The nineteen entries for the Portimão Heat, the 2024 Ligier European Series season finale, began on Thursday 17 October morning with the opening free practice session of the weekend on a damp track.
The first session was interrupted for a few moments by a Full Course Yellow following Matteo Pianezzola’s off-track excursion at Turn 14 in the #60 Iron Lynx by LRMotorsport JS2 R. The #86 Les Deux Arbres JS2 R (Sita Vanmeert / August Therbo) also stopped briefly at Turn 5 but was able to get going again.
The #32 Team Virage Ligier JS P4, driven by Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen and Brandon McCaughan, who are making their series debut, dominated the entire session to finish on top with a best lap of 2m02.063s set by young Danish driver Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen. Iko Segret, driving the #6 ANS Motorsport JS P4, was second with a lap of 2m03.587s. Championship leaders Theo Micouris and Haydn Chance were third in the JS P4 category in the Team Virage #1, with a time of 2m03.647s.
Yuki Tanaka and Tadao Uemastu were first in the AM class in the #16 from Pegasus Racing, followed by Jacques Nicolet in M Racing’s #58.
In the JS2 R category, the #31 of ANS Motorsport was quickest throughout the 40-minute session. Paul Trojani, new to the series, set a best lap of 2m08.480s, while Marta Garcia, back in the #85 Iron Dames by M Racing JS2 R, was second with a time of 2m09.475s. The young Spanish driver was followed by Matteo Pianezzola in the #60 Iron Lynx by LRMotorsport with a lap of 2m10.209s.
Louis Stern led the AM class runners in the #18 Pegasus Racing JS2 R, while teammates Julien Schell and David Caussanel topped the PRO-AM category in the #29 JS2 R.
The second free practice session will be run this afternoon from 1:50 to 2:30 pm (local time). The two 15-minute qualifying sessions will be run at 5 and 5:20 pm (local time), which you can follow live on the series’ social networks.
CLICK HERE for full results.
