Portimao, Portugal, October 24th 2023 -The European Le Mans Series ended its 2023 season in the Algarve, Portugal, this weekend with a double-header of two four-hour races on the Portimão track.
A meeting that therefore provided COOL Racing and Panis Racing, the two outfits backed by ELF brand, with not one but two opportunities to strut their stuff on track. Despite the changeable weather, with torrential rain falling at times over the weekend, both teams seized the chance to perform well with open arms. Starting with COOL Racing, who secured the LMP3 class teams’ and drivers’ titles in the opening race for the second year running, thanks to Adrien Chila, Alex Garcia and Marcos Siebert claiming fourth place in their no. 17 Ligier JS P320. The crew grabbed yet another podium on Sunday, as they finished as runners-up in the race. COOL Racing also performed brilliantly on track in LMP2 Pro-Am, as Alex Coigny, Nicolas Lapierre and Malthe Jakobsen took the class win in race 1, sustaining their title hopes into the final contest.
Sadly, in race two, despite a very strong performance, they missed out on a second win by just 0.631 seconds, meaning that they ended a very accomplished season as LMP2 Pro-Am championship runners-up. Panis Racing were also not to be left out in the LMP2 class. After qualifying fourth for the opening race, Van Uitert – Maldonado – Van Der Helm, the crew of the no. 65 Oreca 07 Gibson, ended up one place higher to claim their first podium finish of the weekend. In race two, the trio lined up in third on the starting grid and, despite being sent into a spin by another competitor, they managed to finish third again. This result meant they finished the year in third place in the LMP2 standings after they too had shown true togetherness and great fighting spirit throughout the season. What a fitting way to finish the year!
