Ecurie Ecosse/ Nielsen took their first Michelin Le Mans Cup victory with Colin Noble leading home his teammate for James Littlejohn a 1-2 finish at Spa in the torrential rain. However a third place finish for no3 DKR Engineering Norma secured the LMP3 Michelin Le Mans Cup title for the team from Luxembourg team drivers Jens Petersen and Leonard Hoogenboom.
A fourth victory of the 2018 season for the no8 Kessel Racing Ferrari secured the GT3 title for the Swiss team and for Italian drivers Sergio Pianezzola and Giacomo Piccini.
Slippery Start and Torrential Rain at Spa
The race started on a slippery track but most of the 24 car grid elected to start on slick tyres. The no25 Lanan Racing Norma driven by Michael Benham led the pack into the first corner with the no2 Ecurie Ecosse Nielsen Ligier of Tony Wells alongside when the two cars reached turn 1 the tricky conditions meant the two cars went straight on over the run off area, which allowed the no21 DB Autosport Norma of Jacques Wolff to take the lead.
Several other cars spun at various places on the opening lap including the no3 DKR Engineering Norma of championship leader Jens Petersen. The German driver elected to pit for wet tyres at the end of the lap.
The no24 Cool Racing Ligier of Antonin Borga made its way to the front of the field with the no79 Ecurie Ecosse / Nielsen Ligier of Alasdair McCaig in second.
In the GT3 field the no77 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Claudio Schiavoni overtook pole sitter Sergio Pianezzola in the no8 F488, a lead he held until lap 3 when the championship leader regained the top spot in the class. Schiavoni lost a further place to the no50 Kessel Ferrari of Murod Sultanov before the no77 Ferrari slowed at Turn 1 after a slight contact with an LMP3. The Italian was soon back up to racing speed after losing a lot of ground to his teammates in 1st and 2nd places.
Back at the front Alex Kapadia was slicing his way though the field in the no59 RLR MSport Ligier passing McCaigs no79 Ligier for second place after 20 minutes of racing. Five minutes later heavy rain started to fall on the circuit and the drivers who had elected to start the race on slicks were forced to pit for rain tyres.
The no30 CD Sport Norma of Anthony Pons spun at Raidillon, breaking the rear wing of the car. A Full Course Yellow was declared for five minutes and then the race went back to green.
The no23 United Autosports Ligier of Richard Meins was running third thanks in part to the fact the team elected to start the race on wet tyres so the British driver didn’t have to pit with the rest of the cars. However Meins was passed by the both no79 and no2 Ecurie Ecosse/Nielsen Ligiers as the mandatory pitstop window approached.
Sergio Pianezzola pitted in the leading GT3 car to hand over the no8 Ferrari to Giacomo Piccini, giving his highly experienced teammate the job of bringing the car home in the deteriorating weather conditions.
The last car to pit was the no59 RLR MSport Ligier as the team elected to keep Alex Kapadia out as long as possible before handing over the car to Ross Warburton. The no24 Cool Racing Ligier with Alexandre Coigny regained the track with the bronze rated driver have a 58 second lead over the no79 Ligier of Colin Noble and a further 21 seconds ahead of the no2 Ligier of James Littlejohn.
The championship leading no3 DKR Engineering Norma of Leonard Hoogenboom was also making up lost ground after a good first hour stint by his teammate Jens Petersen. The young Dutch driver was soon past the no59 RLR MSport Ligier of Ross Warburton for 4th place and then chasing the two Ecurie Ecosse Nielsen Ligiers.
Colin Noble was quickly closing the gap to the leading no24 Cool Racing Ligier, closing five to six seconds a lap as Alexandre Coigny struggled in the difficult track conditions as spray caused difficulties with visibility. Noble was less than eight seconds behind the lead car when Coigny lost control at Pouhon with the Ligier hitting the tyre wall on the outside of the corner. Coigny climbed out unharmed but his race was over. A Full Course Yellow was declared to allow the car to e recovered safely before the race resumed for the final two laps in the pouring rain.
At the chequered flag the two Ecurie Ecosse/ Nielsen Ligiers crossed the line led by Colin Noble’s no79 Ligier to take a hard fought 1-2 for the British team with the no3 DKR Engineering Norma of Leonard Hoogenboom taking the final podium position and securing the 2018 Michelin Le Mans Cup Team and Driver titles in the process.
Giacomo Piccini crossed the finish line in the no8 Kessel Racing Ferrari to secure the fourth win of 2018 and take the Team and Driver titles at the same time. It was a Kessel Racing podium lockout with the no50 Ferrari of Matteo Cressoni finishing in second and Maurizio Mediani taking third to complete a great day for the Swiss team.
The final round of the 2018 Michelin Le Mans Cup will take place on Sunday 28 October at the Autódromo do Algarve in Portugal.
CLICK HERE for the result from Round 5 of the 2018 Michelin Le Mans Cup at Spa-Francorchamps
CLICK HERE for the championship positions are Round 5
