Race 1 of the Spa Heat was run on the morning of Saturday, August 24, at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The 20 competitors in this fourth round took to the track under overcast skies but on a dry track.
After a hotly contested one-hour race in both categories, RLR MSport and Ian Aguilera scored their maiden victory of the season in the #77 JS P4, while ANS Motorsport took top honours in the JS2 R category with Clément Moreno behind the wheel of the #31, clinching its third win of the season with the French racer.
JS P4: First win for RLR MSport and Ian Aguilera
Starting from pole position, Ian Aguilera in the #77 RLR MSport JS P4 got a clean start and kept clear of the incidents at the opening corner, while Haydn Chance, in the #1 from Team Virage, spun and lost precious seconds.
In the #7 from Inter Europol Competition, Romain Favre battled door handle to door handle with the Mexican driver in the #77 for the race lead. The two cars made contact and spun, allowing Pedro Moreno and the #66 Team Virage JS P4 to take first place. Iko Segret followed him in the #6 of ANS Motorsport. Romain Favre managed to hold on to third place despite the incident.
In the #7 Inter Europol Competition JS P4, Romain Favre regained the lead over Pedro Moreno (Team Virage #66) on lap four. Meanwhile, in the #7 RLR MSport, Ian Aguilera was working his way through the field. He was in second place on lap five, reigniting his fight with Romain Favre.
After the pit stops, Ian Aguilera was back in the lead, followed by Romain Favre (#7 Inter Europol Competition) and the #71 Monza Garage car in the hands of James Winslow’s teammate Chun-Ting Chou. However, the Taiwanese driver was quickly overtaken for third place by Jeronimo Berrio, now at the commands of the Team Virage #66 entry.
Further back in the field, Theo Micouris in the Team Virage JS P4 #1 pushed hard to regain positions. The Briton set the fastest lap of the race in 2m22.975s but had to settle for sixth place.
At the front, Ian Aguilera (JS P4 #77) pulled away from his rivals to offer RLR MSport its first victory of the season in the Ligier European Series. Romain Favre (Inter Europol Competition #7) crossed the finish line in second place, followed by Jeronimo Berrio (Team Virage #66) in third.
After the race, the #7 received a 5-second penalty for failing to comply with the pitstop procedure and dropped back to third place, behind Team Virage #66 and Colombians Jeronimo Berrio and Pedro Moreno.
In the AM category, P4 Racing’s #27, driven by Jeremy Ferguson, took top honours.
Ian Aguilera, RLR MSport, #77 JS P4, Winner, Race 1:
“It feels very good to finally get my first win in the championship. I’m very happy of the result. The team put a lot of effort in this. I had a bit of a contact at the beginning of race 1 and spun. So I had to work my way back to the front.”
JS2 R: Third victory of the season for Clément Moreno and ANS Motorsport
The JS2 R category featured a fiercely contested race again, and the podium was uncertain right up to the chequered flag.
Tomas Granzella, who started from pole position in M Racing’s #53 JS2 R, held on to first place, while his Iron Dames by M Racing teammate Marta Garcia was hindered in the first corner and tumbled down the order.
Clément Moreno in the #31 ANS Motorsport got a lighting start to snatch second place, followed by Matteo Pianezzola and the #60 Iron Lynx by LRMotorsport. On lap five, Marta Garcia (#85 Iron Dames by M Racing) moved up to third place before attacking Pianezzola for second place. She was then battling with Tomas Granzella (M Racing #53) for the category lead. The young Spanish driver showed impressive speed and clarity in her debut Ligier European Series race.
After the pitstops, Clément Moreno emerged in the lead thanks to a shorter pitstop, due to his status as a bronze driver. The Frenchman then extended his lead over Tomas Granzella in the #53 of M Racing.
Then, the second-place battle raged on between Tomas Granzella and Marta Garcia, who were racing nose-to-tail until the final corner. Marta Garcia got the advantage and crossed the chequered flag in second place. However, she received a 30-second penalty for not respecting track limits and ultimately finished fifth in the #85 Iron Dames by M Racing JS2 R.
Clément Moreno and the #31 from ANS Motorsport picked up their third win of the season after a one-two finish at Paul Ricard, followed by Tomas Granzella (#53 M Racing) and David Caussanel and Julien Schell (#29 Pegasus Racing). The two French drivers also finished top of the PRO-AM category, while Clément Moreno topped the AM class.
Clément Moreno, ANS Motorsport, #31 JS2 R, JS2 R Winner, Race 1:
“I did feel the pressure during this race. We’ve got two new drivers for this heat who are really really quick. It was really tough to keep them behind me but I did the job. I managed my tyres at the beginning of the race to make sure they wouldn’t come back on me on the second part of the race. I made no mistakes. I finished 6 seconds in front of them. So I’m really happy.”
The one-hour race 2 gets underway at 12:50 pm and will be streamed live on the Ligier European Series YouTube channel.
CLICK HERE for the results
CLICK HERE to watch the winners’ press conference (coming soon)
