Eurasia Motorsport endured a weekend of mixed emotions during the European Le Mans Series’ (ELMS) visit to Circuit Paul Ricard when a suspension failure in the dying minutes of the race brought its hopes of a top-six finish to an end (5-6 September).
Using free practice to fettle the set-up on its Oreca 03R, this season’s 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 victor, Richard Bradley, headed into qualifying on Saturday (5 September) afternoon in the knowledge that a strong result was on the cards.
Unfortunately, Bradley’s best lap was spoilt by a series of yellow flags and was thus unable to make it onto a third flying lap after missing the out by just one second.
Starting from the fourth row on the grid in seventh position, Nick de Bruijn took the start and was hit at Turn 2 on the opening lap, sending him into a spin at to the very rear of the field.
Looking to get back on terms, de Bruijn quickly scythed his way back through the slower GT classes and past the LMP3 category to move up to seventh position by the time of the first round of pit stops, before a Safety Car intervention put the team a lap down right on the tail of the race leader.
Once the race was back underway, the Dutch driver was able to lap at the same pace as the leader, albeit one lap down, before handing the reins over to Bradley, who took over for one stint and run comfortably still inside the top ten.
Handing back over to de Bruijn for his final stint, the team was on course for a top six finish despite colliding with the Murphy Prototypes Oreca, when an unfortunate rear suspension failure ten minutes from the end due to the contact brought the team’s race to a premature end.
Eurasia Motorsport Team Principal, Mark Goddard, said: “We are bitterly disappointed, as we felt we had the opportunity for a good finish this weekend. What is positive is that our pit stops were really good, the guys gaining us time in the pit lane, but right now lady luck is not treating us well. We now look to the final event at Estoril and to finish the season on a high.”
