Victory and ELMS title for Luzich Racing at Spa-Francorchamps
Spa-Francorchamps 22 settembre 2019
Thanks to a triumph in the LMGTE Pro class at the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps - the penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series – the Luzich crew, featuring drivers Alessandro Pier Guidi, Fabien Lavergne and Nicklas Nielsen, have clinched the title honours.
An extraordinary season debut in the category, topped off by three victories out of five races, allows the team to follow on from the triumph in the 2018 International GT Open. This marks a 22nd win from 63 races for the Ferrari 488 GTE and a fourth title, the second in ELMS after the 2017 title for JMW Motorsport.
The American team delivered a perfect drive, leading the field for the greater part of the four scheduled hours, to finish in fourteenth overall place. Also on the Belgian 4 Hour podium were the Ferrari crew of Spirit of Race driven by Duncan Cameron, Matthew Griffin and Aaron Scott, who were third past the chequered flag. Fourth place went to the all-female crew of Kessel Racing, with Manuela Gostner, Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frey, ahead of the sister car driven by Andrea Piccini, Sergio Pianezzola and David Perel, while the 488 GTE of JMW Motorsport at the hands of Jeffrey Segal, Wei Lu and Matteo Cressoni crossed the finish-line in sixth place.
For Alessandro Pier Guidi, official driver of Competizioni GT, the achievement marks a first ELMS crown, as it also does for Fabien Lavergne and Nicklas Nielsen. The latter was the 2018 Ferrari Challenge Europe champion, and this result and his recent win at the FIA WEC race at Silverstone demonstrates how the Prancing Horse single-marque championship is capable of preparing drivers for high-level competition even amongst professionals.
The final date of the European Le Mans Series is scheduled for the Portimao circuit in Portugal on 27th October.