The second one-hour race of the Barcelona Heat was run this afternoon in July-like temperatures on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit. After winning the day’s first encounter, Team Virage did it again with a start-to-finish victory for the #1 JS P4 in race 2. In the JS2 R category, Louis Stern, in the #18 of Pegasus Racing, claimed his maiden Ligier European Series win and first-ever victory in motor racing.
JS P4 category: Team Virage makes it two from two.
The start of race two went off without a hitch, and the pole car, the #1 of Team Virage driven by Theo Micouris, maintained its lead. The #77 of Ian Aguilera and RLR MSport went immediately on the offensive at the green flag to move into second place ahead of the #66 of Team Virage driven by Pedro Moreno, who regained the position on lap four.
Just behind, a fourth-place battle broke out between the #6 of Iko Segret (ANS Motorsport) and the #7 of Romain Favre (Inter Europol Competition).
Meanwhile, Theo Micouris extended his lead with his #1 Ligier JS P4. In the midfield, Chun-Ting Chou, at the controls of the #71 Monza Garage, was lying in wait before he took fourth place from Romain Favre (#7).
The pit-stop window opened, and the strategy was to get out as quickly as possible. Haydn Chance took over in the #1 of Team Virage and put the metal to the peddle to take the lead and pull away from the rest of the field by nine seconds.
Romain Favre (#7) was then penalised with a drive-through penalty for abusing track limits.
On his 23rd lap, Jeronimo Berrio began to slow dramatically in the #66 of Team Virage. A few laps later, he came to a complete stop on the track, causing the first safety car period of the race, with six minutes remaining on the clock. The green-flag action resumed with three minutes remaining. James Winslow pursued Haydn Chance (#1) in the #71 from Monza Garage, which was unfortunately run into by the #60 Iron Lynx by LRMotorsport Ligier JS2 R (Matteo Pianezzola) and sent into the gravel trap.
Haydn Chance and Theo Micouris, aboard the #1 Team Virage, won their second race of the day, followed by their teammates Lucas Medina and Alim Geschev in the #32 who also took win in the PRO-AM classification. Ian Aguilera completed the podium in the RLR MSport #77.
Theo Micouris, Team Virage, Ligier JS P4 #1, race 2 winner:
“I managed to have a very good start and kept the lead straight to the first corner. I knew I had pace from qualifying and free practice sessions, so it was all about trying to break away and building a gap as much as possible. Then, once the gap was built, I was trying to save my tyres for Haydn who took the wheel later on.”
Haydn Chance, Team Virage, Ligier JS P4 #1, race 2 winner:
“We did a brilliant pitstop, perfectly done by the team. I had a good gap to build on thanks to Theo. I think I lost a few seconds as my tyres got worse and worse while the track was getting hotter and hotter. Then the safety car happened and at the restart I tried to keep everyone back. It was just about to get away, stay consistent, keep relax and take the win.”
JS2 R category: First win of the season for Louis Stern and Pegasus Racing
Race two of the JS2 R category was less eventful than the first, with no significant incidents to report.
Following the absence of the #31 ANS Motorsport (Clément Moreno) at the start, Cindy Gudet, aboard the #53 M Racing, took the lead. But Noé Da Cunha, in the #50 from Les Deux Arbres, attacked to take first place on the opening lap. Clément Moreno, in the #31, joined the race at the back of the pack, while Gregorio Bertocco, in the #60 of Iron Lynx by LRMotorsport, who didn’t have the opportunity to drive in race 1, set about gaining positions one by one. He moved up to third on lap four. Meanwhile, Noé Da Cunha, in the #50, extended his lead over Cindy Gudet’s #53 and Bertocco’s #60. They pulled away to build a gap of more than 14 seconds from the rest of the category.
During the pitstops, Julien Schell, in the #29 of Pegasus Racing, left the pits with the lead, followed by the #50 (Les Deux Arbres), now in the hands of Antoine Lepesqueux and the #18 of Louis Stern (Pegasus Racing). Unfortunately, Julien Schell received a one-second stop-and-go penalty for failing to respect the minimum pit-stop time and lost first place to teammate Louis Stern in the #18 JS2 R.
Following the #66 Ligier JS P4’s pitstop was a three-minute safety car period. Louis Stern maintained his lead on the restart and took the #18 Pegasus Racing JS2 R to the chequered flag, giving the French team its first win of the season. In addition, he scored the points for victory in the AM classification. The #50 of the Les Deux Arbres team, driven by Antoine Lepesqueux and Noé Da Cuhna, crossed the line in second place, followed by Clément Moreno in the #31 of ANS Motorsport.
Jacques Nicolet and Sita Vanmeert, in the #86 Les Deux Arbres JS2 R, took top honours in the PRO-AM class.
Louis Stern, Pegasus Racing, Ligier JS2 R #18, race 2 winner:
“I started nearly last as we had a bad qualifying. Thankfully we made up some time over the first few laps. I managed to pass a couple of cars and at the pitstops I was lucky enough to get out a little bit ahead. Then, in the end I found a good pace and I was among the fastest drivers on track, and all went well. It was a good race!”
The next Heat of the Ligier European Series will occur on May 3 and 4 at the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet.
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