RLR MSport and Ian Aguilera remain in Ligier European Series title fight after Mugello triumphs

RLR MSport and Ian Aguilera bagged a hard-fought victory and a podium finish in the 2024 Ligier European Series Mugello Heat (27-28 September) to ensure the JS P4 championship title battle will go down to the wire in Portimao.

Mexican teenager Aguilera was on the edge of the top six in practice but reigned supreme in the rain of Qualifying, as he locked in pole position for both Ligier races at the long and winding Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello.

He topped Q1 with a 2m15.097s before improving further to a 2m14.817s in Q2, extending his winning form from the preceding round at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, where he achieved his maiden outright victories in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) support category.

In the first Mugello Heat, Aguilera was pipped by the #71 Monza Garage car of James Winslow, who got a better launch from second on the grid.

Grip was at a premium in the cool of the morning following Friday’s inclement weather, but Aguilera recovered the initiative and made a break by the end of lap one, and he continually pumped in fastest laps to leave his JS P4 opponents to fight among themselves.

However, Jeronimo Berrio in the #66 Team Virage eventually worked his way into second place and proved to be a match for Aguilera, as the gap between the top two came down when the pair encountered lapped JS2 R traffic.

There was an attempt to snatch the initiative on the 13th run into Turn 1, San Donato, but Aguilera saw the move coming, took the ideal racing line and cut back underneath Berrio at the apex.

The RLR MSport driver re-extended a lead before bailing to pit lane for his routine service on lap 14, but positions were reversed because Team Virage was required to serve a shorter stop, with two Silver-graded drivers sharing the #66 car.

Traffic also compromised Aguilera’s pit entry and out-lap, and the gap stood at approximately six seconds until the Safety Car was deployed on the 24th tour of the 5.24km Mugello circuit.

The neutralisation brought Aguilera back into contention for the victory and, despite being compromised by a lapped JS2 R at the restart, the Mexican rapidly swallowed up the #66 car’s advantage and elbowed his way back into P1 on the next racing lap.

In spite of a much better initial getaway from the race two pole, Aguilera had the #1 Team Virage of Theo Micouris to his inside as the field swept into Turn 1, where a lock-up left him jostling for second position with the #6 ANS Motorsport of Iko Segret.

A Safety Car enabled a full reset and, although he dropped his pursuers at the restart, Aguilera could only focus on preserving P2 as the leading #1 machine disappeared off into the distance.

As in race one, the #66 Team Virage was Aguilera’s main challenger, and a clean overtake preceded the opening of the pit window.

The order at the head of JS P4 remained unchanged after the compulsory stops and Aguilera ran a relatively lonely second stint to a solid third place result that keeps his and RLR MSport’s championship bid alive.

“I’m really happy with my results across the Ligier European Series Mugello Heat,” said Aguilera. “We struggled to nail our setup in dry conditions but got it bang on in the wet, when I as a driver was able to make more of an impact.

“I was delighted to secure two pole positions in the rain-affected Qualifying sessions and it was then very satisfying to come away from race one with what was a hard-fought win, having lost the lead in the pit stops. We didn’t quite have the outright pace and race two was even more difficult, but we collected a lot of good points and take the championship fight on to the final round. We will have to work on our dry setup for Portimao, because we will have to be absolutely perfect, qualifying on pole and winning the remaining races if we’re to have a shot at the JS P4 titles.”