It looked like it was going to be a CLX 1-2 with the no97 Ligier of David Droux crossing the line right behind the winning car but a 1 second stop and go penalty for an earlier pitstop infringement dropped the no97 car down to 14th and promoted the no86 R-ace GP Duqueine of Hadrien David and Hugo Schwarze into second place. The no16 Team Virage Ligier complete the overall podium.
The no71 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Felipe Fernandez-Laser and Stefan Aust took the LMP3 Pro/Am win.The no2 DKR Engineering Ginetta G61 finished in second place with 2016 RTLM race winner Thomas Laurent at the wheel.It was the first RTLM podium for Ginetta, with the no98 Motorsport98 Ligier.
The no14 Getspeed Mercedes-AMG of Anthony Bartone and Steve Janis took the win in GT3, a first RTLM win for the German Manufacturer.Second place went to the no51 AF Corse Ferrari and the podium was completed by the no59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage.
The race started with the 58 strong entry following the pole sitting no86 R-ace GP Duqueine of Hugo Schwarze across the line and into the first corner at Dunlop. The second place no92 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier of Luciano Morano had to take to the escape road as he out braked himself, straight lining the corner and rejoining ahead of the no86 Duqueine.
Morano gave the position back after Tertre Rouge but fought hard and took the lead at the second chicane as Schwarze ran wide, collecting a bollard on the way through.Morano was leading with his teammate Romain Farve in the no29 Ligier moving into second place, but Favre had the better speed into Mulsanne and moved ahead.
The no71 Rinaldi Racing Ligier-Toyota held the lead in LMP3 Pro/Am with Stefan Aust holding off the challenge of the no34 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Christian Short.The no52 AF Corse Ferrari of Vincent Abril went into the lead of the GT3 category after the pole sitting no51 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessandro Cozzi dropped down the order. The no5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren of Bradley Ellis had moved up the order from 5th to 2nd.
On the opening lap the no4 Nielsen Racing Adess went off into the gravel at Indianapolis and the Safety Car was deployed to recover the car from a dangerous location. After one lap behind the Safety Car the race went green.
At the restart Ellis had managed to get on terms with Abril in the leading Ferrari, with the McLaren moving into the lead of GT3. Abril lost another position as the no65 Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG of Lukas Dunner moved ahead of the Ferrari. Dunner closed to gap to the leading GT3 car and for the next couple of laps a superb display of racecraft was performed by both drivers as Ellis held off the challenge in the Optimum Motorsport McLaren.
In LMP3 Pro/Am the no28 23Events Racing Ligier of Tim Merieux moved into the lead as the no71 Rinaldi Racing dropped to third behind the no31 CD Sport Ligier.
The two Forestier Racing by VPS Ligiers were holding a 1-2 at the head of the race as the pitstops approached.However slow pitstops for the two cars put the no85 R-ace GP back into the lead with Hadrien David now in the car. CLX had also performed well with the no37 Ligier of Adrien Closmenil in second and the no97 Ligier of David Droux in third.
The no28 23Events Racing Ligier was still leading the Pro/Am category with Terrence Woodward behind the wheel but was being caught by the no71 Rinaldi Racing Liger of Felipe Fernandez-Laser. It wasn’t long before the German driver swept past the lead car to take the lead he would hold until the chequered flag.
The GT3 lead was still held by the no5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren with Nick Halstead in the car. The battle for seconds was between the two Mercedes-AMGs with the no65 Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG of Heiko Neumann in second but being caught by the no14 Getspeed of Anthony Bartone, with the American soon getting ahead and then setting off to close the gap to the leading McLaren.
With 10 minutes left on the clock David Droux got ahead of Hadrien David for second place and then the Swiss driver closed the gap to his teammate in the leading car. However, the pitstop that had put the CLX driver in a great position was judged to have been too quick and Droux was served with a 1 second stop and go penalty with just a few minutes of the race remaining.
At the chequered flag the no37 CLX Motorsport Ligier took the win 8.4 seconds ahead of the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine and a further 5.399s ahead of the no16 Team Virage Ligier in third.
The no71 Rinaldi Racing Ligier took the LMP3 Pro/Am victory with the no2 DKR Engineering Ginetta in second. The no28 23Events Racing Ligier of Terrence Woodward was lying in third but in the final corner the car left the track, which allowed the no98 Motorsport98 Ligier of Gillian Henrion to take the final podium position.
The GT3 podium was filled by three different manufacturers with the no14 Getspeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 finishing a second ahead of the no51 AF Corse Ferrari and another second ahead of the third placed no59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage.
Road To Le Mans Race 2 will take place on Saturday at 10h05.
