Realteam Racing gets the season off to a flying start at the 4 Hours of Le Castellet

20th July 2020 Press release
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Realteam Racing and its drivers were at the forefront throughout the weekend at Le Castellet. A penalty and an engine failure cost the team a podium finish, but this weekend in the Var region bodes well for the rest of the 2020 European Le Mans Series season.

After two days of studious official testing, the weekend started on Friday for the Realteam drivers. From the first free practice session, Esteban Garcia and David Droux confirmed the momentum gained in the last few days by setting the second fastest time in the LMP3 category at the wheel of their Ligier JS P320 N. 8. The following day, the pace set in free practice 2 remained good with the third fastest time at the end of the session.

Things got off to a good start on Saturday afternoon during the qualifying session. David Droux is in charge of chasing pole position. The level is very high and the gaps are very tight at the front. The young Swiss driver managed to lift the Ligier prototype to fourth place thanks to a time of 1:48.485, just 17 hundredths of a second from pole position!

More than eight months after the final in Portimão, the start of the season's opening race was finally given. David Droux took a cautious start to avoid an accident in the first few corners. He managed to settle in third position and took the lead of the race before leaving the wheel to Esteban Garcia who came out third. Ligier N. 8 was hit by a drive-through due to a misunderstanding on the runway, in the traffic, causing a GTE to run off the track a little earlier. After a very good double stint, Esteban Garcia held on to third place before handing over the wheel to David Droux. In the last half hour, he's in contention for the podium, but an engine cut has slowed down the momentum of the Swiss crew. 

For its first race in technical partnership with TDS Racing, Realteam Racing finished the 4 Hours of Le Castellet at the foot of the podium, in 4th place. However, the Ligier N.8 set the third fastest time in the race with a time of 1:50.234.

 The Swiss team and its drivers will meet in Spa-Francorchamps in three weeks’ time!




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It was an interesting week that allowed David and I to get our bearings with the TDS Racing team. We are very happy with the car and the set-up. The choice of prototype was good; the JS P320 Ligier is a good car as the results show. We finished at the foot of the podium, but without engine trouble and the penalty, we could have finished in 2nd place. It's frustrating but let's keep the positive. We are building a good team, it's only a postponement and the results will follow.

Esteban Garcia – Realteam Racing Driver and Owner

The podium and 2nd place were within our reach but unfortunately we suffered an engine failure. The whole team did a good job to make sure the car was properly tuned. The performance was there and I was able to set the third fastest time in the race. It's a pity but we will come back stronger in Spa!

David Droux – Realteam Racing Driver

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Results and times :

Free practice 1 : #8 - P2 (1:48.315)

Free practice 2 : #8 - P3 (1:48.850)

Qualifying : #8 - P4 (1:48.485)

Race : #8 - P4 (1:50.234)

 

LMP3 Championship :

P1 - United Autosports - 26 pts
W. BOYD / T. GAMBLE / R. WHELDON

P2 - Inter Europol Competition - 18 pts
N. MOORE / M. HIPPE

P4 - Realteam Racing - 12 pts
D. DROUX / E. GARCIA

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