Panis Racing Score Debut ELMS Victory in Monza

Will Stevens brought the no65 Oreca-Gibson home, taking the chequered flag 5 seconds ahead of Tom Gamble in the no22 United Autosports Oreca and was joined on the top step of the Monza podium by teammates Julien Canal and James Allen.

The no25 G-Drive Racing crew of John Falb, Rui Andrade and Roberto Merhi scored their second victory of the season in the LMP2 Pro-Am category, finishing 6^th overall from a lowly 14^th on the grid at the start of the race.

1. Roman Rusinov in the no26 G-Drive Racing Aurus-Gibson led the 42-car field into T1 for the first time ahead of the no22 United Autosports Oreca of Phil Hanson.
2. There was contact between the no21 DragonSpeed USA Oreca of Hendrik Hedman and the no24 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca of Richard Bradley at T1, spinning both cars around and forcing several cars behind them to take avoiding action.
3. The top 3 cars – no26 G-Drive Racing, no22 United Autosports and the no41 Orlen Team WRT Oreca (Yifei Ye) were battling for the podium positions and split by less than one second. They were soon joined by the no92 Racing Team Nederland Oreca of Giedo Van Der Garde.
4. ·Further back Julien Canal in the no65 Panis Racing Oreca was fighting for position with the no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca driven by Salih Yoluc. The French driver tried to overtake at the first chicane but had to take to the escape road, which put him ahead of Yoluc’s Oreca. The French driver slowed down to give the place back so as to avoid a penalty but was soon back ahead on the next lap.
5. Salih Yoluc incurred a stop and go penalty for dangerous driving for an incident involving the no24 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca.
6. On lap 20, after 33 minutes of racing, Phil Hanson overtook Roman Rusinov at T1 to take the lead. A lap later Rusinov dropped to 3^rd as the no41 Oreca got ahead.
7. The no28 Idec Sport Oreca of Patrick Pilet was moving up through the field and was challenging Giedo Van Der Garde for 4^th.
8. With 40 minutes of racing completed the no77 Proton Competition Porsche spun off into the gravel trap and the United Autosports crew called Phil Hanson in for a pitstop just before the Safety Car was deployed to retrieve the beached Porsche.Several other cars also came into the pits before the Safety Car period was declared, including the no65 Panis Racing Oreca.
9. With the pitlane closed for three laps and with fuel tanks nearly empty, several cars, including the no41 Team WRT Oreca, had to make a stop for an emergency 5 second fuel stop, which put the no26 G-Drive Racing Aurus back in the front of the field.
10. As the Safety Car switch its lights off as the train of cars approached Parabolica, the no26 Aurus started to slow down, with Rusinov weaving to try and get fuel to his engine. The Aurus stopped on the run into the pits just in front of teammate Richard Bradley in the no24 Oreca, the British driver deciding to give the no26 car a push to the pitbox. This incurred a 5 second penalty for both cars, which was added at the next pitstop.