4 HOURS OF PORTIMÃO - DOUBLE RACE IN ELMS, IS THAT POSSIBLE?

Good morning! Sorry if I found myself to write the weekend review later than usual, but yesterday I was quite busy with work at home! However, I hope you’ll forgive me, or not?

Anyway, last weekend Lou attended the last ELMS race weekend of the season, in which he was crowned third-classified in both LMP2 and overall! Congratulations, Lou, you did all your best!

This weekend was quite different from traditional ones, as there were two races, with a different qualification session for each other. In the first one Lou and his teammates crossed the finish line in P13; the rainy weather influenced the race, in which there were many crashes, such as one involving an Inter Europol Competition prototype which was engulfed by flames; even Salih Yoluc, Lou’s teammate, ended up in the gravel.

In the second race, unfortunately, Salih Yoluc ran over a mechanic in the pit lane (luckily he didn’t have physical consequences) and Charlie Eastwood was hit by a Ferrari; Lou had to save the honour of Racing Team Turkey ending P4 in their class and P7 overall.

And now, see you in November for the last WEC act! 

4 HOURS OF SPA - UP & DOWN, FROM POLE, TO P4, TO P3

Good afternoon! How did you spend your weekend? Mine was great, on Sunday I attended the races of TCR Europe and GT Open in Monza. Thanks to Matilde, Miloš Pavlović’s wife, I managed to obtain a pass for the paddock and I had the pleasure to follow GT Open race from the box of Bonaldi Motorsport. But this doesn’t mean I forgot about Lou’s ELMS race in Spa, and here I am to tell you a few words about it. 

Thanks to Salih Yoluc, Racing Team Turkey obtained the pole position. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the race, Manuel Maldonado (yes, Pastor’s cousin, you surely remember him on Pastor’s shoulders during the 2012 fire in Barcelona, right after the Venezuelan driver’s maiden win) caused a crash with another car, and safety car made its entrance on track. Lou and his crew ended the race P4, but, after the race, Alessio Rovera, Mathieu Vaxiviere and François Perrodo (AF Corse) got a penalty for accelerating too early at the restart after the end of the yellow flag, making Racing Team Turkey switch to P3.

The next (and final!) ELMS race will be on October 21st and 22nd in Portimao. Who will become the champion? You will discover it on these pages!

4 HOURS OF ALCANIZ - TROUBLES FOR LOU

Good Sunday evening! Did you spend good summer holidays? I hope you enjoyed them, so, let’s head back into racing!

This weekend, Lou was committed in the Alcaniz ELMS round, which unfortunately was not a lucky one for the Racing Team Turkey. 

Lou was first in his class, but unfortunately he was overtaken by Matthieu Vaxiviere; then, due to electrical troubles on his Oreca, he had to spend a long time at the box and ended the race P20.

As a Japanophile and big fan of Japanese drivers, I’m proud of Marino Sato who, along with Oliver Jarvis and Philip Hanson, won the race from the pole position! Do you remember when I met Marino in Monza, back in 2019?

Plus, this gives me the assist to announce that Lou’s next race will be the Fuji round of WEC! May some of you give me a ticket to Japan, please? 😉 

4 HOURS OF PAUL RICARD - MIRACLES HAPPEN!

Good evening!

After the Monza WEC round of last weekend, Lou is back to his racing duties in ELMS. This time he raced in Paul Ricard, where he made such a miracle: he had a unfortunate front left tire puncture with 12 laps to go, but, according to what he wrote on his Insta, “drove his heart out” to make it to the first step of the podium, at least for his class. In fact, he actually ended the overall race P3.

Also big congratulations to Algarve Pro Racing for their first overall win!

See you for the next adventure 👋🏻😘 

4 HOURS OF BARCELONA - LOU WRITES HISTORY

Another weekend, another race for Lou. This time we’re in Montmelò, and the championship is ELMS.

This time our Swiss ace gained another satisfaction in his flourishing career, as he, along with his teammates Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood, ended the race P1 both in the whole classification and in their category. We can say, as he posted on his Insta profile, “history has been written”.

Salih Yoluc started with a bang, managing to be constantly close to Pro racers, while Charlie Eastwood reached P2. Then, Lou had some troubles with the black and orange flag, as there was a broken piece on the car; however, after the mandatory pitstop, he finally overtook his compatriot Neel Jani and VICTORY!!!

What can I say now? Good job, guys! 

See you for the next race!