Pierre Ragues put up a fierce battle for the podium in this weekend’s 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas but had to be content with a fifth place finish by the chequered flag after a closely fought FIA World Endurance Championship event in the USA. 

 

Ragues and his Team SARD Morand colleagues finished the day into night race just 20 seconds off the podium and with only one second separating fourth, fifth and sixth after six hours of racing around the impressive 5.513km circuit. 

 

For Pierre, the weekend’s race was his first taste of the Circuit of The Americas with its wide track layout and undulating nature posing a unique challenge for race drivers. The event captured the spirit of Le Mans, starting off in daylight before finishing with a fantastic night time atmosphere. 

 

Immediately from free practice on Thursday, Pierre was put to the test as the team accumulated 71 laps in hot and sweltering conditions. Working on baseline set-up of the #43 Morgan Evo SARD and Dunlop tyres, the team made improvements to end the opening day fifth in the competitive LMP2 class and 14th overall. 

 

Saturday’s practice session allowed for the usual fine-tuning ahead of qualifying and the team was cautiously optimistic third in the class. Qualifying was not as smooth as hoped with the drivers settling for fifth after not regaining their earlier feeling with the car.

 

Pierre’s team-mate Oliver Webb started the race with a double stint before handing over to Archie Hamilton. Pierre then took over for this first ever race stints at COTA. The Frenchman put in an excellent run on his race debut at the track and helped the team remain firmly in contention for a podium finish. Pierre’s opening stint was particularly competitive and despite picking up some tyre degradation and oversteer on his second stint, he was pleased with his contribution to the team’s race result.

 

Ultimately, the Franck Muller sponsored team took fifth place in LMP2 and a top-ten result overall – one-tenth-of-a-second from their closest rivals and 21 seconds from a podium. All in all, there are plenty of positives for the team to take from the car’s performance and for the drivers to take to the next round of the FIA WEC, which takes place at Fuji Speedway in Japan next month. 

 

Pierre commented: “I have really enjoyed my first race at the Circuit of The Americas, and will take away happy memories from an enjoyable weekend. As a team, we worked patiently through free practice to make improvements to the car and to my own driving style to get everything possible out of the car and myself. By the race, I felt confident to push and I was pleased with my performance, particularly my first stint which was very strong. I had some tyre degradation and oversteer in my second stint, most likely as a result of the hot conditions. Still, we finished fifth in LMP2 but showed our podium potential and the teams were very evenly matched. I’d like to thank the team and my team-mates Oliver and Archie for a generally positive event, as well as my partners Group Auto and Sparco. Lots to be proud of this weekend. We can now look forward to Fuji, a track I know very well and which I enjoy, so I’ll definitely be targeting the podium.”