The 2024 European Le Mans Series got underway with the first day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya that saw laps time that were faster than the official lap record in LMP2, LMP2 Pro/Am and LMP3 and LMGT3 also faster than the existing LMGTE lap record.
Marino Sato claimed the top spot in the morning session, the Japanese driver posting a 1m28.979 lap in the no22 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson, nearly 2.5 seconds inside Vladislav Lomko’s 2023 race lap record of 1m31.451.
The second quickest time of the day went to an LMP2 Pro/Am entry, with Grégoire Saucy 0.123s behind Sato’s lap with a 1m29.102 in the no29 Richard Mille by TDS.
Sato’s teammate Ben Hanley set the third quickest time of the day with a 1m29.181 with Malthe Jakobson fourth fastest in the LMP2 entered no37 COOL Racing (1m29.225) and Matthieu Vaxiviere in the LMP2 Pro/Am class no83 AF Corse Oreca (1m29.377).
All of these times were set in the morning session, with the no30 Duqueine Team Oreca posting the fastest time of the afternoon with James Allen posting a 1m29.486. The no29 Richard Mille by TDS Oreca was also the fastest LMP2 Pro/Am car in the afternoon with a 1m30.902 lap set by Mathias Beche.
The no8 Team Virage Ligier set the fastest time in both the morning and afternoon sessions, with the morning time of 1m35.782 set by Gillian Henrion the quicker of the two set by the reigning MLMC Champion and 2.7 seconds inside the current LMP3 lap record set by Marcos Siebert last year. The no17 COOL Racing Ligier was second fastest in LMP3 with a 1m36.021 set by Manuel Espirito Santo. The no35 Ultimate was the third fastest car, with Matthieu Lehaye posting a 1m37.006.
The first session for the new LMGT3 category saw the no57 Ferrari 296 of Daniel Serra take the top spot in the morning, with the fastest LMGT3 time of the day, a 1m41.316. The time was 0.055s faster than the official LMGTE lap record from the 2023 4 Hours of Barcelona.
The second fastest time in the category was the set in the afternoon session by the no59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage.Valentin Hasse Clot set a 1m41.381, just a couple tenths faster than the third fastest car, the no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 296 of Matt Griffin, the Irish driver posting a 1m41.620, 0.073s faster than Ben Tuck in the no66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari.
The final session of the day ran from 7pm to 9pm and only seven cars decided to take part. The no27 Nielsen Racing Oreca was the fastest runner, finishing the session on a 1m31.083.
The final two test sessions will take place tomorrow, starting at 09h00 for the morning session.
CLICK HERE for the results from Day 1 of the ELMS Official Test.
