The Le Mans 24 Hour event is undoubtedly Mecca for all Motorsport Fans and getting a chance to race at the infamous circuit forms the dreams for millions of petrol heads around the world.
To go one more step further and actually win a Race and to stand on the Top Step of the podium at Le Mans is just even more special, something only ever experienced by a lucky few, and that’s why MPS were delighted to help TPR’s Nick Jones achieve this momentous feat.
After a great experience competing in the Porsche Customer Racing specific Support Race to the main 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021, MPS and the TPR team were delighted to be invited back again in 2022.
Returning with his 991.2 GT3R, Nick Jones was fired up after a podium result in his first race around the La Sarthe circuit in 2021 to take the next step to stand atop the infamous Le Mans podium with his return to the central France’s tarmac in 2022.
With the practice sessions following in a similar fashion to the 2021 sessions, totally Green Flag running was limited and therefore a data driven approach to driver development was fundamental to getting up to a competitive pace around the circuit during the event.
Combining MPS’ driver development process with our Data led Performance Engineering processes allowed us to get both car and driver within a competitive window ahead of the qualifying session after very limited green flag running in practice, thanks to both incidents on track and also a intermittent miss-fire from the Porsche’s engine.
Following a heroic effort from the TPR mechanics, the engine in Jonesy’s car was changed and the Welshman rewarded the team’s hard work in the Qualifying session, putting himself inside the Top 10 for the start of both of the races.
Making great starts in both races, and keeping out of the inevitable trouble caused by young, wannabe racing driver stars getting a rare opportunity to race during the famous Le Mans event, Nick kept his cool and put into practice much of what him and MPS’ Ben Newman discussed during the Data Analysis sessions and quickly proved himself to be the fastest racer in his GT3 class.
In both races, he intelligently transferred this improved pace to better himself from his qualifying position and with some great racing moves implemented he deservedly scored not one but two class wins at the La Sarthe Circuit – resulting in two trips to the Top Step of special Le Mans podium in front of the capacity 24 Hours of Le Mans race fans.
PORSCHE SPRINT CHALLENGE FRANCE