Mathias Beche and Pierre Thiriet won the Six Hours of Le Castellet, the opening round of the 2012 European Le Mans Series aboard their Nissan-powered Oreca 03.
The TDS Racing’s drivers clinched pole position, and were equally dominant in the race where they led from lights to flag, winning by more than a lap over their nearest followers.
In the first part of the race, Beche and Thiriet were under pressure from team Greaves’ Zytek-Nissan and Status GP’s Lola-Judd. But the Zytek was handed a stop-and-go penalty for a pitlane infraction, and the Lola went out of contention when rookie driver Dean Stirling could not follow the pace of the leaders.
The Zytek ended the race in 4th position, while the Lola took 3rd place at the finish.
The Sebastien Loeb Racing team made strong racing debut by clinching second position after the Nissan-powered Oreca 03 driven by Sarrazin, Minassian and Nicolas Marroc slices through the field from their 7th place start.
The CRT entry was the only Formula Le Mans prototype to finish the race, with 8th position overall. In GTE Pro, victory went to JMW ‘s Ferrari F458 driven by Walker and Cocker. The Prospeed Competition’s Porsche 997 took GTE Am victory.
The second round, which was planned at Zolder from May 18th to 20th was cancelled due to a lack of entrants. Next race will be only in July, the Six Hours of Silverstone.
Six Hours of Le Castellet Six Hours:
1 - Beche/Thiriet (Oreca 03-Nissan) - TDS - 189 laps in 6.00'53"302 (1st LMP2)
2 - Sarrazin/Minassian/Marroc (Oreca 03-Nissan) - Loeb Racing - 1 lap
3 - Buurman/Sims/Stirling (Lola B12/80-Judd) - Status - 1 lap
4 - Brundle/Ordonez/Kimber-Smith (Zytek Z11SN-Nissan) - Greaves - 1 lap
5 - Hirschi/Meichtry/Frey (Oreca 03-Judd) - Race Perf. - 3 laps
6 - Nicolet/Moreau/Kraihamer (Morgan-Judd) - OAK - 4 laps
7 - Kaffer/Bruni/Perez Companc (Oreca 03-Nissan) - Pecom - 6 laps
8 - Hartshorne/Kapadia/Keen (Oreca FLM09) - CRT - 12 laps (1st Formula Le Mans)
9 - Walker/Cocker (Ferrari F458 Italia) - JMW - 13 laps (1st GTE Pro)
10 - Melo/Frezza (Ferrari F458 Italia) - JMB - 13 laps
11 - Goossens/Soulet (Porsche 997) - Prospeed - 14 laps (1st GTE Am)
etc.
The TDS Racing’s drivers clinched pole position, and were equally dominant in the race where they led from lights to flag, winning by more than a lap over their nearest followers.
 |
| Mathias Beche and Pierre Thiriet. (Photo: DPPI) |
In the first part of the race, Beche and Thiriet were under pressure from team Greaves’ Zytek-Nissan and Status GP’s Lola-Judd. But the Zytek was handed a stop-and-go penalty for a pitlane infraction, and the Lola went out of contention when rookie driver Dean Stirling could not follow the pace of the leaders.
The Zytek ended the race in 4th position, while the Lola took 3rd place at the finish.
The Sebastien Loeb Racing team made strong racing debut by clinching second position after the Nissan-powered Oreca 03 driven by Sarrazin, Minassian and Nicolas Marroc slices through the field from their 7th place start.
 |
| Stephane Sarrazin, Loeb Racing. (Photo: DPPI) |
The CRT entry was the only Formula Le Mans prototype to finish the race, with 8th position overall. In GTE Pro, victory went to JMW ‘s Ferrari F458 driven by Walker and Cocker. The Prospeed Competition’s Porsche 997 took GTE Am victory.
The second round, which was planned at Zolder from May 18th to 20th was cancelled due to a lack of entrants. Next race will be only in July, the Six Hours of Silverstone.
Six Hours of Le Castellet Six Hours:
1 - Beche/Thiriet (Oreca 03-Nissan) - TDS - 189 laps in 6.00'53"302 (1st LMP2)
2 - Sarrazin/Minassian/Marroc (Oreca 03-Nissan) - Loeb Racing - 1 lap
3 - Buurman/Sims/Stirling (Lola B12/80-Judd) - Status - 1 lap
4 - Brundle/Ordonez/Kimber-Smith (Zytek Z11SN-Nissan) - Greaves - 1 lap
5 - Hirschi/Meichtry/Frey (Oreca 03-Judd) - Race Perf. - 3 laps
6 - Nicolet/Moreau/Kraihamer (Morgan-Judd) - OAK - 4 laps
7 - Kaffer/Bruni/Perez Companc (Oreca 03-Nissan) - Pecom - 6 laps
8 - Hartshorne/Kapadia/Keen (Oreca FLM09) - CRT - 12 laps (1st Formula Le Mans)
9 - Walker/Cocker (Ferrari F458 Italia) - JMW - 13 laps (1st GTE Pro)
10 - Melo/Frezza (Ferrari F458 Italia) - JMB - 13 laps
11 - Goossens/Soulet (Porsche 997) - Prospeed - 14 laps (1st GTE Am)
etc.