The European Le Mans Series debut of Murphy Prototype Racing came to a premature halt today (Sunday 1 April) at Le Castellet, France, after technical problems at the two hour mark forced the team to retire from the first race of the season. However the team is confident of bouncing back and will be ready for Circuit Zolder on the 20th of May.
A solid qualifying from Warren Hughes on Saturday saw Murphy Prototype Racing start the race in sixth place and after a series of fast laps, Warren Hughes drove the team into third place. Technical problems at the first pit stop slowed down his progress but he made up time before making way for his co-driver the Italian Luca Moro.
A fire in the car halted Luca Moro’s progress but the Italian is confident that the team can build on the excellent rapport and talent in the team and go on to have a successful first season in the European Le Mans series.
Commenting, Murphy Prototype Racing founder Greg Murphy said:
“We’re obviously very disappointed with today and how it ended. We had a very impressive qualifying session yesterday and looked to build on that today. A lot of time was spent last night working on the car and that had a positive effect as Warren was third at one point and had some of the early fastest laps.”
“Everyone at Murphy Prototype Racing can take heart from this weekend – we were quickest on the track in the early stages. We showed in qualifying, and from our time in the race that we can challenge the best of them and that bodes well going forward.”
Also speaking after the race Luca Moro said:
“The way today ended was very frustrating. After the great start we had yesterday and all the work from the team over the weekend it’s a real shame.”
“Warren had a fantastic start today and was brilliant in qualifying yesterday. We’ll spend more time testing the car and work together going forward. The team of drivers is really strong and it’s a joy to work alongside Warren and Jody. We have great potential and I’m confident we’ll bounce back from today.”
Source : Murphy Prototypes