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John Schauerman and Wayne Boyd recorded their best result of the season on Saturday 15th July, claiming P5 in the Le Castellet Round of the Le Mans Cup, after an epic charge up the field from P17 in challenging, hot conditions.
The United Autosports Ligier JS P320s were strong from the off at Circuit Paul Ricard this week. The #22 and #23 topped the timing boards in FP1, with Boyd (#23) clocking the only sub-1 minute 51 lap in a 30-strong field of LMP3 contenders – and in FP2, the team backed up their results with a solid P3 and P4.
Qualifying set the grid with work to do for both cars, and the intense temperatures made the opening stint more challenging for Bronze-graded drivers Gerry Kraut (#22) and John Schauerman (#23). Within 15 minutes, however, Schauerman had gained five places, running P12 in the #23 with his sights set on a haul of championship points.
At the mid-way point, the United pit crews pulled off two slick pitstops, with both cars posting 2 minute 40 second services – the fastest times in the LMP3 pitlane for the mandatory timed stop. Gerry and John got out, the two Pro drivers jumped in, and the team settled in for the second half of racing.
In the #23, multi-European Le Mans Series LMP3 champion Wayne Boyd powered up the field to P6 – squeezing the 40-second gap to the leader down to just 12.4 seconds at the checkered flag. The podium was coming into view for the Northern Irish racer when a FCY in the final 15 minutes took away valuable race time, slowing his final push to the line – however, a post-race ruling saw the #23 gain another position, promoting them to a top-five finish.
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CAR #23
QUALI P17 | RACE P5
John Schauerman: “The heat made it very challenging out there, it really was a test of endurance. I’m glad I was able to gain some places before handing over to Wayne, who smashed it as usual and got us into P5.”
Wayne Boyd: “Overall, I’m really happy with that result – our car has been so fast all year, we just haven’t had the results to properly show it … a bit of bad luck in every race. But that one, to get from P17 and finish P5 … I’m really pleased, that’s good points on the board. Big thank you to the United Autosports team, and to John for doing a cracking job in the heat.”
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