Pierre Ragues has recently completed another triple stint in the cockpit of the #50 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R as the Larbre Competition team continue to chase a top-five in GTE-Am at Le Mans.

 

It was a generally trouble-free night for the Larbre team with Yutaka Yamagishi and Jean-Philippe Belloc both adding to their driving time in the incredible night-time conditions at Circuit de la Sarthe. 

 

All drivers fought hard to get the team up into the top five, but a stop/go penalty lost the team around three minutes of time. The penalty was taken during Belloc’s stint as a result of Yamagishi speeding in a yellow zone earlier in the night. 

 

Belloc handed over the reins of the car to Ragues with 12h45 of the 24-hours remaining. Like in his previous stints, Pierre was on impressive form as he set a series of fastest laps. His speed and consistency was impressive and he set the team’s fastest lap in GTE-Am with eight hours left to run. A lap of 3:57.7 helped the team keep in touch with the competitive battle for the top-five.

 

Pierre said: “I love driving at Le Mans in the dark conditions, but it’s even more special when you get the sunrise shift – heading into the final third of the race. The boys had done a good job to keep us in contention for the top-five. The only issue was a stop/go, which lost us three minutes of time. We kept pushing though and by the time I got back into the car, I was ready to deliver another strong triple stint. My pace was good and I felt very comfortable in the Corvette. I was able to set some of the fastest laps, including the best lap for our team so far in this race. I have just handed over to Yutaka who will aim to continue our positive push back towards the top-five, hopefully.”