Pegasus Racing has already achieved its 2014 target. When the no. 29 Morgan-Nissan crossed the finishing line in the Sarthe, the little team from Strasbourg became part of the Le Mans 24-Hours legend. Since then the squad’s prototype has taken part in the third and fourth rounds of the European Le Mans Series at the Red Bull Ring and Paul Ricard. The two four-hour races weren’t exactly a cakewalk for Niki Leutwiler, Jonathan Coleman and Julien Schell even though they managed to score a few points in Austria. Unfortunately, their outing in the south of France ended in retirement. At present they are preparing for the final round of the season in Portugal while looking ahead to 2015 and running a second Morgan, which will soon take to the track.
Pegasus Racing has had an up-and-down season since its return to top-level European endurance racing, although at this stage of the season the overall progress is encouraging. Let’s just wind back the film a few months. After buying a Morgan-Nissan LM P2 the team found out it was on the reserve list for the Le Mans 24 Hours. Just after it had raced in the first round of the ELMS on the Silverstone circuit it was put on the list of teams invited to take part in the Sarthe classic. This meant a busy month of May for the outfit from Strasbourg because it also had to go to Imola where it broke its duck in the ELMS by clinching sixth place on the Italian circuit. At Le Mans the team had a nightmarish qualifying session when the car hit the wall, which turned into a dream in the race itself after it saw the flag in 18th place overall and 10th in LM P2.
In July Pegasus went to the Red Bull Ring in Austria. “We learned a lot in free practice. Unlike our rivals who had already competed there in 2013, we didn’t know the track,” says Julien Schell. “But we did a good job as we made a great start to the race in terms of times. We were lying fifth for three-quarters-of-an-hour until a suspension wishbone let us down. Although we lost fifteen laps for repairs we fought back to finish seventh in the category.”
Just under two months later the team was back on familiar territory. Pegasus Racing had raced on the Paul Ricard circuit when it was running the Courage in 2010, and won there in Formula Le Mans the following year. The race began with a big scare for Niki Leutwiler when one of the Zyteks hit the wall on the run down to the first corner. The Swiss driver then had to stop on several occasions. “We weren’t able to use the engine from the start of the year, which meant that we exceeded the quota of two engines for the whole season laid down in the regulations,” sums up Schell. “Thus, we were handed a 2-minute stop and go penalty. Half-an-hour after our first stop Niki had a puncture on the left-hand front tyre. We changed all four wheels and then we had to do it all over again because of another puncture this time on the right-hand rear tyre. Shortly before half distance Jonathan stopped at the end of the main straight with transmission failure.”
Despite this setback the team is full of beans at the idea of shaking down its second Morgan-Nissan in a few days. Schell tells us about the direction that this expansion of the team represents. “We wondered if it would be the right moment to enter it at the end of the season, but decided it’s better not to rush things. We’re going to carry out a programme of tests to train the guys comprising the line-up who will drive the car in 2015.” So no changes in the Pegasus Racing squad on 18-19 October at Estoril for the fifth and final round of the European Le Mans Series, where it will be racing with the firm intention of finishing 2014 on a high note with a good result.