Vincent Abril continued to shine as he put in an impressive drive in the Le Mans Cup at the weekend (July 14-15), claiming a podium at Le Castellet with Iron Lynx.
After some eye-catching performances in the team’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 at Barcelona and Le Mans, the French racer will compete for the remainder of the season with the outfit, aside from a possible clash of commitments for teammate Hiroshi Hamaguchi.
Rapid in the two free practice sessions, where he finished with the third fastest times in GT3, the pair started the 110-minute-long race on pole position following a brilliant effort from Hamaguchi. Enjoying a trouble-free run through much of the first hour, despite Full Course Yellows on track, the race would turn during the mandatory pit stop.
As Vincent climbed aboard the car, a misunderstanding meant the team was penalised with a one-second stop-go penalty for coming in short of the required stop time. Having run second at one point, the Frenchman put in a sterling drive as he battled to recover a top-three finish.
Vincent was one of the fastest GT3 drivers, as well as being consistently quick on track. His hard work paid off in the closing moments, as he fought his way past Anders Fjordbach to claim third position, and a place on the podium.
The next race of the Le Mans Cup season is due to take place at Motorland Aragón over the weekend of August 23/24, though the team’s entry is dependent on Hamaguchi’s business endeavours. Either way, Vincent will return to the Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for the final races at Spa-Francorchamps in September and Portimão in October.
Vince Commented,“Tony had a decent qualifying which put us in a fighting chance of a podium. After a great start he took us up to fourth, but through the stint dropped back to our starting place in sixth. I knew we could race from here and achieve a great result and had my eyes set on the podium.
“When I jumped in the car I quickly managed to get us up to fourth again, and subsequently got involved in an intense battle for the last spot on the podium. Unfortunately an issue with the car meant we had to pit, and our possible race for the podium was sadly gone. However we keep our heads up and keep pushing for the result we deserve. A big thank you to the whole of the Nielsen Racing crew, onto the next one!”
