17th June 2018
First victory for Erin at Le Mans in 21 years
J. Jacobsen in the #14 GT18 racing in the small hours of Sunday morning
ErinSport’s #14 GT18 chassis claimed the first overall victory at Le Mans for the team since 1997 today. Completing 388 laps overall, they were able to beat rivals KHT, Maine and GBSC, with its sister #15 chassis finishing 5th. It had been holding 2nd place for much of the race, but a collision with one of the Scagliati GTE cars at just after 5:20 am forced it back into the pits for major repairs. The team were able to rebuild the front half of the drivetrain and get the car across the line.
Retired former CEO Marco Erin was at the race too, having recently celebrated his 76th birthday. While in charge of Erin, he saw the company to success at Le Mans in the 70s and late 80s, as well as their victories in 1995 and 1997. But, he struggled to replicate such success with the GT01 and GT09 LMP racers, making this a particularly special day. He said he was “immensely proud to see us win here once more”.
The two Scarlet GTE’s had a tougher race against the Merciel Corsaire’s and Bonham Fleming’s who raced very strongly, forcing Erin out of a podium finish in the class. Rising star Georgina Stevens suffered a tire blowout on her #55 car which knocked down its placing considerably, allowing the #56 car to finish ahead 5th in class after a tense final-few-laps battle with the #48 Sachiuri Sagitta.
This marks Erin’s 14th overall victory at Le Mans, having first raced here in 1951.
Full team details can be found here.
Disclaimer: all events depicted in this post are specifically for the Erin canon only and do not affect/are not related to any other similar posts from other companies.