Scottish motor racing prodigy Charlie Robertson sealed his, and team-mate Sir Chris Hoy’s, second LMP3 Class victory of the 2015 European Le Mans Series at Austria’s Red Bull Ring on Sunday, 12th July, thanks to an utterly dominant performance during round three of the season.
Enabling the Team LNT Ginetta-Nissan pairing to reclaim the championship lead they originally held after the opening round of the season at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in April, success in the latest four-hour contest means Whyteleafe-based Charlie and Sir Chris now hold a 12 point advantage.
“I’m over the moon with this result, it’s absolutely fantastic to get our second win”, said elated 18-year-old Charlie, “The car ran faultlessly, the guys at Team LNT have really improved the balance since Imola and it’s a real pleasure to drive. I was happy with my performance and it was definitely the strongest weekend of the season so far for Sir Chris. It’s been a true team effort.”
During free practice on Saturday, 11th July, Charlie topped the times in both 90-minute sessions before taking his third LMP3 pole position on the bounce during qualifying on Sunday morning – a time of 1m29.851 seconds (173.3 km/h average) placing him 15th on the overall grid and little more than three seconds shy of much faster LMP2 machinery.
In scintillating form at the wheel of the No.3 Ginetta-Nissan, the BRDC SuperStar enjoyed a superb battle with the leading GTE Class cars during the opening exchanges and prior to the first Safety Car period just six laps into the race he was into 14th position overall and comfortably leading LMP3.
Making his first pit visit with just under an hour completed, running inside the overall top 10 at the time, Charlie remained in the car and continued to lead LMP3 until returning to pitlane to hand the Ginetta-Nissan over to Hoy with roughly 75 minutes completed
Hoy got behind the wheel and continued to lead LMP3 before visiting the pits again with 90 minutes of racing remaining. Staying in the driving seat, Hoy pressed on before then handing the car back to Charlie for the final 20 minute sprint to the flag.
Eventually crossing the line at the four hour mark with an eight lap winning margin over the duo’s closest LMP3 pursuer, Investigo and Curo-supported driver Charlie also posted a best LMP3 lap of 1m30.397 seconds (172.3 km/h average) – easily the quickest of any LMP3 contender.
“I started just behind the top three GTE cars and it was a bit of a dogfight, but proper racing, and it was fantastic to be mixing it with them”, added the youngster, “The first 25 to 30 minutes were a lot of fun and then the Safety Car periods worked in our favour so it all went totally to plan. It’s a great result, absolutely fantastic, and hopefully we can take this forward to the next round.”
There is now a lengthy eight week break in the European Le Mans Series calendar with round four of the championship set to take place at Paul Ricard in France over the weekend 5th/6th September.
Provisional 2015 European Le Mans Series LMP3 Driver Standings (after Rd3): 1st Charlie Robertson/Sir Chris Hoy, 52pts
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