Round 3 of the 2021 European Le Mans Series will see a return to Paul Ricard. The 4 Hours of Le Castellet will consist of 42 cars run by 29 different teams, with 123 drivers taking part and representing a total of 31 different nations from all four corners of the world. The French tricolour will be carried by no less than 10 of the 42 cars, with 23 French drivers racing for glory in the 4 Hours of Le Castellet.
LMP2: Orlen Team WRT Looking for Three From Three in France
- 16 cars on the LMP2 grid, 7 entries in the Pro/Am category
- 6 cars and 14 drivers will race under the French flag, with 3 cars (no28 Idec Sport, no29 Ultimate, no39 Graff) racing with all French crews.
- After taking wins in Spain and Austria, championship leaders Orlen Team WRT will be looking for a third win in Le Castellet.
- Robert Kubica, Louis Deletraz and Yifei Ye have a 19-point lead over the no26 G-Drive Racing trio of Roman Rusinov, Nyck De Vries and Franco Colapinto.
- No25 G-Drive Racing leads the Pro/Am category after taking victory in Austria. Spain’s Roberto Mehri will join John Falb and Rui Andrade for the second time in 2021. G-Drive Racing have a small 3-point lead over Round 1 winners Ultimate.
- United Autosports won twice at Le Castellet in 2020, the no32 Oreca winning Round 1 and the no22 Oreca winning Round 3. The no26 G-Drive Racing Aurus finished 2nd in both races.
- Jean-Eric Vergne returns to the ELMS, the French driver racing in the no28 Idec Sport Oreca with Paul Loup Chatin and Paul Lafargue.
- Harry Tincknell returns to the no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca, replacing Logan Sargeant, who set the pole position on his LMP2 debut in Austria.
LMP3: Maximum Points for Cool Racing after Two Races
- 16 cars on the LMP3 grid in Le Castellet
- 3 cars and 6 drivers will race under the French flag with one car (no5 MV2S Racing) competing with an all-French driver lineup.
- Championship leaders no19 Cool Racing made it two wins from two starts in Austria, with Nicolas Maulini, Matt Bell and Niklas Kruetten holding a 23-point advantage over the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier at the top of the points table.
- Reigning champions United Autosports have had a difficult start to the 2021 season.In 2020 the no2 Ligier took the first win of the season at Le Castellet and the no3 Ligier finished second in Round 3.
- Le Castellet 240 winner David Droux will return to the French track, this season at the wheel of the no8 Graff Ligier.
LMGTE: Will Ferrari Win Again?
- 9 cars on the LMGTE grid for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet.
- Six Ferraris, two Porsche and one Aston Martin.
- 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring winners Francois Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Alessio Rovera will be looking to add to the 26 points they took in their first race of the 2021 season in the no88 AF Corse Ferrari.
- Reigning FIA World Endurance LMGTE Am Champions Francois Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard are the only two French drivers on the LMGTE grid in Le Castellet.
- Round 1 winners Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi and Miguel Molina in the no80 Iron Lynx Ferrari hold a 7-point lead over the no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and David Perel.
- Reigning ELMS LMGTE Champion Christian Ried will be joined by Gianmaria Bruni and Cooper MacNeil in the no77 Proton Competition Porsche in France. Ried won the first race of the 2020 season at Le Castellet last July.
- Ross Gunn will return to the no95 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR alongside John Hartshorne and Oliver Hancock.
INNOVATIVE CAR
- The no84 Association SRT 41 Oreca-Gibson will make its second ELMS appearance as Aoki Takuma, Nigel Bailly and Pierre Sancinena continue their preparations to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in August.
Visit their site for more: http://europeanlemansseries.com/en/
Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanLMS/
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EuropeanLMS
