The Dunlop European Le Mans Series (ELMS) teams returned to the track in Hungary after a two month break. Autumn arrived with a vengeance, with both qualifying and the three hour race taking place today in cold and wet conditions.

Dunlop squads took pole position in both LMP2 and LMGTE classes with conditions proving difficult and red flags being a particularly regular feature in the later LMP session. Murphy Prototypes lapped nearly two seconds faster than the nearest LMP2 rival, while the JMW Motorsport Ferrari claimed GTE pole with a margin of over five seconds to the next in class.

The race began at 16.00 hours by which time both track and ambient temperatures were just 15 degrees centigrade. With the earlier rain leaving the track very greasy, and conditions still decidedly wet, teams were faced with a tough decision on tyres for the start of the race. Dunlop teams were split in consensus and a mix of full wets and intermediates were fitted for the race start.

Incidents occurred from the start due to the conditions, including a first lap accident for standings leaders Thiriet by TDS Racing which cost four laps and ended their race win hopes. Jota suffered from a debris puncture in the first hour of the race which cost a lap. Both Murphy Prototypes and Jota continued to put in great lap times as the conditions changed throughout the race with Jota’s Oliver Turvey registering times some ten seconds per lap faster in the Oreca than the race leaders at the mid-way point, and in the latter stages Brendan Hartley in the Murphy Prototype Oreca was closing down on the leader, reducing the gap each lap by four or more seconds. It was mid-stint on lap 65 of 99 that Hartley set the fastest lap of the race on Dunlop’s medium compound slick tyres.

Thiriet by TDS finished sixth and scored enough to hold the lead going into the final round of the series. Murphy Prototypes finished second with Jota finishing third giving them the points to rise to third in the standings.

In the GTE class, Dunlop’s sole runner suffered from electrical problems that necessitated extensive time in the pits and the squad finished eighth in class.

Paul Bryant, Key Account Manager for Endurance Racing: “It’s disappointing that our teams had trouble today. We went through full wets, intermediates and slicks through the race and it was a case of who was on the right tyres at the right moment as the track evolved from when the lights turned green to the chequered flag. With our experience at the Nürburgring we know that we can win in changeable conditions but it didn’t happen for our teams today. Time in the pits to change is very costly in a three hour race so it was down to who got the timing and decisions right. It’s a shame that Thiriet had the first lap contact because I’m sure they would have had a good result otherwise. Similarly without the debris puncture Jota would have been challenging for the lead, if not indeed winning the race. It’s good to go into the last round leading the battle.”