The third round of the European Le Mans Series took place on Sunday 17th July at the Red Bull Ring, Austria. G Drive Jota competed with their Championship leading Gibson 015S chassis, plus 6 LMP2 teams powered by Gibson-Nissan engines.
The #38 Jota Gibson started the 4 hour race 3rd on the grid, with Giedo van der Garde at the wheel. Whilst in 2nd place they suffered an early setback after an unscheduled pitstop for a puncture pushed them back down the field to 16th. Van der Garde and second stint driver Simon Dolan pushed the Gibson hard and worked their way back up the LMP2 field.
The final hour of the race saw Harry Tincknell at the wheel and 2nd place for the team. Unfortunately, disaster struck when the Pegasus car spun at turn 2 and Harry hit him hard. After a quick bodywork change the team managed to get the car back out and finished the 4 hour race a credible 3rd. The puncture and crash made it a real battle to the end.
3rd place on the podium, fastest lap for the Gibson (by Van der Garde) and 7 points lead in the Championship, resulted in a successful weekend for the G Drive Jota team.
Gibson-Nissan powered cars finished a credible 3rd G Drive Jota, 4th SMP, 5th Algarve, 6th Greaves and 7th Panis Barthez.
Next stop Paul Ricard at the end of August.
