Gary wins his second European Le Mans Series title, after coming second with his teammates in the last race of the season at Estoril, (Portugal). The trio Hirsch-Wirdheim-Lancaster end magnificently this season with a total of 2 victories, 1 pole position and a podium on the overall 5 races! This is the second major title for the Swiss racing driver, after his crowning at ELMS 2013 in the LM PC category.
Before the race only one point was separating Greaves Motorsport from being at the lead of classification. A lot of prudence was demanded for this crucial time, in order to ensure being ahead of car n°38 of Jota Sport and holding at least second place in the event of a victory from car n°46 of Thiriet by TDS.
The 4 Hours of Estoril was a race filled with incidents from start to finish and the result was hard earned by the whole team, overcoming several obstacles to their title aspirations. Jon Lancaster posted the second fastest time during Qualifying but on a subsequent lap Jon was adjudged to have slowed insufficiently in a Yellow Flag Caution Zone. The team received an eight place penalty on the grid as a result, making their task of winning the titles even harder. Björn Wirdheim drove the opening stint in the team’s Nissan-powered Gibson 015S prototype and skillfully avoided spinning cars on the first corner. Björn steadily worked his way up to the leaders handing the car over in third place.
Gary Hirsch was next in and faced conditions that, at times, were as difficult and challenging as can be imagined, with monsoon-like deluges flooding the track causing many competitors to lose control. Gary continued with his team-mate’s good work taking the lead before his first pit stop. The weather continued to be treacherous but Gary coped well handing the car over to Jon Lancaster for the run to the Chequered Flag. Jon had the situation under control but the Officials noticed that on his final pit-stop Gary had loosen his safety harness prematurely in the pitlane. The Stewards imposed a Stop and Go Penalty that the team elected to serve immediately. Jon got the car back on track with just enough time to spare and drove on to the finish, crossing the line in second position after four hours of non-stop action and scoring enough points to secure both the titles.
« I still can’t wrap my head around what just happened. We, along with the entire team of Greaves Motorsport secured by Kairos Technologies brought home one of the most sough after title in endurance motorsport. The competition was extremely fierce throughout the year and the team were amazing. The race itself was difficult and filled with obstacles. I experienced during my stint every possible type of conditions from a dry track to a completely soaked one, without any visibility », states Gary.
« I first want to thank the entire team for its impeccable job, Tim and Jacob Greaves for giving us the opportunity of fighting at the highest level possible throughout the year, and Paul Thomas, our engineer, the man in the shadow to who we owe so much. This is one of the most professional teams I have known. I want to thank the partners of the team as well as KNM, Altran, Bell, and the support of the city of Geneva. It was a true pleasure sharing the wheel with Jon and Bjorn, I’m so proud of what we shared and accomplished together ».
« It is now time for us to celebrate this victory before going ahead and planning soon the futur » concludes Gary.