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Junior: More drivers in the mix

The Junior class only expanded on its unpredictability on the second day of heats with the list of winners increasing. New names to the list were Marlon Hernandez (FRA) who wisely chose wet tires for heat one, with Antonis Sofroniou (GBR), Milan Kok (NED) and Ben McDowell (IRL) all doing the same behind and being rewarded with gains of 31, 29 and 21 places!

Alessandro Tudisca (BEL) has been knocking on the door of a win all week and made it there in his first heat this morning with Aaron Walker (GBR) also impressing in the dry conditions to win from 16th on the grid! Oliver Gray (GBR) and James Wharton (AUS) were the only ones to add to their list of wins and are now looking strong at the head of the class.

However, ahead Oliver Bearman (GBR) is still looking like the driver to beat with a second and third place today still leaving him at the top of the pile. He narrowly missed out on a third victory to Robert de Haan (NED) in the final race of the day which was one of many to go all the way to the wire.

Tomorrow will see the final heats take place before the points are added up. Then in the afternoon the Final C and Final B races will take place where only a win will be good enough to take you any further in the event.

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Master: Poncelet and Bielande on front row for Pre-Final

A second in his final heat today was good enough for Julien Poncelet (FRA) to secure a pole position start in the Pre Final on Saturday. It’s a result that will be well received in Le Mans, but he’s going to have tough competition in Sebastian Bielande (BEL) who will line up alongside. Bielande came out on top when the pair fought for victory in today’s heat which will give the Belgian confidence, although Poncelet may argue he didn’t need to fight for the win.

Either way, it sets up a thrilling contest, but we cannot discount the other front runners in the field. Kenneth Hildebrand (EST) will start third and has been getting stronger and stronger as the weekend has progressed. Eric Chapon (FRA) and Stephen Nuvolini (FRA) will be keen to win on home soil in fourth and fifth as will Johan Renaux (FRA) who ended his heats strongly with a win putting him eighth for the Pre Final.

With 33 already qualified for that Pre Final there is still one more place up for grabs which will be decided through Final B. Jussi Kohtala (FIN) and Angelo Ardito (ITA) will be on the front row and are going to have a tough task staying there with only first place good enough to race on Saturday.

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Mini: Slater on pole for Pre Final

The heats have now been completed in the Mini class with Freddie Slater (GBR) taking a comfortable pole position. The British driver put himself at the top with another win in his third heat today. Freddie’s worst finish in the heats so far has been third place and the reigning Vice-Champion is looking in a very strong position to go one better in 2019.

Joining him on the front row will be Kean Nakamura-Berta (JPN) who has also took a win in the heats along with Christian Miles (USA) who was off to a winning start this morning. Harry Burgoyne (GBR) splits the pair in the standings to line up on the inside of row two with Leo Robinson (GBR) and William Go (CZE) on row three.

Sebastiano Pavan (ITA) hasn’t quite been able to reflect his qualifying pace and a bad result in heat two for Max Garcia (USA) has seen his pole position turn into an eighth at the end of the heats. Brandon Carr (GBR) and Pacome Weisenburger (FRA) are down the field after some disappointing luck, but at least they have made the finals and can take a rest day tomorrow with Final B taking place at 16:30 GMT+2 tomorrow with Maximillian Dexter (ARE) and Angelo Nugnes (ARG) heading the field.

Minime (FFSA) / Cadet (MUK): Win number two for Knight

Zach Knight (GBR) has put himself in a strong position to grab pole for the Pre Final on Saturday after taking his second win in the third heat today. He was kept honest by Andrei Dabija (IRL) but did enough on the final lap to take the win. Tadgh Buckley (IRL), Michael Gray (IRL) and Jack Buckley (IRL) all moved through the field well to round out the top five whilst Alex O’Grady (IRL) and Hugo Martinello (FRA) struggled to finish sixth and eleventh respectively.

All has given Knight an advantage out front, but there is still one more race tomorrow where anything can happen, as often does in the IAME International Final!

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Senior – Van Splunteren remains unbeaten

After a hat-trick of wins’ yesterday Joey van Splunteren (NED) would have two more heats today in very different conditions. But his confidence seems to be growing every time he hits the track, a worrying sign for the rest of the field who have yet to find a way to beat him!

However, there are other drivers who are certainly not far away when it comes to results. Ben Barnicoat (GBR) has now picked up three wins with Rivaldo van der Westelaken (NED) and Enzo Leveque (FRA) taking two each. The racing today saw us climb to eleven different heat winners with Edoardo Villa (ITA), Elie Goldstein (BEL), David Leguem (FRA) and Xavier Handsaeme (BEL) all joining that list. The racing highlighted that the field is extremely close in Senior with eight of the eleven races going right down to the wire!

From pole position Gus Lawrence (GBR) has continued to look strong with Top-Three finishes in all of his heats today, Romain Leroux (FRA) has been consistent with two second-place finishes. Penalties have hurt the chances for some with Thomas Turner (GBR) one of those and O’Neill Muth (GER) also picked up his first bad result of the weekend giving him some work to do tomorrow.

At this stage, it is very hard to predict where exactly you are going to end up on the grid unless you are Joey van Splunteren who would need a disaster to stop him from being at the front now. Tomorrow will see the completion of the heats before Final C and Final B which have a reputation of being chaotic races with only one qualifying space available in each.

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Pro – MacDonald takes much-needed wins!

After a first corner he’ll quickly want to forget about in heat one yesterday, Dean MacDonald (GBR) was clearly unfazed today as he recovered the best way possible with two heat wins. Both races were far from straightforward though, Harry Thompson (GBR) and Franck Chappard (FRA) presented early challenges in heat two leaving MacDonald briefly down in third. But he would quickly fight back all of which had allowed the likes of Callum Bradshaw (GBR), Juho Valtanen (FIN) and heat one winner Morgan Porter (GBR) to close in.

But as MacDonald upped his pace only Chappard was able to stay with him and despite constant pressure, there would be no mistakes from MacDonald who took the win. Behind Porter finished a solid third with Bradshaw taking another fourth and Thompson fifth. Heat three saw MacDonald start the race by going backwards as he and Lorenzo Travisanutto (ITA) would treat us to a brilliant battle for fourth which ended in a brief trip over the grass for the Italian. Up ahead Thompson, Nikolas Pirrtilahti (FIN) and Jorge Carlos Pescador (ESP) had escaped chasing after some much-needed results.

Lap six would provide big drama, as the rain started to fall many were left caught out on the brakes into turn one with Travisanutto amongst those who lost time. It seemed to play into MacDonald’s hands who adjusted quickly and helped himself to a second win, with Valtanen second, Porter third and Taylor Barnard (GBR) gaining fourteen places to finish fourth.

There is still one more heat to come tomorrow, after which we will know who will be on pole position for the Pre Final. At the moment you’d have to say Porter is the favorite to do so with Thompson hot on his tail.

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Super Shifter – Bordas and Piirimägi give us three different winners

Yesterday’s wet conditions saw the Belgian Christof Huibers (BEL) settle in the best taking a comfortable victory. But the dry conditions today would create a different story altogether.

After qualifying on the front row Quique Bordas (ESP) proved he has what it takes to win the IIF. The Spaniard quickly took the lead from Sten Dorian Piirimägi (EST) and pulled away from the field with only Thierry Delre (BEL) for company. Delre set the fastest lap as he mounted a challenge, but would fall just short of a victory with Huibers a solid third place.

A second and a fourth was a good set of results so far for Piirimägi, but to challenge for pole position you need victories and the Estonian took the third in very convincing fashion to prove he should not be forgotten about this weekend! From the off Piirimagi was in control and went on to win by 3.8 seconds ahead of Rodrigo Ferreira (PRT) who looked impressive on his run-up from fifth.

With Top-Five finishes for Delre, Bordas and Huibers it seems any one of four drivers could be on pole come Saturday with the Super Shifter class seemingly getting closer every race.