Nick Jones and Sven Müller produced an incredible fightback to score a second Michelin Le Mans Cup podium finish of the season at Mugello last weekend.
Both drivers contributed to the #18 High Class Racing Porsche rising from 10th on the grid to third across a breathless 110 minutes of racing at the Tuscan circuit, with Müller pulling off a fine pass to snatch the final podium place inside the closing moment, and then managing heavy rear-end damage to the finish to bring the result home. It marks the second-successive podium finish for Jones and Müller, following their last outing together at the Road to Le Mans races back in June.
The championship’s first visit to Mugello was always going to be an unknown, with all teams have to start from scratch with setup and performance data for the new venue. The Team made a strong start with Müller finishing third fastest in opening practice, and the Porsche then becoming a fixture inside the top 10 across Friday.
That theme continued into Saturday, with Jones taking the wheel for qualifying and putting the car 10th on the grid. However, whatever the Porsche may lack in qualifying trim, it more than makes up for in the race, and two terrific stints from Jones and Müller helped the car scorch up the order during Saturday’s race.
Jones took the wheel for the start and enjoyed a stellar star, immediately scything his way up the order through the opening turns – San Donato, Luco and Poggio Secco – to run an incredible fifth in the GT3 order by the time the race settled down. Jones then found himself in a tight fight, having to defend from James Swift in the Blackthorn Aston while also keeping the pressure on the Iron Dames Lamborghini in the hands of Celia Martin ahead.
A handful of caution periods disrupted the race’s flow right before the pit window, with Jones pitting from sixth to hand to Müller. A slick stop from the High Class crew got the drivers swapped and fresh tyres onto the Porsche, and Müller rejoined with the bit between his teeth.
Soon he caught and passed David Fumanelli’s Kessel Racing Ferrari for fifth, and then homed in on the Iron Dames Lamborghini, pulling a great pass for fourth on driver Karen Gaillard. Then the challenge was on to catch the Steller Motorsport Audi R8 ahead. Müller put in a string of great laps to catch onto the tail of the Audi, now driven by former British GT4 champion Sennan Fielding. Müller made several attempts to pass but was blocked constantly by the Audi until he finally found space inside the Audi at turn 11, eventually completing the move out of Correntaio, but not before a clip from the Audi had left half of the Porsche’s rear splitter trailing.
Despite the loss of aerodynamic performance, Müller kept hold of the car to the flag, completing a superb recovery drive and bringing home a tremendous result for the team.
The result moves Jones into fourth in the GT3 Drivers’ Championship, just one point behind the rival Ferrari crew in third with only the season finale at Portimão in Portugal to go next month.
Nick Jones said: “That’s a superb result, and we worked so hard for it too. I’m really happy to be on the podium again, and we could so easily have had three in a row had it not been for the hit at Spa. It’s clear we have a really good race car, which is very consistent. On ultimate pace the Ferraris are still up the road but we’re best of the rest at the moment. I got a great start, made up a load of places and then just tried to keep things clean. If we can be close to the Ferraris from the start we can probably race them, but they seem to be able to make a break and then it’s very tough to catch up. Watching Sven in that last stint, I wasn’t nervous, even after the contact with the Audi. I’ve seen the good and the bad of this sport, and he’s a superb driver… that’s just a great result for us.”
Sven Müller said: “What a race! I think we made some good advertising for Porsche and SD as we seemed to be on camera a lot in the heart of the action. Nick did a superb opening stint, and start where you make up five places is pretty special, and when I took over the car everything felt good and I could attack straight away. I enjoyed some good fights with first the Ferrari and then the Aston Martin, but then the Audi kept blocking me even when I had a run on him. I eventually got past and then got a big hit on the rear which so nearly put me off the track. After that I knew the diffuser was damaged as the car lost a lot of downforce and was oversteering a lot. It was a tough final few laps but I just had to hold on and bring it home. I’m super happy with another podium alongside Nick. It’s been a great weekend for us.”
The Michelin Le Mans Cup next moves on to the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal for its season finale on October 18/19.
