The FRL takes on Le Mans in the month of September as the first of two events take place in the normally sleepy municipality in the Northwest of France. The first event held lastnight was on the Bugatti circuit in night time conditions. The action was sharp from the drop of the green flag in the first heat all the way to the concluding lap of the third.
In Heat 1, the grid order was reversed based on the series points standings, which afforded Preston Liberatore a choice position out front early that he looked poised to capitalize on. Into the first chicane, Ethan Maestri lost control of his 911 on the outside curbing, sending him nearly into a spin and causing quite a few cars to stack up and ping-pong through Dunlop. Andrew Steppat danced cleanly through the fray and gave Chase to the #054. In lap two, Ghabe Stouffer and Travis Billingsley were already engaged in an epic struggle for P3. Ethan Maestri was able to take advantage of the two battling Ferrari's and shot the gap between them after a brilliant exit from Garage Vert and down the straight into Chemin aux Boeufs. Paul Maestri would also close the gap and weas there to advance two positions as Travis made contact trying to move alongside Ethan in Turn 9. As Travis fought to maintain control, Ghabe moved wide to avoid and Paul was able to make the pass around both. Seconds later, Ghabe would have an unfortunate drop from the server, ending his race, something that would plague his entire evening.
In lap 4, Preston would have visibility issues and cut too far into Chemin aux Boeufs, bouncing his F50 into the air, Andrew so close behind, drove his McLaren directly under the flying Ferrari and inherited the lead. Preston, undamaged, resumed his race in P2 but being hounded by Ethan Maestri in the #3 911. Ethan would bump him the next lap in Chemin but quickly gave him back the position. On the next lap, Ethan would get another solid run out of Garage Vert and would secure P2. Travis and Paul would fight nose to tail in the final laps, with Paul swinging wide in several corners and nearly relinquishing P4 to the #18.
Heat 2 began with Andrew and Ethan running side-by-side in Turn 1, then nose-to-tail for the rest of the heat. Andrew would maintain position, but Ethan challenged hard on several laps. In the end, they crossed the line separated by only 0.160 seconds. For the #06 McLaren driven by Seth Jensen, the start of Heat 2 was nothing short of miraculous. Starting from P7, he would jump 4 positions off the line and assumed P3 into the Dunlop Chicane. Paul Maestri would tap his rear bumper and send him wide into Le Musee. Travis and Ghabe had immediately rejoined their fight from the first heat and Seth was an unwitting opponent for the remainder of lap 1 until a wide line through Raccordement ended his run for a Top 5 position. Another wide line through Turn 11 would cause him to give up P7 to Tony Tyree. Preston and Paul would have a knock-down dragout match for P3 that Paul eventually claimed, with Travis Billingsley nearly catching Preston to make it a three-way battle for the podium at the end.
Heat 3 was an impressive start for the entire field as the Dunlop Curve would clog with 6 cars, three abreast and two rows deep jockeyed for position to begin the final heat. Ethan Maestri would start P8, but got a monster start off the line and shot up to P2 before the Dunlop Chicane. Seth Jensen got another fantastic start and skampered off into the night in the opening lap. Into lap 2, Ethan caught the #06 McLaren in the Dunlop Chicane and tried to move alongside in La Chapelle. Seth shut the door, but fenders rubbed and Seth got kicked wide. Ethan was tapped from behind and turned sideways as well. Losing positions to Travis, Andrew and Preston. He would once again catch Preston as the F50 drifted off the ideal line through Chemin aux Boeufs, bouncing off his driver door and into P3. The fight for Preston would continue as Paul Maestri was there to try and pass. For several subsequent corners, sheet metal on very expensive vehicles was caved in, until Preston asserted control and secured P4. From there, the field strung out and Travis made up for two less than stellar heats by nabbing the win.
On the night, there was close racing to be had all over the track. Passing was tight here compared with most tracks, the scratches and dents were evidence of that fact. But the closeness in performance among all the drivers made for a most exciting evening of racing. Andrew Steppat take the event with a 1.33 overall average over the three events. Ethan Maestri scored a 2.33 average finishing position for second place on the podium. Travis Billingsley and Preston Liberatore tied with an average place of 3.66 with the tiebreaker going to Travis with the fastest clean lap posted between the two drivers, a 1:41.325. The points battle is shaken again as the battle for a Top 5 place continues to remain narrow. The FRL waits in the French countryside for September 27th and a long enduro event at the famed Le Mans Old Mulsanne circuit.
