On Saturday the 15th of June, Elkhart Lake's Road America circuit was the stage of the delayed third round of the RaceDepartment Le Mans Series - Season 4.
The long wait since the Sebring event in April had left some teams worn out in their garages, but had also revitalized others. One of the latter teams was SimRace Vereniging Nederland (SRVN), who took victory after a clean 10-hour run. Their win was another proof that consistency wins long distance races. Robin de Jong, Jan Wim Ensing and René Hoogterp weren't the fastest drivers around the course, but they kept their car out of trouble and their pace close to that of their fastest rivals. At the end of the race they held a solid portion of a lap to the runner up.
The LMP2 class turned out to be a Hungarian affair between Hell Racing Team Hungary and SIMCO Hungarian Team in which SIMCO dropped from first place during a driver swap and handed victory over to their fellow countrymen, but rivaling team of Hell Racing. It's the third time this season that SIMCO relinquishes victory after late stage problems. They'll be looking for justice at Le Mans - the final venue of the season.
In the GT classes trouble touched even the best. Simracing For Holland recovered remarkably from not having qualified and having to start at the back of the grid. The team added yet another GT2 victory to its impressive list. All early leaders found themselves in trouble and eventually only the Brigata Orso team was able to stick around. The third running car - SRVN's sister car - was already several laps down after an hour. Although the NoLimit Motosport team fielded the early P1 leader and one of the fastest cars in that class, the success ultimately came from their GT1 team. Müller/Fege/Schaller/Goedlicke managed to succeed where their team mates could not, salvaging victory from a tough race which many of their competitors lost in incidents.
Missed the 10 hours of Road America? You can watch back the full 10 hour race on our
YouTube channel in three parts
here,
here and
here.
Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans 2013
The real challenge is yet to come, though. The final race of the season will be the RDLMS 24 Hours of Le Mans. The ultimate place to avenge poor luck in previous rounds and an even greater venue to gain perpetual glory. June may be the month of the ACO's 24 Hours of Le Mans, but July is RaceDepartment's with a test event on the 3rd, qualifying on the 9th and the race on the 13th and 14th of the month.
Make sure you check it out on the
forum, because there are some spots left on the entry list!
Calendar
July 3, 2013 - Le Mans Official Test Event
July 9, 2013 - Le Mans Official Qualifying
July 13 & 14 - Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans
