Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, September 26th 2023 - The Spa-Francorchamps track – often known as the “roller-coaster of the Ardennes” with its devilish combination of high speeds and rolling racing surface, including the famous Raidillon corner – invariably serves up exciting, action-packed races.
This year’s four-hour race, contested as part of the European Le Mans Series, proved to be no exception to that rule. The TotalEnergies-backed teams were very much involved in providing the on-track action, showcasing their skills and managing to secure some fine podium places. First of all, Cool Racing, Nicolas Lapierre’s Swiss outfit, finished second overall and first in the LMP2 Pro-Am class with its no. 37 prototype driven by Alexandre Coigny, Malthe Jakobsen and Lapierre. Cool Racing’s other results ensured a superb overall team performance as the no. 47 Oreca 07 Gibson of Pechito Lopez, Reshad de Gerus and Vlad Lomko claimed third position in the LMP2 Pro class and the no. 17 Ligier JSP320 driven by Alejandro Garcia, Marcos Siebert and Adrien Chila scored another LMP3 class win, despite lining up in a lowly fifth place on the starting grid.
Meanwhile, Panis Racing recovered from a tough start to the race with a big impact on the opening corner as Van Uitert, Maldonado and Van Der Helm refused to give up in the no. 65 Oreca 07 Gibson and managed to claim a fine second place in the LMP2 Pro class. The championship is set to conclude in Portimão, Portugal, on 20-22 October, with a double-header finale.
Thanks to its class podium, Panis Racing moves up to third in the LMP2 standings, where Cool Racing now lies fifth. The situation is the same in the LMP2 drivers’ standings. In the LMP2 Pro-Am drivers’ and teams’ standings, Cool Racing moves back up to third position thanks to its results in Belgium. In LMP3, Cool Racing and its drivers Adrien Chila, Alejandro Garcia and Marcos Siebert now have an unassailable lead over their rivals.
