Charlie Robertson and Sir Chris Hoy win on European Le Mans Series debut

Charlie Robertson and Sir Chris Hoy win on European Le Mans Series debut

GINETTA-NISSAN RACERS ROBERTSON & HOY MAKE HEADLINES AT SILVERSTONE WITH HISTORIC FIRST LMP3 WIN

Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit reverberated to the sound of ecstatic celebrations in the Team LNT pit garage on Saturday, 11th April, after Charlie Robertson and team-mate Sir Chris Hoy secured victory in the first ever LMP3 class race during round one of the 2015 European Le Mans Series.

“Absolutely awesome”, said an elated Charlie, “It really hasn’t sunk in to be honest – I can’t thank everyone enough at Team LNT, Ginetta and Nissan. Everything went exactly to plan in the race and the whole team effort was so professional. I’m very glad to have them all behind me and this win is such a great reward for everyone’s hard work in getting us here to this point.”

The Whyteleafe 18-year-old, who along with Sir Chris made his prototype endurance racing debut this weekend at the home of the British Grand Prix, got the day off to the perfect start by entering the history books as the first ever pole position qualifier in the brand new LMP3 class.

Steering the No.3 Ginetta-Nissan to a fastest time of 1m59.892 seconds (177.2km/h), 0.6 seconds faster than the second Team LNT car in LMP3, Charlie – who is backed by Investigo and new personal sponsor Curo – placed the car inside the overall top 12 from the combined 31 car entry which also featured LMP2 prototypes and GT racers.

Disappointingly post-qualifying, both Team LNT cars were put to the back of the grid after being adjudged to have exceeded the pitlane speed limit during the session. Even so, Charlie and Sir Chris still went into the four hour race confident of challenging for the win.

Taking the first stint, Scottish youngster Charlie scythed his way through the order and with just over half an hour of racing completed he was into the overall top 12 – having taken the LMP3 lead within only 20 minutes of racing – before then progressing into the top 10.

Sir Chris took over the No.3 car during the middle part of the race, maintaining the duo’s chance of winning LMP3, and when Charlie returned to the cockpit with roughly half an hour to go he had an 80 second cushion over their nearest rival. Going on to secure a superb victory, Charlie also ended the race with the fastest LMP3 lap – a time of 2m01.214 seconds (175.3 km/h).

“I had a great start, attacked from the off and came through the order really well”, he reflected, “I was through into the overall top 10 by the end of my stint and then Sir Chris kept a healthy lead and looked after everything really well during his run.

“I got back in the car for the final stint and it was absolutely amazing to bring the car home to the chequered flag with the win on our debut in the championship – incredible. Hopefully we can go on to the next round at Imola and build on what we’ve achieved this weekend.”

Round two of the European Le Mans Series will take place at the world-famous Imola circuit in Italy over the weekend 16th/17th May.

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