Pierre Ragues will make his return to the European Le Mans Series this weekend as he re-joins NewBlood by Morand Racing for the final two rounds of the 2014 season.

 

Ragues will line up alongside Christian Klien and Gary Hirsch in the #43 Morgan-Judd BMW with Dunlop tyres as the ELMS heads to Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France for the penultimate race of the season. 

 

The 4 Hours of Paul Ricard will be the home event for Pierre and the second event of the season with the Morand team. He joined the squad at the 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring back in July, in which the team finished fifth but demonstrating front-running pace.

 

Paul Ricard is a track that Pierre knows well from previous endurance tests and racing, so he will be confident of helping the NewBlood by Morand Racing team to mount a challenge for the podium, or even more.  The team has already shown it has the pace to chase for race wins this season and the Le Castellet circuit brings back happy memories; the team scored its best result to date at the French track coming second in the final ELMS race of 2013.

 

Pierre will once again benefit from the support of his personal backers Group Auto, and will hope to get up to speed quickly on home ground.

 

Pierre said: “My busy but exciting 2014 season continues at a fast rate as I move from rally back to the world of endurance racing. I am becoming very adept at switching category and I am looking forward to re-joining the NewBlood by Morand Racing team at Paul Ricard. It is very positive news for me to be with the team for the final two races of the season and to help them show their potential in the competitive ELMS championship. We have seen from Austria that we have a quick car with good tyres, so we have to look at maximising our performance potential at Paul Ricard – a track I know very well and that should suit our car. Together with Christian, Gary and the team, I am sure we will be able to put up a strong fight. Paul Ricard is, of course, my home race and it has special memories for me since I took the ELMS title together with Signatech-Alpine. I will use this memory to spur me on this weekend, but I’d like to thank Alpine for allowing me to pursue this opportunity, as well as Group Auto, who continue to support me.”

 

 

10:30-12:00 ELMS Free Practice 1

15:00-16:30 ELMS Free Practice 2

 

09:00-09:50 Qualifying

12:10 Pits Open

13:00-17:00 Race

 

1. Signatech Alpine 50 points

2. Jota Sport 46 points

3. Race Performance 39 points

4. Thiriet by TDS Racing 35 points

5. Greaves Motorsport 32 points

6. NewBlood by Morand Racing 25 points

7. Sebastien Loeb Racing 24 points

8. Greaves Motorsport 20 points

9. Pegasus Racing 14 points

10. Murphy Prototypes 4 points

11. Larbre Competition 2 points