Nick Jones and Sven Müller put on a star performance at Le Mans last weekend, coming out on top of a three-car fight on the final lap to score their first podium of the season in the second Michelin Le Mans Cup race.
Despite starting back in 15th after the cancellation of qualifying, the SD Team-backed pair put on a show for the huge crowds just hours before the start of the world’s biggest endurance race, with Müller snatching third place on the final lap in the High Class Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, and in doing so scoring Jones one of the biggest results of his career.
The twin 55-minute Road to Le Mans races at the Circuit de la Sarthe brought many challenges for Jones and new team-mate Müller, but the pair showed frontrunning pace throughout the week, even if circumstances beyond their control masked that during some of the sessions.
Müller and Jones were within the top 10 during practice on Wednesday around the 8.5-mile circuit, before Jones focused on refining the Porsche’s setup during the second practice session, which would become a lot more important later on.
Qualifying on Thursday was the first of the heavily disrupted sessions. Müller took the wheel for the first segment which would set the grid for Thursday’s opening race, with Jones set to drive for the second half. Müller recorded the fifth fastest time and was set to improve to put the #18 Porsche on the front row when a red flag stoppage denied him and brought the session to an early close. Jones took over for Q2, but never even got a lap after the entire session was halted when another competitor went off on their out-lap. With no times set, the race two grid would be decided by the times set in second practice, leaving the SD Porsche 15th.
It looked like Jones and Müller’s best chance of success would come from Thursday’s first race but, due to a cocktail of caution periods and a red flag wiping out the final quarter, it essentially became a write-off. Jones took the start and held a spot within the top eight as the string of safety cars came and went thanks to incidents up and down the LMP3 field. Jones pitted for Müller but he never got the chance to improve as the red flags flew following a huge accident for an LMP3 runner at Indianapolis that destroyed the barrier. The race was finished early, with just a single lap of green flag running being completed. Due to the muddled pitstops, and the result being counted back a lap from the red flag, ninth was the limit for the disappointed pair.
But if race one was ruined, race two was a thriller, with Jones and Müller putting on a superb charge up the order. Jones again took the start and made excellent progress across the first half, keeping things clean and consistent as once again those around him hit trouble, and each other. Jones immediately made progress at the start timing his moves superbly to rise to 12th before the safety car’s first appearance. When racing resumed, Jones passed Andrew Gilbert’s Ferrari and then benefitted when two of the leading Ferraris collided up ahead, damaging and delaying both.
A second safety car was needed, and Jones pitted from eighth to hand to Müller with the race at reduced speed. A slick stop from the High Class Racing team got Müller back out in sixth, but with the leading pack running as one.
Müller then pressed on, fighting his way up to fifth by the start of the last lap, and then pulling an incredible move to draft past both Valentin Hasse-Clot’s Aston Martin and Anthony Bartone’s Mercedes-AMG to snatch the final podium place into Mulsanne Corner, holding off the rapid Aston for the final half-a-lap. The achievement marks a milestone result in Jones’ career, with both drivers jubilant on the main Le Mans podium afterwards.
The result also moves Jones up to fifth in the Michelin Le Mans Cup Drivers’ Championship, well within striking distance of the top three with three rounds still to run this season.
Nick Jones said: “What an incredible weekend! When we woke up on Saturday morning we never thought there was a chance of getting on the podium from P15 and in a field this tight. I think that’s probably the biggest result of my entire racing career… it’s unbelievable. At the start of race two I just kept things clean, picked my moments to pass when I could and concentrated on not making mistakes. Then watching Sven on that final lap was so stressful. We were fourth, then fifth and we thought the podium had gone, then BANG… he’s back to P3! Standing on the podium at Le Mans is an indescribable feeling, seeing all the fans. It’ll take a while to come down from the ceiling after this.”
Sven Müller said: “That was such an incredible way to finish the weekend, especially after the way things started. Race one we couldn’t do anything and then starting so far back for race two after qualifying was cancelled made it a real fight. Nick did a brilliant job at the start, bringing us back into it with good pace and consistency, then when I got in I knew I had to go for it. I was fifth at the start of that final lap and our straight-line speed was not the best, but I got behind the Aston and the Mercedes and got a huge tow from a couple of LMP3 cars, running 10cm from the barrier at 290kph… it was wild! I decided to go for the move into Mulsanne and it paid off. It was perhaps the most exciting lap of my career, and an incredible way to start my partnership with Nick and the team.”
The next round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup takes place at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on August 24/25.
The SD Team-backed High Class Racing Porsche squad is gearing up to tackle the biggest event of the Michelin Le Mans Cup season, with two races in support of the world-famous Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend.
Nick Jones will return to compete on the undercard of the world’s biggest race for the fourth time this season, having twice raced around the 8.5-mile Circuit de la Sarthe as part of the Porsche Sprint Challenge before joining the Le Mans Cup field for the first time last year.
Jones will be joined in the Porsche 911 GT3 R by Sven Müller in a change to the usual line-up, with the German-Swiss driver signing up for the remainder of the season. Müller brings with him extensive experience of Porsche racing, having won both the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and European Supercup titles in 2016 and he also regularly competes in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe. Müller has competed at Le Mans twice before, in 2018 and 2019, but this will mark his first appearance in the Le Mans Cup support event.
With this weekend’s races taking place on the biggest sportscar racing stage of them all, the grid will be boosted by a number of additional entries, with 18 GT3 cars set to do battle for honours. The expanded GT field also complements extra entries in the LMP3 category, with a maximum of 58 cars lining up in what will be the overall largest grid of the season. While the nature of the Le Mans circuit means all cars can be accommodated across the two hour-long sprint races, it does mean managing traffic effectively can be a key to success.
SD Team heads back to France on a high after showing podium-challenging pace last time out at Circuit Paul Ricard, when Jones and Scott Malvern were unfortunate not to land their first top three of the season after a thrilling battle, only to be denied by contact in the closing minutes.
Regardless, the race showed the potential of the 992-generation 911 GT3 R, and Jones and new teammate Müller are aiming to continue making gains with the car, with all eyes on enjoying a flying start to their partnership this weekend.
Nick Jones says: “I can’t wait to get back on track at Le Mans. It’s such a special event, and one I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of a few times now. Le Mans is unlike any other race in the world, with the huge number of fans, the quality of the entries and the circuit itself is just amazing. Even as a support race you get an incredible rush from it. Obviously, things will be a bit different this weekend with Sven joining the team. I’ve had many great years racing with Scott, and I want to thank him for everything. We had a really productive test with Sven recently and we got on really well. I have no doubt I will learn a lot of new things sharing with him. The grid this weekend looks super competitive, but we hope to get ourselves into the mix for the big points.”
Sven Müller says: “I’m really looking forward to working with Nick across the rest of the season. The test we did recently went really well and it’s my job to give him as much information as I can to help him improve as a driver and together we can move forward. I also know the team at High Class Racing already, including many of the mechanics and engineers, so I am confident we can make a strong start. This will be my first appearance in the Le Mans Cup, so it’s a new experience for me in some ways. I did the Le Mans 24 Hours for two years before and know how wonderful the circuit is – It’s such a special place to go and compete and I’m excited to begin this new journey.”
Action for the Michelin Le Mans Cup gets underway with two free practice sessions on Wednesday June 12, with qualifying and the opening race of the weekend on Thursday. Track activity then takes a break on Friday to reset ahead of the weekend, and the last Le Mans Cup race takes place just before the start of the 24 Hours on Saturday morning. All sessions will feature live timing, with both qualifying and the races being shown live on the championship’s YouTube channel.
Nick Jones and Scott Malvern played a starring role in last weekend’s Michelin Le Mans Cup event at Circuit Paul Ricard, with the pair coming agonisingly close to sealing their first podium finish of the year in the SD Sealants-backed Porsche, only for contact to deny them.
Jones and Malvern showed both impressive speed and racecraft during the second Le Mans Cup outing of the season, with the SD Porsche being a constant threat to the top spots in Southern France. With the car running third late in the race, and Malvern fending off the rival Ferraris in a heroic display of defensive driving, a hit from one of the chasing cars sent the Porsche wide in the final minutes, with the resulting delay and worsening damage leaving the car sixth at the flag. A penalty for the offending Ferrari did at least move Jones and Malvern back to fifth, but the pair still deserved more after what was a superb display.
The weekend began strongly for the pair, with Jones showing much-improved pace over his visit to the track last year, performing well across Friday’s practice sessions and then qualifying the High Class Racing-run Porsche a strong sixth on the grid in what was a very tight session.
Things then got even better when Jones enjoyed a superb opening stint in the race, judging the chaotic opening stages brilliantly to scythe past first Claude Bovet’s Aston Martin, then Andrew Gilbert’s Ferrari and the Steller Motorsport Audi in the hands of Darren Malkin to run an early third. From there, Jones set about holding off his pursuers for much of the first half of the race. Only Malkin managed to find a way past the Porsche, and even then the place was swiftly regained when the Audi was handed a penalty for contact with a Ferrari as it pushed to re-catch Jones ahead.
The High Class Racing team performed a textbook pit stop when Jones pitted at half distance to hand to Malvern, and got the Porsche back out in third, but with a pair of Ferraris right behind, driven by both Fran Rueda and Riccardo Agostini.
With the Ferraris still enjoying an ultimate pace advantage over a lap of Circuit Paul Ricard, Agostini soon latched onto the rear of the SD Porsche to begin what would be an incredible duel across the final 45 minutes. Slight damage from the opening half of the race had unsettled the Porsche’s bonnet, leading the corner to flip up, which both added more drag on the long Mistral Straight, and also obscured some of Malvern’s view, making things even more difficult.
Malvern made the Porsche as wide as he could, repeatedly fending off Agostini’s advances with great defensive driving through the first sector. When Agostini did find a way past the Porsche in traffic heading onto the Mistral, Malvern’s quick thinking helped him duck behind a lapping LMP3 prototype and use the resulting aerodynamic tow to slip back past the Ferrari in a brilliant piece of tactical driving.
It looked as if Jones and Malvern would hold on when the clock ticked down to the final minutes, only for the frustrated Ferrari to make an ill-timed lunge into turn two, clout the rear of the Porsche and pitch Malvern wide, finally opening the door. To make matters worse, Rueda and David Fumanelli also followed Agostini through as the Porsche lost momentum following the hit, leaving Jones and Malvern a disappointed sixth. A post-race penalty for Agostini after the hit did move the pair up to fifth, but both the drivers and team were deserving of more after such a great effort.
Nick Jones said: “Overall it was a great weekend for the whole team. Everybody put in some great work and we enjoyed a fast car all weekend, so there are loads of positives to take away from this. We ran third until the final five minutes when some abuse from another car effectively ruined what could have been a mega result, and we ended up with quite a bit of damage, but that’s the way this sport goes sometimes. I was really happy with my stint, I got involved and was mixing it with the top cars and took my chances when they came along. I feel we deserved a podium, but we’ll move on to the next race at Le Mans.”
Scott Malvern added: “That was one of the hardest races I’ve been involved in. Nick did a superb job during his first stint, got ahead of some very quick cars and stayed there, putting up a great defence and never losing his head when things got tricky. When I got in, I had the Ferraris all over me and I couldn’t pull away, especially with the bonnet gradually getting looser, which was both hurting the aero and meant I couldn’t see the apex of any right-hand corners. I got several hits from the Ferrari that damaged the rear diffuser, so the balance was pretty bad by the end, and then came the big lunge that ran me off the road. I did all I could, and was pretty gutted we missed the podium due to somebody simply crashing into us. But the whole team did such a great job and the car was superb. The results will come if we keep doing the things we did this weekend.”
The next round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup takes place at the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe in central France, where the grid will enjoy two hour-long races in support of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
SD Sealants-backed racing drivers Nick Jones and Scott Malvern continue their Michelin Le Mans Cup challenge at Circuit Paul Ricard this weekend, with the season’s second round giving the duo another chance to push for the big scores.
The championship’s annual trip to Le Castellet in Southern France brings with it an increased grid, with 40 cars in total set to contest Saturday evening’s 110-minute race, with 11 of those running in the GT3 category.
Jones and Malvern will once again be at the wheel of their High Class Racing-run Porsche 911 GT3 R, one of two Porsches on the grid this weekend after the second was withdrawn for the season opener in Barcelona.
The team saw a lot of positives from the first race in Spain, with both the drivers and the new technical team running the car making good gains on performance, despite there being a clear power deficit between the Porsche and the multiple Ferrari entries in the field. Despite this, Jones and Malvern navigated the first outing well, bringing home a solid fifth place in Spain.
Now, with the Porsche set to be able to breathe a little more thanks to it being granted a slightly larger engine restrictor for this weekend, and with the runaway Ferraris gaining some additional weight under the championship’s balance of performance calculations, the team hopes to be able to fight further towards the front in France.
Nick Jones says: “Circuit Paul Ricard last year was a bit of a nightmare for me, so I’m going back this time with a fresh target and keen to make some improvements with my driving on what is a very tricky circuit. But I’m really looking forward to it. The whole team is working really well, and Scott is showing great pace in the car, so it’s just about bringing all of that together. We won’t know where we truly stand until probably qualifying, but then it’s a long race. The main aim is to keep getting points on the board, keep the car in one piece, and see where that gets us.”
Scott Malvern adds: “I’m a fan of Circuit Paul Ricard, and it’s one of the tracks we know well from testing and racing there in the past. We saw a lot of positives from Barcelona with both the car and Nick’s driving – he achieved his fastest-ever lap around that track last time out, and we’ll be hoping for the same again at Ricard. The track itself is great, with a nice mix of medium- and high-speed turns. The Porsche traditionally hasn’t been the fastest car on the straights, so we need to maximise our corner exit speeds for the long Mistral. We have a small bit of extra power this weekend thanks to an increase on the restrictor, and the Ferraris that were dominant in Spain have some extra weight, so we’ll have to wait and see if we’re any closer to them. Either way, I’m looking forward to getting out there.”
Action for the second round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup gets underway with twin practice sessions on Friday May 3, before qualifying takes place at 12:30 local time (11:30 UK) with the race set for 17:50 (16:50 UK). Live timing will be available all weekend via the Le Mans Cup website, with both qualifying and the race shown live on the championship’s YouTube channel.
Nick Jones and Scott Malvern fought to a fifth-place finish in the opening Michelin Le Mans Cup round of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last weekend, banking a solid haul of points on an otherwise tough weekend.
The pair began their new partnership with the Danish High Class Racing team on a positive note by battling into the top five in the first event of the year, the pair’s Porsche finishing as the top non-Ferrari runner, on a weekend where the Italian machines were firmly on top with the championship’s early balance of performance settings.
The SD Sealants-backed Porsche 911 GT3 R 992 struggled for power along Barcelona’s long straights, and to complete the package was carrying also a substantial amount of weight, which made life against the faster Ferraris tough. Pre-event testing was hindered by some brake issues, but they were cured come the start of the race weekend proper on Friday.
Despite the deficit to the Ferraris, Jones and Malvern kept the car around the top six places during practice, before Jones took the wheel for qualifying, lining the #18 car up seventh for Saturday’s 110-minute race, despite his best lap being an impressive 1.2 seconds faster than he’d achieved at the same circuit last season.
With all eyes forward at the start, Jones immediately got stuck in, picking his way through traffic when the pack was scattered by a collision between some LMP3 cars ahead to run an early fifth. Jones then set about defending from Frederic Jousset’s Kessel Racing Ferrari, however Jousset would find a way past using the 296 GT3’s superior power.
Jones was holding sixth when the safety car made its first appearance of the year to clean up a handful of LMP3 cars that had hit trouble and each other – around the circuit. When racing resumed, there was only a handful of laps before the pit window, and Jones dived in to hand to Pro driver Malvern at the first opportunity.
A well-timed stop from the team got Malvern back out in sixth, and right on the tail of Alex Aka in the Steller Motorsport Audi R8 GT3. Malvern closed to within touching distance of the Audi, but his efforts to pass were stunted by a second safety car period, which only left a few minutes of the race remaining when action could commence again.
Malvern pushed as hard as he could, but fell just 0.45s shy of the German car at the flag. However, the places were reversed after the event, with the Audi being handed a time penalty for straying beyond track limits too many times, elevating Jones and Malvern to a hard-earned fifth, as Ferraris locked out the top four spots. It is hoped the balance will be redressed ahead of the next round at Circuit Paul Ricard on May 3/4.
Nick Jones said: “Overall, I’m quite pleased because we maximised what we could achieve under the circumstances this weekend. Obviously, it’s disappointing that the Ferraris were so fast, and hopefully that will be sorted for the next round. I’m pleased with my performance, and looking at the times there’s been definite progress this weekend. The start of the race was tricky with a the LMP3 cars ahead spinning off here and there, and plenty for me to avoid, but the aim was simply to try and keep things clean and stay in the hunt. The team did a great job for our first race together, and to come away with fifth is a decent result. It’s some nice early points, plus the car’s in great shape. Hopefully we can keep making progress across the course of the year and the results will start to come sooner rather than later.”
Scott Malvern said: “It wasn’t an easy weekend by any means, but I think we can be quite pleased with the way we executed the race and fifth was pretty much the limit for this one. We weren’t really in the same race as the Ferraris, so we just had to concentrate on what we could control and as a team we did that really well. Nick showed great progress to go faster than he’s ever been around Barcelona, despite the car being actually slower than last year, and he managed a tricky opening stint really well by staying out of trouble. When I got in we had the edge on the Audi, which had ruined its tyres, but the safety car prevented me from making a pass, the result was justified in the end though with the penalty. We’ll move on from this, and hope for a few changes to the BoP for circuit Paul Ricard.”
SD Sealants-backed racing drivers Nick Jones and Scott Malvern get their second Michelin Le Mans Cup campaign underway at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this weekend, beginning their new partnership with the High Class Racing team.
After a lot of hard work across the winter, Jones and Malvern will return to the Le Mans Cup grid aboard their SD-liveried Porsche 911 GT3 R 992, and for this season switch from Team Parker Racing to join the Danish High Class squad. To ease the transition, the pair have retained the services of some of their key technical personnel from last year, who have moved across to High Class to assist with the running of the Porsche, including both their engineer and number 1 mechanic.
The new partnership has already worked well in testing, with Jones and Malvern getting some crucial pre-season miles aboard the car ahead of the season-opener in Spain. They will be up against eight other entrants in the GT3 category, and will be amongst 29 LMP3 racing prototypes on a stacked 38-car grid.
Barcelona is both a track the pair know well, and have enjoyed success at before, finishing second there last season – one of three podium finishes Jones and Malvern would celebrate across the season on their way to fifth in the championship standings.
For this year, hopes are high for an improvement on that, with the drivers and the team now very familiar with the championship, the car and the circuits they will race on across the forthcoming seven rounds.
Nick Jones says: “I’m feeling really good about this year, and I’m just really excited to get going and see where we are after the first few sessions at Barcelona. Last year was a very tough one as the 992-generation Porsche was very new to us and we were learning about it and discovering new things with setup constantly while we raced, but this year we have a lot of familiarity, and bringing some of the lads across gives us some continuity. I’ve also worked really hard over the winter to get into much better shape, shedding almost 30kg, and from what I’ve seen so far working with the team at High Class has been great. I like the Barcelona track, and it’s one we’ve gone well at before, so hopefully we can make a string start to the season this weekend.”
Scott Malvern adds: “A lot of things are looking very positive ahead of the start of this season. The switch to High Class has gone really well and everybody at the team seems very switched on and motivated, plus keeping Ben and Joe with us this year gives us some familiarity, which can be a real bonus. Nick’s also better prepared for this season than perhaps any other. His pace in testing has been really good and physically he’s in great shape, so that should give us an edge in performance. We were competitive at Barcelona last year and, while we don’t know what the Balance of Performance equalisations measures have in store for this weekend, hopefully we can enjoy an even playing field and go out there to fight for some big points.”
Action for the opening round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup begins with twin testing sessions on Wednesday, before the race weekend gets underway proper with free practice on Friday. Qualifying takes place on Saturday morning, with the 110-minute race set for 17:40 local time (16:40 GMT). All sessions feature live timing via the Le Mans Cup website, and both qualifying and the race will be streamed live on the championship’s YouTube channel.
Jones and Malvern recovered from a difficult qualifying session that left them at the back of the GT3 field to rampage their way up the order, taking full advantage of the drenched conditions to move their Team Parker Racing Porsche GT3 into third place before the race was halted.
The red flag with still 20 minutes of the race to run was brought out due to the deteriorating conditions, which both sealed the team’s third place, but also denied them the chance to improve on what was already a superb result.
Much of the Portimão weekend was blighted by rain, with both qualifying and the race taking place in mixed or worsening conditions. But that actually played into the hands of the rear-engined Porsche, which enjoys strong traction in the wet that effectively makes up for the car’s heavily restricted power output under the series’ Balance of Performance rules.
Having dialled the 992-spec 911 GT3 R into the 2.9-mile Algarve track during practice, qualifying proved a very difficult test with rain starting to fall as the session went green. Jones took the wheel and headed out on slicks in the hope that he could take advantage of what grip there was to set a quick time, but with the rain intensifying as he went out, it meant the gamble didn’t pay off. The #18 Porsche would start from the back of the GT3 order.
However, with nothing to lose and persistent rain drenching the track for the 110-minute race, it only added to the drama of the team’s comeback on Sunday morning.
Jones took the race start on full-wet Michelins and immediately made progress, passing GMB Motorsport’s Honda NSX driven by Lars Engelbreckt Pedersen before pulling more moves to ease the Porsche up to ninth. At this stage in the race Jones was in full flow, lapping seconds faster than those ahead of him and, despite having to throttle back for several safety car and full course yellow interruptions as others fell foul of the worsening conditions, Jones brought the car up to sixth by the time the pit window opened and he could relay to Malvern.
Despite being briefly blocked in the pits, the team got the car serviced and Malvern back out in position, and the Pro driver put on his own charge. Zapping past Anders Fjordbach’s older-generation Porsche before then pulling a fine pass on Patrick Kujala in the Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan. With a podium in sight, the result was confirmed when Charles Bateman spun the sister Team Parker Porsche, allowing Malvern through for third before the race was again neutralised by the safety car as the standing water grew, and then eventually halted when conditions became too dangerous to continue.
Regardless, a third podium of the year was a superb way to cap Jones and Malvern’s maiden season of European GT3 racing, and leaves them fifth in the GT3 drivers’ championship.
Nick Jones said: “What a weekend that was! We had good pace through the entire event but we rolled the dice in qualifying and it didn’t pay off. But Sunday was a total turnaround. The Team Parker crew gave me a mega car for the conditions and I don’t think I’ve ever driven a better stint in my life. It was tricky with the increasing standing water and spray, but I just had confidence in the car and once I started overtaking people, I just kept on pushing. It’s the best I think I’ve ever driven. The team performed a near-perfect pit stop and Scott did what Scott does, moved us even further forward and we got the result. Champagne never tasted so good! I want to thank the entire team for their efforts and making this happen, not just for this race, but for the entirety of a memorable season. Let’s see what 2024 brings.”
Scott Malvern added: “What a turnaround! Nick had mega pace during the early stages and did a superb job to bring us back into the mix. That really set us up for the result. We actually got a bit unfortunate mid-race with the amount of full course yellows we had instead of full safety cars, which would have bunched the pack up more, and if that had happened I reckon we could have won this. But a podium is still a superb way to round out the year. The car was fantastic in the conditions, and I got to make a few strong moves to make up a few more places and then spent the rest of the race pretty much hanging on as the standing water was increasing with every lap. But I had a lot of confidence in the wet, even with the rivers forming around the undulations of the circuit. This was a result taken purely on skill and pace, and that’s a brilliant way to go into the winter. I couldn’t be happier.”
The SD Sealants-backed crew have enjoyed a successful first full year of European racing, scoring two podium finishes so far, with third place during the last event at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium following a second place in the championship opener at Monza in Italy.
While the summer months weren’t kind to the duo and their Team Parker Racing-run Porsche 992 GT3 R – some harsh Balance of Performance changes heavily restricting the car, and the sky-high temperatures of a scorching European summer making life tough for naturally aspirated machines like the 911 GT3 R – the result at Spa signalled a return to form and elevated the pair to fifth in the GT3 drivers’ championship.
Jones and Malvern have already benefited from a test at the Portimão circuit, and will gain further mileage this week as the crew aim to better understand the setup and tyre characteristics of the new-generation Porsche. Portimão is also where the pair’s European adventure began, with Jones and Malvern making their Le Mans Cup debut at the track this time last year as a toe-in-the-water before a full campaign this term.
With temperatures expected to be in the low 20s, and even with some rain forecast, it could be a dramatic finale as a 40-car field tackles the undulating 2.9-mile circuit on Sunday morning.
Nick Jones says: “I’m really looking forward to Portimão: it’s a great circuit and one that I know really well, and it’s always nice to get back to familiar ground as you always feel like you hit the ground running that bit more. We’ve definitely made some big progress across recent weeks, and I think that showed with our performance at Spa. I’ve lost some weight, and so did the car thanks to a BoP break that we were long overdue, and we got to show that we’re competitive again after a few difficult rounds fighting against a lack of power. To be on the podium again at Spa was brilliant, and I know the whole team will be pushing to finish this year on a high note and bag a few extra trophies this weekend.”
Scott Malvern says: “Portimão is actually one of the most familiar European tracks for us – personally I’ve driven 1000s of laps there now and I love the place. There’s so much elevation change and a great mix of fast- and medium-speed corners, so you have to be very precise with the steering and brave on the throttle to get the most out of a lap there. The older 991-spec Porsche suited the track very well last year as it’s traction-heavy and agile, so hopefully the new 992 will also go well there. We maximised our race performance at Spa, with the team making some great strategy calls and executing a clean pitstop, so all we can ask is to do the same again. Nick’s been driving really well recently, so we have to go into the last round with our eyes on the podium, which would be a great way to bookend the year.”
The final round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup gets underway with free practice sessions on both Thursday and Friday, before qualifying at 15:00 on Saturday, October 21. The 100-minute season finale is set for 09:00 on Sunday. Both qualifying and the race will be streamed live via the Le Mans Cup YouTube channel, with live timing available for all sessions via the official championship website.
Having shown top-three potential in Friday’s free practice sessions, the SD Sealants-backed pair recorded the eighth quickest time in Saturday morning’s brief qualifying session with Jones at the wheel; the Team Parker Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R machine still hamstrung by the series’ Balance of Performance rules, with the car continuing to run heavier than its rivals despite a 20kg weight break being applied ahead of the event.
Hoping for rain before the race, the famous Belgian weather eluded the duo during the near two-hour contest on Saturday afternoon, but drama elsewhere and a late charge ensured they still banked a well-earned podium finish.
Jones took the start, but within seconds it became clear that the event would not in any way follow usual conventions. A multi-car collision at La Source between several leading LMP3 cars scattered the field, with Jones doing well to steer through the melee and gaining a position in the process.
But a stopped prototype machine on lap two, and debris elsewhere, brought out the first of four lengthy safety car periods, with Jones moving up to fourth when the race resumed some 20 minutes later after rivals ahead made pit stops.
There was only around a lap and a half of green flag running before the safety car was brought back out following a heavy collision between two LMP3 cars on the approach to Fagnes. With another car pitting, Jones found himself as high as third, before he too stopped for the mandatory driver change, handing over to Malvern at the end of lap 12.
Action resumed again two laps later, with half of the race still remaining and the Porsche 992 in ninth position. But once more, green flag running was to be brief, as further drama in the LMP3 division, this time at the exit of the Bus Stop chicane at the end of the restart lap, brought out the safety car for the third time while the wrecked cars were removed from the circuit.
Over 15 minutes later, racing was back underway, and on this occasion, there was time for two racing laps before proceedings were neutralised again following a hefty shunt for Josh Skelton’s Nielsen Racing LMP3 car exiting the Les Combes complex, with Malvern holding eighth position.
Just 19 minutes were left on the clock when the field was unleashed, and Malvern wasted none of it by resuming battle and getting stuck into a multi-car fight.
He moved up to seventh when a Ferrari ahead stopped with a puncture at Eau Rouge, but the resulting full course yellow added to the frustration as his charge was temporarily halted once more.
The green flags finally flew for the final nine minutes, remarkably the longest period of uninterrupted racing in the entire contest, and Scott was right on the attack, passing fellow Team Parker-runner Charles Bateman on the restart for sixth, and then moved up to fifth at the expense of former F1 racer Jan Magnussen next time around.
With enough time for only two more laps, the train of cars contesting the podium spots were next in his sights, and when Kei Cozzolino’s Ferrari was pushed wide exiting turn nine, Malvern was up to fourth.
Remaining with the leaders on the final lap, there was contact ahead of him at the final corner, with Sennan Fielding’s Steller Motorsport Audi pushed wide by the Lamborghini of Patrick Kujala, and Malvern crossed the line right behind the squabble, and less than 1.5 seconds away from the winner.
However, that wasn’t the end of the story, as a string of penalties then further jumbled the order, but had the added bonus of elevating Jones and Malvern to third, sealing their spot on the GT3 podium for the second time this season, following their second place at the season opener in Barcelona.
The result means the pair run fifth in the drivers’ championship, with just the season finale at the Algarve International Circuit still to come.
Nick Jones said: “What a great weekend it turned out to be, even if the race was pretty crazy. My stint was regularly interrupted by safety cars so it became about keeping calm and not joining in the chaos going on around me. I made some really good forward progress during my stint and that set Scott up to do what he does. To bag a second podium of the year feels great, even if we were made to wait for it. The whole Team Parker crew has worked so hard and we’ve had to endure a lot of disappointing rounds recently with BoP, so results like this are great payback. Now we can go into the season finale looking for a strong end to the year.”
Scott Malvern added: “It felt brilliant to be back on the podium, and I feel it’s a result that we really deserved. Nick did a great job of keeping things tidy in the challenging opening stint, and then when I got into the car I just had to take every chance I could. I was pushing like mad. I think we maximised our own race with a great pit stop and two clean stints. The car definitely felt a bit better this weekend with some weight out and it was nice to be competitive again and fighting at the sharp end. I reckon with one more lap I could’ve passed at least one more car, but there just wasn’t time. Still, third is a great reward for us and the team, who have worked really hard to help us get back into the fight.”
The Michelin Le Mans Cup season finale takes place at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal on October 21/22.
Unlike the previous few rounds at Circuit Paul Ricard in France and Motorland Aragon in Spain, Jones and Malvern have a lot of history and knowledge of Spa, having raced there on multiple occasions in both GT3 and GT4 machinery as part of the British GT Championship. The pair finished a strong sixth in class during last year’s round in the Ardennes.
In fact, when the duo first took delivery of the new 992-spec Porsche 911 GT3 R this year, the entire Team Parker Racing crew conducted the car’s first shakedown at Spa, getting some valuable miles under their belt early.
Another factor with racing at Spa in late September is that the event shouldn’t feature anywhere near the levels of extreme heat that made the trips to Southern France and Northern Spain such a challenge.
Heading into the weekend, Jones and Malvern have managed to score points in every Le Mans Cup event so far this year, even if luck hasn’t gone their way in recent rounds – best illustrated by a questionable penalty at the start of the last race in Aragon, which effectively wrecked the pair’s race before turn one. The new Porsche has also been subject to additional weight under the championship’s Balance of Performance rules, which has greatly held the machine back. However, the car is due to have a 20kg weight break for this round.
Regardless, the pair still run fifth in the Le Mans Cup standings, and are still in with a shout of fighting their way up the table before the end of the season.
Nick Jones says: “Spa’s such an amazing place, and a real privilege to get to race there. As a driver you never forget how it feels to take corners like Eau Rouge and Blanchimont. They’ve made some changes to the track so it’s not quite as ‘thread-the-needle’ as it used to be, but they’re still incredible challenges – it’s like being strapped into a rollercoaster, flying by the seat of your pants each time! I’m hoping for a good performance for this one. It’s a track I’m much more familiar with and I’ve been training hard for it to get the weight down, and having that bit of lead out of the car as well should be a real boost for us. We’re going in with eyes on getting back on the podium.”
Scott Malvern says: “I’m really excited for Spa, it’s one of those few tracks that it always feels so special to go to. You just sense the history of the place and it’s a hugely challenging circuit, especially in a modern GT3 car. Now, corners like Eau Rouge are easy flat for the Pro drivers in GT3, which makes it incredibly fast and shows how far GT3 cars have come, even in a few years. So many of the corners offer a big challenge, and places like Blanchimont [the fast left-hand kink near the end of the lap] require nerves of steel. But it’s a track Nick and I know well, and the game plan will be to maximise what we can do in our stints and pit stop and be sure to take any chances that come our way. On outright pace it’s no secret that we’ve struggled with the BoP recently, so hopefully the weight changes will bring us closer, and rain would be a great leveller. It’s been known to do that at Spa every now and then…”
Action for the Michelin Le Mans Cup gets underway with free practice on Friday, September 22, before qualifying takes place on Saturday morning at 11:55 CEST. The 110-minute race is scheduled for 16:05 CEST on Saturday. All sessions will feature live timing, and both qualifying and the race will be streamed live via the Le Mans Cup YouTube channel.