Podium finish ‘is great for the team’
Bath-based racer Bailey Voisin finished second in the LMP3 category during his first ever race in the European Le Mans Series at Paul Ricard over the Easter weekend.
Voisin and his team, Finn Gehrsitz and Josh Caygill of United Autosports, actually came third over the line but, in post-race scrutineering, the second-place finishers Inter Europol Competition were disqualified for a non-compliant part which promoted United Autosports.
For Voisin, it means he has gained a podium in the first race of the last three seasons as he has moved up the motorsport ladder. Voisin won the Ginetta Juniors season-opener in 2020 and the European GT4 in 2021.
Caygill brought the #2 Ligier JS P320 in to podium contention after approaching the halfway point of the race, before handing over to Voisin who led the race in the LMP3 category before pitting with 90 minutes to go.
Gehrsitz then took the wheel, always running inside the topthree before Caygill finished his required bronze driver time, leading in the final hour before eventually bringing the #2 home in third.
Voisin said: “It’s great to be on the podium in my first ELMS race – a result I achieved with United in Euro GT4 last year.
“It’s a positive result for the team – they worked very hard with the three of us. Getting used to the traffic was interesting and now I can’t wait for Imola.”
ELSEWHERE, Josh Cook secured his first podium of the season during the first round of the British Touring Car Championship, held at Donington Park. Bath-based Cook was in action in his Rich energy BTC Racing Backed Honda Civic type R.
After qualifying, Cook was 16th but only 0.83 seconds off pole. Cook finished his first race in eighth before jumping to fifth in race two.
Cook began his final race in fifth and was soon up to fourth, challenging Dan Lloyd for third whilst also fending off a strong challenge from Adam Morgan. A five-car dice for the final podium spot saw Cook make his move on the penultimate lap to finish third.
IN the opening round of the British Superbike Championship at Silverstone, Josh Day - being the first and only competitor to win the
Ducati Trioptions Cup three times - was in action with his new team, competing in the Quattro Group British Supersport Championship and GP2 Championship.
Day is one of three riders in the Astro JJR Host-it Triumph team on one of their 765cc Supersport machines. After qualifying, Day began his first 18-lap race in 15th (13th in class) and finished tenth overall (eighth in class).
In his second 25-lap race, Day had a great wheel-to-wheel dice with Eunan Mcglinchey on his Gearlink Racing 600cc Kawasaki and the pair exchanged placed throughout until Mcglinchey got himself ahead on the penultimate lap as Day had to settle for seventh by just 0.49 of a second.
W SERIES has announced a new multi-year broadcast partnership with Sky Sports. This season sees ten races across eight Formula One Grand Prix weekends and Sky Sports will broadcast live coverage of every qualifying and race session. The three-year partnership represents W Series’ largest media investment to date.
Channel 4 will broadcast live and free-to-air coverage of the fourth race of the 2022 W Series season, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and show highlights of the other nine races from season three.
The W Series campaign begins with a double-header in Miami on 6-8 May, with Bath-born Jamie Chadwick vying to claim a hat-trick of titles.