KUALA LUMPUR – National racer Jazeman Jaafar concludes his first race with Polish racing outfit Team Virage’s new Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) line-up at the first round of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) in France.
At the Circuit Paul Ricard, Jazeman along with his two teammates – American Rob Hodes and Frenchman Gabriel Aubry – placed their Oreca 07 LMP car fifth in the Pro-Am category and 15th overall.
The 29-year-old Malaysian said although there was an incident during the four-hour race, the team walked away with many positives.
Hodes was hit in the second hour of the race and the car subsequently suffered damages, and the team incurred a stop-and-go penalty in the third hour.
“As a new team with a new car and new line-up, finishing fifth in the Pro-Am category gives us the motivation to do better for the season.
I believe that we have the potential to be at the front,” he said.
Jazeman had previously raced alongside Aubry in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2018, to which Jazeman believes their shared experience would benefit their current team.
“We share the same feedback for the car, and we also had the same engineers in 2018.
“This gives us a good foundation in terms of car setup and strategy during the race,” he added.
Jazeman also said the competition this year looks tough, and the team will have to take every opportunity to make the most of each race.
“We have to look at all the small details to give us the improvements we need in our performance on track,” he said.
The team crossed the chequered flag with a final time of 4h 1m 48.678s, with a best lap time of 1m 44.917s and a total of 8 pit stops.
All LMP2 teams currently use the Oreca 07 LMP car and the Gibson GK428 V8 engine with Goodyear tyres.
The ELMS will be heading to Italy for their next two races, with the second round at Imola on May 15 followed by Monza on July 3.
They then head to Barcelona, Spain for the fourth round on August 28, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on September 25, and the final race at Portimao, Portugal on October 16.
The ELMS consists of three categories, the LMP2 (Pro and Pro-Am), LMP3 and LM Grand Touring Endurance (GTE) and involves 42 cars with 125 drivers from various countries.
Jazeman is currently the only Malaysian driver in the racing series. – The Vibes, April 18, 2022.
