Sean makes history at Le Mans event

Wicklow town’s Sean Doyle has become the first Irishman to qualify a car in the European Le Mans Series LMP2 Class.

Round three of this year’s saw the Murphy Prototypes Endurance Racing Team score a convincing eighth place finish.

Murphy Prototypes, an Irishowned but UK-based endurance racing team, is headed up by Dublin businessman Greg Murphy and is Ireland’s sole representative in the LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype Class 2) category in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and the 24-Hours of Le Mans.

Twenty-two-yearold Sean put in a consistent and solid performance alongside his two team mates, Channel 4 F1 technical expert Karun Chandhok and Italian businessman, Guglielmo Bellotti, in the team’s Nissan-powered Oreca 03R prototype sportscar.

Having shown good pace during the 90-minute free practice session on Saturday morning, Sean was selected to qualify the car and, as a result, made history by becoming became the first ever Irishman to take part in an LMP2 qualifying session in the history of the ELMS.

Sean’s efforts placed the team’s Oreca 03R tenth on the grid. The team was understandably pleased with the performance, as the set up on the car was more in step with the requirements for the race than just one quick lap.

Belotti was to drive first and, followed by Chandock. With just over 90 minutes of the race remaining, Chandhok swapped with Sean, who took the car all the way to the finish in a solid eighth.

‘ The car was great throughout my double-stint and I felt the most comfortable I had ever been in it,’ Sean said.

‘We were in a strong position at the end where, unless someone in front had a problem, we were unlikely to catch them and we were so far ahead of the car behind us, we were unlikely to be caught. So it was a case of not making any mistakes and bringing the car home for the team, which I was very proud to do.

‘Once again, I have to thank Greg for giving me such a fantastic opportunity.’

Sean is with the team as part of Murphy Prototypes’ young driver development programme .

The young driver sent his thanks Shane Connolly of SKC Heating and Plumbing Rathnew, Canus of Wicklow Tyres and Miguel Marini of Oxygen Health.