The fourth round of the European Le Mans Series took place this weekend at the Hungaroring in Hungary and Signatech Alpine of Pierre Ragues and Nelson Panciatici took home the win. They will now face the reigning championship Pierre Thiriet and the Thiriet by TDS Racing team for the title of 2013 European Le Mans Series Driver and Team Champion in two weeks time at Paul Ricard.
The 3 Hours of Hungaroring were filled with all kinds of action as one would expect from any endurance race. Several teams suffered spinouts and minor damage such as the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia in GTE class and the No.46 Algarve Pro Racing Team LMPC car which retired after 56 laps.
As for the best performers, the LMP2 class dominated the top 6 overall finishes as Murphy Prototypes finished second behind winners Signatech Alpine while Jota Sport finished third with their Zytek Z11SN Nissan. Proton Competition dominated the LM GTE class in their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Two Ferrari 458 Italias took the second and third places in LM GTE class; the Ram Racing Ferrari and AF Corse Ferrari respectively.
The GTC class was the class to watch especially during the last hour where competition was reduced down to Ferraris. The SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia’s finished first and second in this class and they were even faster at some points than the GTE class competitors. After torrential rain during the morning, the race started with and interesting grid line-up. As a result, the track was wet but drying as the cars set off for two formation laps behind the pace car.
It will be an action filled race come 28th September at Le Castellet; reason being that after Hungaroring, reigning champion Pierre Thiriet and Nelson Panciatici have equal points, as both are currently on 73 points. Thiriet finished 6th in Hungary, but he aims at retaining the championship while Panciatici aims ending what he started!
