Press Release – 21 August 2023
The Ligier European Series returns after a short summer hiatus! Following the Le Castellet Heat on 14 and 15 July, the teams will continue this summer with the Aragon Heat, the fourth round of the championship, from 25 to 26 August. For the first time in the championship’s history, the Ligier JS P4s and Ligier JS2 Rs will take on the 5.344 km and 18-corner Motorland Aragon circuit in Alcañiz, Spain. While the championship enters the back half of the season, nothing is decided yet for the overall leaders, Mihnea Stefan in the #48 Team Virage Ligier JS P4 and Julien Lemoine in the #42 ANS Motorsport Ligier JS2 R.
After Barcelona in April, the Ligier European Series competitors return to Spain, this time in Aragon, which replaces round two of the original calendar, initially scheduled at Imola (Italy) in May.
JS P4 category: Team Virage eyeing a sweep of the top three
The previous race meeting at Le Castellet was prolific for Team Virage. After two victories and two podium finishes, the Polish team occupies the top three places in the general classification. Mihnea Stefan continues to dominate the competition aboard the #48 Ligier JS P4, extending his lead to 108 points. George King and Bernardo Pinheiro (#60) are back in the title hunt on 72 points. They are followed by the Team Virage AM crew, Lance Fenton and Kevin Madsen, in the #1, on 59 points. Third place is under threat from three other teams that are tightly bunched: the #7 of LR Motorsport (Simone Riccitelli and Jacopo Mazza, 52 points), the #75 from RLR MSport (Haytham Qarajouli and Ian Aguilera, 52 points) and Pegasus Racing’s #17 (Dimitri Enjalbert and Anthony Nahra, 51 points).
In the PRO-AM class, the #50 Les Deux Arbres Ligier JS P4 (Steve Zacchia and Louis Rossi) leads with 118 points. Team Virage’s #1 Ligier JS P4 dominates the AM class with a 118-point lead over the #16 from Pegasus Racing (David Caussanel and Yuki Tanaka), which has 97 points.
JS2 R category: Julien Lemoine and ANS Motorsport widening the gap
Already on top of the classification before Le Castellet, the #42 ANS Motorsport Ligier JS2 R (Julien Lemoine) strengthened its advantage in the overall category championship and in AM with two wins at Circuit Paul Ricard. His tally now stands at 111 points. But it’s not all over yet, with the #43 of LR Motorsport (David Rodorigo) trailing on 94 points. The #95 from CTF Performance (Gilles Poret) is third with 60 points. The #86 from Les Deux Arbres (Jacques Nicolet), with 56 points, remains in contention for an end-of-season place in the top 3.
In the PRO-AM class, the #10 Ligier JS2 R (Maximus Mayer and Simon Butler) has a comfortable lead with 100 points, ahead of the #29 of Pegasus Racing (Christophe Weber) with 79 points.
What’s new on the entry list?
Having raced a Ligier JS2 R last month at Le Castellet (with Christophe Weber in the #29), Pegasus Racing team manager Julien Schell is now tackling the JS P4 category. He will be taking part in the Aragon round in the #16 car alongside Yuki Tanaka. The Greek duo in the #4 HPRacing by Monza Garage car, Kolovos Georgios-Periklis and Kaitatzis Panagiotis, will be making their comeback in the championship after taking part in the inaugural round in Barcelona in April.
In the JS2 R category, Maximus Mayer in the #10 RLR MSport, used to race with the Racing Reverend Simon Butler, will be on his own in Spain. On the other hand, Jacques Nicolet in the #86 Les Deux Arbres will be driving for the first time this season with a team-mate: Bastien Ostian. After Barcelona last April, Jordan Meyer will be back at the wheel of the #29 Pegasus Racing car, but this time solo. Christophe Weber, who usually drives the French team’s car, will be absent at Aragon.
The weekend begins Friday, 25 August, at 9:25 am with the first 40-minute free practice session. The second session follows at 11:20 am. The drivers will then contest two 15-minute qualifying sessions at 2:45 pm and 3:45 pm. The one-hour races will take place on Saturday, 26 August. Race 1 starts at 9 am, followed by Race 2 at 2 pm. Both races will be streamed live on the Ligier European Series YouTube Channel and Facebook page.
For the complete entry list, CLICK HERE.
For the complete programme, CLICK HERE.
