Race 2 of the Castellet Heat was held on Saturday afternoon, 3 May, at Circuit Paul Ricard. Under threatening skies, the 26 competitors treated the spectators to a thrilling race.
At the end of the 60-minute race, Romain Boeckler and the #22 Loire Valley Racing JS P4 took the chequered flag with a more than 20-second margin of victory.
The JS2 R category featured a late-race mega battle between Simone Riccitelli’s #7 and VSF Sports’ #18, driven by Lukas Papin, with the winner only decided in the final laps. Victory ultimately went to Simone Riccitelli, securing a second win of the day for his team, LR Motorsport.
JS P4: Big win for Loire Valley Racing and Romain Boeckler
At the start, poleman Maxwell Dodds, behind the wheel of the #6 ANS Motorsport JS P4, maintained his lead. Just behind him, the #22 of Loire Valley Racing, driven by Romain Boeckler, moved into second place and attacked the race leader. A few minutes later, the 22-year-old Frenchman passed his British adversary for the lead. Matteo Pianezzola was third, driving the #60 from Iron Lynx by MRacing.
Behind them, the battle for fourth place heated up between Team Virage’s #27, driven by Vic Stevens, and the #12 from ASM Motorsport and its driver, Ruben Hage.
Following the salvo of pit stops, the #22 of Romain Boeckler emerged in the lead. Behind, the #6 ANS Motorsport JS P4, now driven by Iko Segret, spun, allowing Romain Boeckler to quickly pull away. Then, the battle intensified between Iko Segret and Gregorio Bertocco, now in the #60 of Iron Lynx by MRacing, for third place. But then the #60 was handed a four-second stop-and-go penalty for an infringement during its pit stop, costing it a spot on the podium.
Just behind, Vic Stevens, driver of Team Virage’s #27, had to fend off attacks from his teammate Hamda Al Qubaisi in the #88, who was now fighting for third place.
On the final lap, Vic Stevens passed Iko Segret in the #6 of ANS Motorsport for second place, but only for the briefest moment. The Belgian driver ran wide at the Beausset double right-hander, allowing Iko Segret to retake second place.
Romain Boeckler, in the #22 Loire Valley Racing JS P4, took the chequered flag more than twenty seconds ahead of his rivals. Race 1 winners Iko Segret and Maxwell Dodds finished runners-up in ANS Motorsport’s #6. Team Virage’s #27, driven by Vic Stevens and Jude Peters, completed the podium.
In the PRO-AM class, the 360 Competition’s #33, driven by Christopher Preen and Kristian Brookes, finished first. David Caussanel and Takeshi Kimura, in Pegasus Racing’s #16, won the AM class .
Romain Boeckler, Loire Valley Racing, Ligier JS P4 #22, Winner of Race 2:
“We had some big issues with the engine yesterday so the qualifying wasn’t great. We ended up P11 in Race 1 and P3 in Race 2. The goal this morning was to comeback from P11 to the podium. But the issue wasn’t resolved. We had to stop and retire after 15 minutes. We had to change the engine. That’s what we did thanks to Ligier and all the team. We came back, started P3 and I managed to grab the lead after only 3 laps. The race was really good, a bit difficult in the first part with the #6 [ANS Motorsport]. I heard they spun so it was easier for me to create a bigger gap. I’m really happy to win this race, especially with what happened yesterday and this morning. I think it’s the best win I ever had.”
JS2 R: LR Motorsport doubles up.
At the start, August Therbo in the #57 23Events Racing JS R jumped into the lead, followed by Enzo Caldaras in the #18 from VSF Sports and Noé da Cunha in the #50 of Les Deux Arbres.
Simone Riccitelli, who started from the back of the grid, again set about catching up with the rest of the field, navigating quickly through the traffic. Before the halfway point, he overtook Enzo Caldaras, in the #18 from VSF Sports, for second place. Just before the mandatory pit stops, the #57 of August Therbo received a 10-second penalty for failure to comply with the start procedure.
Once all the pit stops had been made, Lukas Papin, now in the #18 of VSF Sports, led but had to defend from the attacking Simone Riccitelli in the #7 JS2 R. The two cars were wheel-to-wheel until the final corner. Contact between the two contenders sent the #7 into a spin, allowing Lukas Papin and the #18 to cross the finish line in first place. However, a few minutes later, the French driver received a 35-second time penalty for causing the collision, relegating him to third place.
Simone Riccitelli and LR Motorsport took their second victory of the day, followed by August Therbo in the #57 from 23Events Racing. Lukas Papin and Enzo Caldaras finished third in the #18 of VSF Sports.
Nicolas Markiewicz and Adrien Paviot (#84 Trajectus Motorsport) won the PRO-AM class, whilst the #41 VSF Sports JS R, driven by Florian Teillais and Tristan Clay, finished first in the AM class.
Simone Riccitelli, LR Motorsport, Ligier JS2 R #7, Winner of Race 2 in the JS2 R category:
“It was different from Race 1. It was difficult for me in the first few laps to gain places but I knew I had the speed. The race felt really long. When I managed to pass the pack and to get to third position, I started to push very hard. I had a great battle with Lukas Papin [#18 VSF Sports] who was really fast. August Therbo [#57 23Events Racing] received a penalty and I was second. I pushed very hard. It was a qualifying race. I was hoping that he would give up but he was pushing very hard too. I overtook him after a great duel. The last few laps were very tough. In the last corner he tried again, touched me and I spun. But luckily we still got the win. It’s been an incredible weekend. It’s a team win today.”
The next round of the Ligier European Series is the eagerly awaited Le Mans Heat on 8 June, opening the Test Day for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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Photo credit: DPPI
