Points for P4 at Spa keep RLR MSport in the hunt for 2024 ELMS LMP3 championship

A fourth-place finish in the 2024 European Le Mans Series (ELMS) 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (23-25 August) keeps RLR MSport in the hunt for the LMP3 Championships with Michael Jensen, Nick Adcock and Gael Julien.

The Silverstone-based team narrowly missed out on a podium result, collecting valuable points for P4 with the #15 Ligier JSP320 LMP3, while the #5 car of James Dayson, Daniel Ali and Bailey Voisin suffered more misfortune and rounded out the field in tenth.

RLR Msport became the first team to secure a second LMP3 pole in 2024 after Julien put in another blinding qualifying effort at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, sealing P1 for him, Adcock and Jensen by registering a 2m11.847s on his final flying lap of the quickfire session.

As in previous rounds, it was Jensen who started the #15 Ligier with the sole task of staying in podium contention during the opening hour.

The Danish Am was quickly dispatched by the #12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing and #17 COOL Racing cars on lap one, but he managed his stint well and settled into a rhythm on the edge of the top six.

A Virtual Safety Car (VSC) presented an opportunity to switch Jensen for fellow Bronze driver Adcock, who also rose as high as sixth despite only completing one lap at full racing speed during a stop-start stint dominated by further interventions.

Franco-Malagasy driver Julien took control of the #15 prototype at around half-distance, but conducting the driver-change under green flag conditions when others had taken advantage of a VSC hurt RLR MSport’s prospects.

Julien set the fastest LMP3 lap of the race to demonstrate he had winning potential while making his way up into the top three, but, despite his best efforts to save fuel, RLR MSport was forced to abandon the podium fight for a refill that would see the #15 car through the final two laps to the finish.

The points for their fourth-place finish at Spa keep RLR MSport, Jensen, Adcock and Julien in the thick of the title fight, as they lie second in the ELMS LMP3 Teams and Drivers Championships with an extended, but assailable 14-point deficit to the #11 Eurointernational entry.

“Finishing fourth in the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is really disappointing because we were definitely on for another win,” said Julien. “Michael (Jensen) pulled off his best start of the season and kept the car in a good spot, while Nick’s (Adcock) stint was interrupted again and again by Safety Cars, which meant he didn’t have an opportunity to make the progress we hoped for. I came out flying, setting the fastest lap to show the #15 RLR MSport Ligier JSP320 LMP3 was a favourite for the victory.

“Unfortunately, there were no further stoppages and we were two laps short on fuel, so we abandoned an easy podium finish. Nevertheless, we are still fighting for the championship, albeit from a bit further back. We will keep challenging for the win to the very end and I believe in our chances.”  

Adcock said: “It would be a massive understatement to say we’re frustrated to miss out on a podium result in the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. We started the race from pole position thanks to another stunning performance by Gael (Julien) and had a very quick race car, but we simply got our strategy wrong.

“Michael (Jensen) started incredibly well with very good pace, and the early Safety Car kept us in the hunt for victory. My hour was spent entirely under a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car and it’s clear we left the driver-change from me to Gael too late, as we missed the chance to pit during a VSC and never recovered from that. It’s a frustrating day at the office given that we have such a good car. There isn’t much to take away, apart from the fact we’re still second in the championship.”

From eighth in LMP3, Dayson initially made progress but settled into a solid P9 during the latter half of an opening double stint that was punctuated by several Safety Cars and VSCs.

Canada’s Ali took over at around half-distance and an issue with his safety belts forced him back to the pits for an unscheduled stop that placed the #5 crew a lap down.

As a consequence, there were limited opportunities for Ali and teammate Voisin to progress up the LMP3 leaderboard and they were gutted to cross the finish line in a lowly and unrepresentative tenth position.

“The European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps weekend was difficult, although it was a step forward from previous rounds in some respects,” said Voisin. “Our qualifying performance was a lot closer to where we need to be and it was a relatively clean race, which is something we can be happy with.

“The end result doesn’t show it, but we have taken steps to get closer to where we need to be. There are positives to take away from a tricky weekend, but I hope we can put those positives into action in the remaining two rounds at Mugello and Portimao.”

Ali said: “I am quite happy with the progress we’ve made over the last two races. Our pace in the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was strong, but it’s a shame I had to make an extra pit stop at the start of my stint. It’s always a pleasure to race at the amazing Spa circuit, and I’m excited to be going to a new track next month, Mugello. Once again, I can’t thank RLR MSport, James (Dayson) and Bailey (Voisin) enough for their efforts.”

Dayson said: “It’s disappointing to come away from the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with another unrepresentative result. I had what I felt was one of my better drives this year because my pace was good and I had made progress from my grid position before passing the car to Daniel (Ali).

“Unfortunately, we had a problem with the seatbelts, which forced Daniel back in for a second stop that ultimately ruined our race. We were a lap down in tenth and I’m gutted that we’ve had such terrible luck this season. The #5 RLR MSport Ligier JSP320 LMP3 was absolutely mega once again. We worked hard on the car’s balance in free practice and I felt we had a good package under us in the race. Onto Mugello, where we hope for better.”