Following the success of both cars last time out at Silverstone, hopes were high for a successful weekend for the 360 Racing Ligier LMP3s at the Spa Francorchamps circuit, for the penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series.
There were dramas during free practice though, when the number 5 Ligier JSP3 of James Winslow had a fire during the first session. But the team did a remarkable job and still got him out for the following morning’s qualifying.
Cars 5 and 6 both struggled for pace in the brief session to set the grid for the afternoon’s four-hour race. “The car felt good and I think I got the most out of it,” Ross Kaiser said of car 6, “but there just wasn’t enough pace. We seemed OK in the middle sector, but at the beginning and end where the speed was, we were nowhere near the Normas”.
Kaiser was 10th quickest and Winslow 13th. Kaiser went on to take the first stint in car 6, while Winslow made way for John Corbett in car 5.
Kaiser made one place on the opening lap, but shared an exchange with the RLR Ligier, before settling into ninth. “It wasn’t a brilliant start, but we were ahead of some good cars,” he said.