ELMS - 4 hours of Le Castellet: Third consecutive win for Thiriet by TDS Racing

August 28, 2016 • Event Reports, Featured • Marijan Malcevic

The #46 Oreca 05-Nissan prototype of Thiriet by TDS Racing was the victorious car for the third race in a row in the 2016 European Le Mans Series. After four rounds and with two more races on calendar, the French team take the championship lead. Pierre Thiriet and Mathias Beche, who won two previous races at Imola and Red Bull Ring together with Ryo Hirakawa, today were joined by Mike Conway.

Conway started the race from pole position and set the fastest lap before handing over to Pierre Thiriet. The stint of Mathias Beche followed when the #46 car already had 60-second lead, so Beche had a comfortable job to defend the big lead. He even increased the gap and crossed the finish line with one lap advantage over#32 BR01-Nissan of SMP Racing, driven by Stefano Coletti, Julian Leal and Andreas Wirth. Dragon Speed’s trio Henrik Hedman, Nicolas Lapierre and Ben Hanley took the third place.

Another French team took the victory in the LMP3 class. The #9 Ligier JS P3 of Graff Racing, driven by Eric Trouillet, Enzo Guibbert and Paul Petit, scored first class victory of the season. The LMGTE class win went to the #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia, driven by Rory Butcher, Rob Smith and Andrea Bertolini. For them, it was the second win in a row.