The third round of the European Le Mans Series saw a season-best fifth-place finish for the all-American #10 Duqueine M30-D08 crew, with the drivers coming through from the back of the field in changing conditions in what it was the first into the night ELMS race held at Paul Ricard.
In Le Mans Cup, the #10 of Rob Hodes and Garett Grist crossed the line in seventh position after surviving a treacherous race, with the former holding on slicks for 24 laps on a progressively wet track.
It was a cruel Saturday for the sister #7 crew, with a somewhat disappointing sixth-place finish in the Le Mans Cup with Tony Wells suffering a puncture following a collision whilst lapping the #23 United Autosports from the lead of the race. In the ELMS race, the #7 retired whilst leading the four-hour race.
Garett Grist, #10 LMC
“We think I had the best average out there for the race, which is awesome. I like racing in the wet but I don’t like racing in that much rain, even though in the middle stint it dried up a bit, the by the end if you were to stand with someone on the front of the car I wouldn’t have been able to see you! In the last four-five laps, I couldn’t see an apex, couldn’t see a car ahead of me and I was trying to hold position and come through the field and that was probably, by far the worst weather I’ve raced in.
“Overall, I think a good day, the car was good. Rob did a good job, the team did a good job, Rob especially was good! We made him stay out on the dries in the pouring rain and he did a really good job, and that was a big turning point for the race. It was massive for our strategy, to be able to do that because with the times he was able to run we would have lost more coming in to pit him for two laps.”
Charles R Crews #10 ELMS
“I think we extracted the full result that we could with what we were working with today. Very difficult conditions for Rob to start with and for Garett, we asked a lot of him when we put him out on slicks as the first LMP3 car to be the guinea pig. Everybody performed excellently, including the team, I think we were spot on strategy and pitstops and it’s very very nice leaving here knowing that we’ve maximised what we had.”
Rob Hodes #10 ELMS
“It was a crazy day with the rain and the night race, it was pretty wild! We’ve got a little bit fortunate with the first Full Course Yellow but then we also lost the podium with the Full Course Yellow. But all in all, Charles and Garett just did a phenomenal, phenomenal job! So, I guess we’re happy with that.
“I had a blast, I always have fun. I love night racing! I didn’t get to drive much when it was very dark, but I did in Practice, I loved the night driving.”