nearly 15 seconds ahead of the rest of the field after a drama filled race in Spain.
The four-hour race saw two Full Course Yellow and one Safety Car period as the cars raced into darkness. The no28 IDEC Sport Oreca finished second behind the no22 Oreca, with the final overall podium place being taken by the no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca, which had started at the back of the grid after an issue in qualifying.
The no83 AF Corse Oreca took the LMP2 Pro/Am win in 5th overall, with Matthieu Vaxiviere finishing ahead of the no24 Nielsen Racing Oreca. The no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca was fighting for the lead, but a technical issue in the pitstop delayed the Turkish flagged car and they finished 9thin class.
The LMP3 victory went to the no17 COOL Racing Ligier after a great battle with the no12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine and the no35 Ultimate Ligier. Marcos Siebert took the chequered flag with a 25 second margin after 4-hours of racing.
The no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari fended off a determined challenge from the no16 Proton Competition Porsche in the later stages of the race, with Davide Rigon celebrating his 37th birthday with victory champagne. The Italian finished 10 seconds ahead of Alessio Picariello in the no16 Porsche, with Martin Rump finishing in 3rd after an impressive fight back by the Estonian and his teammates Richard Lietz and Michael Fassbender after the Hollywood actors car was hit off the track early in the race.
COOLER WEATHER FOR RACE INTO THE NIGHT
The race started under cloudy skies with the air temperature a full 10 degrees lower that it had been over the past week. The no22 United Autosports USA Oreca led the field into the first corner, with all 42 cars making it through without any incidents.
While Hanson led from Nico Pino in the no30 Duqueine Team Oreca and the Rui Andrade in the no43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca, there were changes for the lead in the LMP2 Pro/Am, where Giorgio Roda in the no99 Proton Competition Oreca got ahead of Salih Yoluç in the no34 Racing Team Turkey, and in the LMP3 class where the no11 Eurointernational Ligier of Adam Ali moved into the lead ahead of the pole sitting no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Miguel Cristóvão.
Martin Berry made the most of his pole in LMGTE to lead the field in the no66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari but was passed by the no50 Formula Racing Ferrari of Johnny Laursen on lap 2. However, Berry kept the pressure on the Dane for the first hour of the race. The no16 Proton Competition Porsche of Ryan Hardwick, the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari and the no72 TF Sport Aston Martin joined the lead two cars with a five way battle split by a couple of seconds as they fought for the class lead.
James Allen, who had started at the very back of the grid was making rapid progress through the field in the no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca and after 30 minutes was up to 7th overall and looking to make further progress when the opportunity came.
Michael Fassbender in the no93 Proton Competition Porsche was running well but was hit by the no30 Duqueine Team Oreca at the final corner when Nico Pino misjudged the passing move. Fassbender’s Porsche ended up facing the wall and stuck in gear as the Irishman tried in vain to select reverse. He finally got the transmission working and he returned to the pits for repairs before re-joining at the back of the field.
Pino received a drive through penalty for the contact, which dropped him down the order, the put the no43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca up to second, with Andrade trying to close the gap to Hanson’s leading Oreca.
In LMP2 Pro/Am, the no99 Proton Competition Oreca came in for fuel and tyres, allowing the no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca back into the lead. The no11 Eurointernational Ligier of Adam Ali continued to lead the LMP3 class, with Johnny Laursen also holding onto his lead in LMGTE despite the pressure from behind, before heading to the pits for his first stop.
As Laursen emerged on his out lap he was caught by the no72 Aston Martin and in a bid to avoid the faster car he missed the no43 Oreca of Rui Andrade, who was trying to pass the slower car. There was contact and both cars hit the barriers heavily. The Ferrari was badly damaged and retired on the spot while Andrade recovered the LMP2 to the pits but was also retired.
With the track cleared the race resumed, with more pitstops being completed once the pitlane opened. Laurents Hörr was now leading in the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca from Marino Sato in the no22 United Autosports USA Oreca and Tijmen Ven Der Helm in the no65 Panis Racing Oreca. In Pro/Am the no24 Nielsen Racing Oreca of Ben Hanley was ahead of the no34 Racing Team Turkey of Charlie Eastwood, with the no83 AF Corse Oreca of Alessio Rovera in 4th behind Gianmaria Bruni in the no99 Proton Competition Oreca.
In LMP3 the leading no11 Eurointernational and second place no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligiers were given 2m40s stop and go penalties for a pass around infringement while behind the earlier Safety Car. The put the no12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine of Torsten Kratz in front with the no17 COOL Racing Ligier of Alejandro Garcia three seconds behind.
A Full Course Yellow was declared when the no31 Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier of Antoine Doquin stopped on track, slowing everything down for 5 minutes while it was cleared.
Marino Sato had gained the lead from Laurents Hörr, with Reshad De Gerus in the no47 COOL Racing Oreca in third.
With the demise of the Formula Racing Ferrari the lead was taken over by the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Scott Huffaker, with the no66 JMW Ferrari of Lorcan Hanafin in second and Zac Robichon in the no16 Porsche in third.
The battle for the LMP2 Pro/Am lead still raged between the no83 and no34 Orecas, with Rovera holding the upper hand in the AF Corse run Oreca. However, the Racing Team Turkey Oreca’s challenge came to an end when a problem in the pitlane meant the team had to push the car into the garage to solve the issue. They rejoined later in the race but back in 20th overall.
The LMP2 race was between the no65 Panis Racing Oreca of Job Van Uitert, the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca of Paul Loup Chatin, the no25 APR Oreca of Alex Lynn and Oliver Jarvis in the no22 United Autosports.
Jarvis was on a different strategy and a pitstop on the edge of the window for the end of the race was made, which proved to be the move of the race. While the other pitted later, Jarvis was able to sweep into the lead with 30 minutes left on the clock.
In LMP3 the no17 COOL Racing Ligier was ahead of the no12 Duqueine and the no35 Ultimate with Marcos Siebert holding a 17 second gap to his rivals. Matthieu Vaxiviere was well ahead of the rest of the LMP2 Pro/Am field in 5th overall, with Mathias Beche in the no24 Nielsen Racing 18 seconds further back.
Davide Rigon was also holding a comfortable lead in LMGTE the no57 Ferrari 8 seconds ahead of the chasing Porsches led by the no16 Proton Competition 911 of Alessio Picariello, Julien Andlauer in the no77 Proton Competition Porsche and Martin Rump in the no93 Proton Competition Porsche.
A final Full Course Yellow to clear the track at Turn 1 when the no47 and no37 COOL Racing Orecas collided, meant there would be a final 6-minute dash to the flag.
Job Van Uitert in the no65 Panis Racing Oreca had a spin but recovered to finish 4th and Martin Rump managed to move ahead of Julien Andlauer to secure the final podium spot in LMGTE.
The no22 United Autosports USA Oreca took the chequered flag 14.9 seconds ahead of the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca, with the no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca taking the final position.
The no83 AF Corse Oreca won the LMP2 Pro/Am class, with the no17 COOL Racing and the no57 Kessel Racing securing maximum points in the LMP3 and LMGTE categories respectively.
The next race will the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on 24 September 2023.