Wells and Noble shine in Le Mans Cup at Monza
Tony Wells and Colin Noble secured a fine third position at Monza last weekend. Following …
Colin Noble and Tony Wells are the winners in today’s final round of the 2020 Michelin Le Mans Cup at Portimão after an inspired call from the pits and fantastic restart from Colin to vault them from fifth into second and within an arm’s reach to the lead. With the #26 Graff Racing entry incurring a drive-through time penalty, Colin remined behind close behind to ensure the victory without the risk.
A second victory for Nielsen Racing on the Portuguese track, and a second win of the year after the 4 Hours of The Bend, sees the #7 pairing classified fifth on the championship.
On the other side of the garage, Rob Hodes and Garrett Grist were forced to retire in the second half of the two-hour race, after an issue with the Duqueine #10. The team as whole, full of confidence and enjoying success, now prepare for Sunday’s European Le Mans Series finale.
#7 Tony Wells & Colin Noble
Qualified – P7 1:37.848
Race – VICTORY P1 after 67 laps
#10 Rob Hodes & Garett Grist
Qualified – P15 1:38.766
Race – Retired after 36 laps
“That was unexpected but a very worthy win for us and the team together. Nielsen Racing were definitely due this result after all of their hard work and effort throughout the season and today the race pace was excellent. We, as the drivers, took our chances and the team played out a great strategy and then [after the safety car] I had some good laps to put us in the position and the win. I didn’t cross the line in P1; I knew he had the drive-through penalty. I knew I could go for the win on the track, but really, there was no point in taking risks. This win feels very good!”
“It’s a fantastic result, but yes, a bit of a welcome surprise. We went from lapping and around and then all of a sudden, the race came to us. The last 15-minutes were unbelievably exciting and I’m so happy to get a win out of that. It has been a tough season for us, and today we thought we’d be maybe fourth. We took our chance with the Safety Car and then Colin drove a tremendous final stint, passing Alex Kapadia and moving up. He would have won even without the penalty for the race leader, but he hung back knowing the situation, and he was in the mood, the win was there and we took it.”
Stuart Moseley, LMC Team Manager
“It is obviously a great way to finish the season for us in Le Mans Cup. Yes, it would have been nice to cross the line first, but equally, we knew that the team and Colin had done enough on those final laps to net us our first win of the season. So many positives for us, but unfortunately a problem with car #10, but that’s racing, there are always plusses and minuses; it is so good to finally get this win!”
