[15-07-2019]
PIERRE RAGUES REFRESHED AND READY FOR MORE AT ELMS BARCELONA
 Pierre Ragues returns to European Le Mans Series duties this weekend for the third round of this year’s championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Pierre, who finished seventh in the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month, will return to the cockpit of the Duqueine Engineering Oreca 07 he shares in ELMS with Nicolas Jamin and Richard Bradley.
The team demonstrated the performance of the #30 car with an impressive fightback at Le Mans, after an early puncture pushed them to the foot of the classification. At one point, Pierre was fighting for fourth in the LMP2 category and setting competitive pace.
Pierre is now ready for an entirely different challenge, the 4 Hours of Barcelona, which makes its first appearance on the endurance calendar since 2009. In that year, Pierre put in a strong run to fourth overall in the LMP1 class with the event being held as part of the Le Mans Series championship.
The 4.655km Barcelona track offers a variety of technical challenges, including low and high-speed sections, which will put all aspects of the car and crew to the test. Having proven themselves to be a quality addition to the Le Mans 24 Hours line-up this year, and already having had podium success in ELMS this season, Duqueine Engineering will be chasing the podium in Catalunya.
Pierre commented: “We have had a brief opportunity to rest after a busy and exhausting Le Mans, but I am excited be back in ELMS action at Barcelona. While Le Mans was great fun – as it always is – we didn’t really come away with a result that was representative of our capabilities. I remember when Barcelona was last on the endurance calendar in 2009, as I was competing in LMP1 at the time. It’s a very satisfying track to get right, and I look forward to seeing how our Oreca 07 and Michelin tyres perform this weekend. A four-hour race will seem far more manageable after Le Mans, but we know there is no such thing as a straight-forward endurance race. We will be prepared accordingly.”
Pierre Ragues is supported by his personal partners Yacco, Ellip6 and Sparco.
ELMS LMP2 Teams’ Classification after two rounds
1. G-Drive Racing – 38 points
2. Idec Sport – 36 points
3. DragonSpeed – 26 points
4. Duqueine Engineering – 23 points
ELMS LMP2 Drivers’ Classification after two rounds
1. Job van Uitert / Norman Nato / Roman Rusinov – 38 points
2. Memo Rojas / Paul Lafargue / Paul Loup Chatin – 36 points
3. Henrik Hedman / James Allen – 26 points
4. Ben Hanley – 25 points
5. Pierre Ragues / Nicolas Jamin / Richard Bradley – 23 points
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