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of their High Class Racing-run Porsche 911 GT3 R, one of two Porsches on the grid this weekend after the second was withdrawn for the season opener in Barcelona.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.
