The Ligier European Series heads to Italy for the fifth Heat of the 2024 season on 27-28 September at the Mugello circuit. It will be a first for the series at the 5.245 km long Italian circuit, renowned for being highly technical with slow corners, high-speed bends, and heavy braking. Twenty-one competitors will compete in this penultimate round of the season. The stakes will be high, and victory will be crucial in the title race.
JS P4 category: 13 cars in contention for victory
The JS P4 category features 13 entries for this Italian round. Monza Garage is among the Italian teams in the JS P4 category and is keen to impress its home crowd with the #71 driven by Chun-Ting Chou and James Winslow. Another local team, LR Motorsport, is back after competing at Le Mans last June. Its #81 Ligier JS P4 will be driven by two Italian, Jacopo Mazza, who returns to the series after a complete campaign in 2023, and Manuel Quondamcarlo, an Italian F4 driver of 17 years old.
Another change in the category will see Jordan Meyer in the #16 of Pegasus Racing, replacing Yuki Tanaka. The Frenchman is no stranger to the Ligier European Series, having raced several times in previous seasons in the Ligier JS2 R, always with the French team. However, this will be his first in the JS P4 category.
Romanian team Smart Driving will also be back in the championship with its #3 Ligier JS P4 driven by Alin Fulga, with a second driver yet to be confirmed.
In the championship standings, with three wins this season, two in Barcelona and one at Le Castellet, the Team Virage #1 Ligier JS P4 of Haydn Chance and Theo Micouris leads with 128 points. Next comes the #6 ANS Motorsport Ligier JS P4 (118 points) driven by Iko Segret, which moved into second place thanks to its victory in race two at Spa-Francorchamps.
RLR MSport, with its #77 and driver Ian Aguilera, winner of race one of the Belgian round, is third with 99 points. Inter Europol Competition (#7 Ligier JS P4) and Team Virage (#66 Ligier JS P4) are just behind with 77 and 75 points, respectively.
Every point scored at Mugello will be decisive in the title race.
JS2 R category: ANS Motorsport and Pegasus Racing all square
The Ligier European Series GT category has eight entries for this Italian round, including local teams Iron Lynx by LRMotorsport and Iron Dames by M Racing.
Natalia Granada Ferrero will drive the #85 Ligier JS2 R. At just 16 years of age, the youngest driver from the Iron Dames driver programme will look to put in a solid performance in her maiden race in the series, but she will face stiff competition.
Sita Vanmeert, in the #86 of Les Deux Arbres, will team with Ligier European Series newcomer Ryan Shehan. The Austin Texas native was the runner-up in the 2023 FR Americas Championship with his Ligier JS F3 #66 of Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport. This will be his first GT race.
Cindy Gudet returns to the #53 M Racing Ligier JS2 R after missing last month’s race at Spa-Francorchamps. Lastly, Louis Stern will partner Gwenaël Delomier in the #18 of Pegasus Racing. Although the French driver is new to the series, he is familiar with the Ligier JS2 R, having competed in the 500 Nocturnes de l’Anneau du Rhin with Pegasus Racing finishing fourth overall and third in GT3.
In the championship standings, the #31 ANS Motorsport, driven by Clément Moreno and the #29 Pegasus Racing duo of Julien Schell and David Caussanel, are tied on 123 points, followed by the #18 of Pegasus Racing and Louis Stern, just 15 points behind. The race for the 2024 title promises to be a cracking one, and Mugello Heat will be extremely hard-fought!
The on-track action kicks off on Friday 27 September at 9 am with the first free practice session. The second practice session will start at 1:50 in the afternoon, followed by the two 15-minute qualifying sessions at 5 pm and 5:20 pm.
The two Mugello Heat races will be run on Saturday, 28 September, from 9 to 10 am and 1:30 to 2:30 pm and will be streamed live on the championship’s digital platforms.
To view the Mugello programme, CLICK HERE.
To check out the Mugello Heat provisional entry list, CLICK HERE.
