RLR MSport recovered a “solid and respectable” fourth-place result from the 2024 European Le Mans Series (ELMS) 4 Hours of Barcelona with Michael Jensen, Nick Adcock and Gael Julien (12-14 April).
In a less-than-ideal start, the #15 Ligier JSP320 with Jensen at the controls fell from third to seventh, as a front-right clash sent the #5 LMP3 of James Dayson, Bailey Voisin and Daniel Ali into a spin on the opening lap.
A separate collision on the sixth tour of Catalunya resulted in a second pirouette that left Canada’s Dayson stranded at Turn 12, and the stricken Ligier had to be pulled out of harm’s way during a Full Course Yellow (FCY).
Jensen, though, continued on his way and, although the Dane spent much of the stop-start opening stint on the edge of the top eight, RLR MSport gained ground by burning a compulsory timed pit stop during one of many neutralisations.
Thereafter, South Africa-based Adcock cycled up into the top five during the middle segment of the 240-minute race, but the decision to conduct a second timed stop early in proceedings took RLR MSport off-strategy and back down the leaderboard.
Franco-Malagasy racer Julien was seventh and, consistently close to or on the class-leading pace, was able to draw in and complete a pass on the sixth-placed #31 Racing Spirit of Lemans machine during the third hour.
Additional on-track overtakes followed and RLR MSport was fourth once all LMP3 teams had completed their final routine stops, Julien consistently making inroads towards the top three in class en route to the chequered flag.
“I’m happy with the fourth place we achieved in the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Barcelona, because we weren’t far off the podium and proved we’re among the quickest out there,” said Julien. “The car has worked well all week, as we topped the Prologue, were always towards the sharp end in Free Practice, and I pulled out a solid lap time to qualify P3.
“In the race, Michael (Jensen) lost a few places but settled into a rhythm and Nick’s (Adcock) stint was solid. I then passed three cars while double-stinting tyres. My pace was among the best in LMP3, we know the car is good and I think we can look forward to carrying some momentum forward to Le Castellet.”
Adcock said: “To finish fourth in the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Barcelona is a good result. RLR MSport’s engineering team predicted we would be fifth but a podium was possible with good fortune, so fourth is highly respectable and we couldn’t have expected much better. Our Bronze pace needed to be stronger considering the level within the LMP3 field is so high this year.
“However, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is often the toughest track for us because traffic management is a big part of what we have to do in this class and it’s always so difficult to pass there. Still, we all kept it clean and RLR MSport provided one of the best cars I’ve ever driven at Catalunya. Gael (Julien) also did brilliantly, as he had good pace and racecraft, and he drove error-free back up to fourth place, which is solid.”
