Luzich Racing with Mikkel Mac and Fabien Lavergne have got to quite a good start in the Michelin Le Mans Cup 2019.
The team had Pole Position in Paul Ricard, and led most of the race, until a penalty for crossing the red light at the Pit Lane Exit sent them back to P3.
This time out in Monza, they only missed Pole Position by 0,003 of a second to Kessel Racing Ferrari #8, which was going to be their main opponent in the race too.
The race started out dry, with Fabien Lavergne grabbing the lead of the GT3 category on the second lap of the race, and then just went on to increase the gap lap by lap, and handed the car over to Mikkel Mac with an about 6 second gap to #8 in P2.
Towards the end, the gap increased because #8 got a penalty for contact with a competitor, but Mikkel didn’t know about that, when questioned about it after the race.
“No, I didn’t know that he had a penalty. But I know that he was behind, and I had plenty of seconds. So we managed the front over the radio, all the laps. It was really nice to get the car with such a good gap from Fabien.”
Photo: JJ Media
The weather decided to throw a curve ball too, towards the end of the two-hour race. A heavy downpour meant that all teams had to pit for rain tires, and the pitlane became very very busy, and the visibility on track got very bad, really quickly.
“And then it suddenly started raining. As a driver, you don’t know anything, because you don’t know if the others have boxed before or after you – all that kind of stuff. So I was really happy when I saw the chequered flag, and they called me the winner of the race.”
“I could see some lights from an LMP3 car in front, so I overtook him, and there was less spray. But still you couldn’t see so much. I’m just happy that the car is here, with 4 wheels. So we are really happy, and the mechanics from Luzich Racing made a fantastic job with the tire change. I’m happy for all the team.”
Mikkel Mac and Fabien Lavergne leave Monza in second place in the Championship, just three points behind the Kessel Racing Ferrari #8. But they can’t focus too much on them, although it looks like it’s going to a tough battle between those two cars – because then there might suddenly be somebody else joining the battle.
The next race in the Michelin Le Mans Cup is the Road to Le Mans race, held at the famous circuit, prior to the big race in the middle of June.
