It will be two months since their previous round from Paul Ricard in southern France that the European Le Mans Series last did battle together but for some, there was also the small business of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to deal with in between.
This weekend sees the racing return of this ACO rules series as forty-seven LMP2, LMP3 and LMGT3 powered crews get ready for their next four-hour battle around the Autodromo Internationale Enzo E Ferrari at Imola, Italy and for us that means the return of the #59 Racing Spirit of Leman entry.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans wasn’t too kind to the team three weeks ago in terms of the performance got out of their Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 compared to their stablemates along the pit lane after the crew of Clement Mateu, Marius Fossard and Valentin Hasse-Clot finished that endeavour P11 in class – the latter two drivers do arrive in Italy with ‘momentum’ under their belts having taken a P3 class podium in their opening IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship race with the new YRB Racing Car Blanche team at Watkins Glen last weekend.
The previous two races within the ELMS series have also been challenging affairs for the team with a P10 finish in Spain despite Mateu qualifying in fourth before a similar P10 finish in class last time out at Paul Ricard. The #59 car again makes up a LMGT3 class of fourteen cars.
Seeing that the usually supporting Michelin Le Mans Cup Series ran their inaugural three-hour race at Le Mans earlier this month, they don’t figure back onto the ELMS timetable until their next round at Spa Francorchamps in August.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
