DragonSpeed emerged from an epic 64th running of the Sebring 12 Hours classic to finish fourth, just 0.4s short of a podium position on its LMP2 category debut. The Florida-based outfit used its home race to prepare for its European Le Mans Series campaign, which kicks off at Silverstone on 16 April. Regular drivers Henrik Hedman and Nicolas Lapierre were joined at Sebring by Nicolas Minassian with the team’s third ELMS pilot, Briton Ben Hanley, also present.
After DragonSpeed finished the February Sebring test second fastest, race organizers imposed balance of performance measures in the form of a smaller air restrictor on the team’s new Oreca O5J, the lone Nissan-powered car in the field. As the first practice session got under way, the full extent of their rivals’ sandbagging a few weeks earlier became clear. “It was quite a shock to find ourselves 18th fastest in a straight line,” said team principal Elton Julian. The Evel Knievel-liveried car ran consistently in the top five during official practice but qualifying yielded only ninth on the grid, 2.9s adrift of pole time.
Minassian took the green flag and ran sixth at the end of the first hour. Hedman took the wheel as the expected rain arrived and outperformed all expectations in the increasingly heavy downpour, keeping the car on the lead lap throughout his double stint. With lightning threatening the safety of course workers, the race was suspended just before the three-hour mark. The number 81 machine went a lap down when it refused to fire up for the restart of the race some two hours later and lost a further lap with a recurrence at the next pit stop, the problem later traced to a quirk of the car’s electrical system.
The stage was set for a remarkable recovery based on a series of sharp strategy calls by the team and the combined speed and racecraft of Lapierre and Minassian. Lapierre’s first stint lasted nearly three hours during which he climbed from 24th to fifth place, set the third fastest lap of the race, and most importantly put DragonSpeed back on the lead lap for good. Minassian returned to the fray in the ninth hour, dicing with the race-winning ESM and pole-sitting MSR cars before settling into fifth between the two Ligiers.
Over the final 90 minutes, DragonSpeed and Lapierre played the yellow flags to their advantage, joining the leading four cars with half an hour remaining. The penultimate yellow saw Lapierre jump from fifth to second, only to succumb to the superior top speed of one of the DP-class Corvettes on the next lap. The French star fended off the LMP2 Ligiers until the final caution, when ESM’s Pipo Derani won the restart by motoring past the two Corvette DPs down the front straight and into the lead. Having played his part in a thrilling climax, Lapierre come home fourth at the checkered flag just 4.3s behind the winner.
“This is a great start to our LMP2 program,” said Julian. “We almost overcame our enormous BoP handicap to claim a step on the podium, and the whole crew can be proud of that. Our faith in the two Nics really paid off in the conditions, which Henrik as a Bronze driver and prototype rookie up against the all-pro lineups also handled brilliantly. Beyond the satisfaction of today’s result, Sebring has given us the best possible preparation for the ELMS season ahead. It’s such a tough event I’d have to say it was worth a month of testing in terms of putting everyone through their paces and sharpening our teamwork. The crew is a real unit now and super pumped up for the ELMS opener.”