Murphy Prototypes racer Michael Lyons almost clinched his second podium finish of the 2015 European Le Mans Series campaign with team-mates Mark Patterson and Nathanaël Berthon at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday, 12th July, but a late race incident resulted in a top six result instead.
On course for an almost guaranteed third place finish in the headline LMP2 Class in Austria after a superb race, the trio had the result all-but wrapped up when unexpected contact from a GTE car in the final 10 minutes during Berthon’s rapid stint led to a very unfortunate spin.
While the squad’s pace was evident throughout the weekend, and particularly during Lyons’ stint in the four-hour race when he was the fastest driver on track for the majority of his run, the encounter wasn’t without other dramas for the Murphy crew – Berthon almost missing involvement in the race after having to visit a nearby hospital with vision difficulties prior to the contest.
“It was a very strong weekend for us and we were definitely on for the podium, we had a 20 second gap to fourth right near the end but the GTE car moved into Nat [Berthon] and there was nothing he could do”, explained Bishop’s Stortford-based Lyons, “The GTE car had lost a mirror, apparently, in another incident so that’s why he didn’t see our car as it was on the side we had contact – he was essentially turning in blind.
“Finishing P6 is still a good result and when I was on track I was the fastest car out there for most of the stint. After taking over from Mark in about P6, I ended my double-stint in P3 and although we had a problem with getting the steering wheel back on in the driver change it was all looking good. It’s disappointing to miss the podium when it was so close, but still a very positive weekend.”
Berthon did a fantastic job in qualifying on Sunday morning to put the Murphy Prototypes No.48 Oreca 03R-Nissan on the front row of the grid for the 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring, just 0.3 seconds shy of pole position.
Prior to the race, though, Berthon complained of problems with his vision in one eye so he was taken to hospital for checks while the team changed its plans for the driving stints with the Frenchman looking likely to miss the entire race.
Patterson started the race, taking a double stint, and although edged back to third on lap two, he remained there to lap 11 when, after a brief Safety Car period, a tangle dropped the American to sixth. Making his first pit visit just before the one hour mark, Patterson rejoined in seventh and then handed the car over to Lyons from inside the top four with almost half the race completed.
Set to run a challenging triple stint over the course of the remaining two and a quarter hours, the British driver produced a stunning performance and climbed from seventh back into fourth place prior to a Safety Car period with 90 minutes left on the clock.
Pitting for his first stop, Lyons rejoined the race in the top three and lapped with superb pace to initially consolidate his placing before pulling out a healthy gap to his closest challenger, with a second podium of 2015 looking a near certainty.
Berthon, given the all-clear by doctors with his difficulties put down to dehydration, returned to the track in time to complete a shorter than usual 40 minute stint at the end of the race so he took over the Oreca 03R-Nissan from Lyons late on and rejoined in third position. Into the final 10 minutes, though, contact from a BMW Z4 resulted in a spin from which Berthon recovered in sixth place.
Round four, the penultimate race of the European Le Mans Series, will take place at Paul Ricard HTTT in southern France over the weekend 5th/6th September. First for Lyons, though, will be the fourth event of the Blancpain Endurance Series campaign – the Total 24 Hours of Spa – which will be held at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on 25th/26th July.
Provisional 2015 European Le Mans Series Driver Standings (after Rd3): 5th Michael Lyons/Mark Patterson/ Nathanaël Berthon, 26pts
