Aussie Allen claims European Le Mans Series title

Perth’s James Allen has clinched the 2023 European Le Mans Series Overall Team Championship.

Allen’s #25 Algarve Pro Racing team finished second in Friday’s rainy 4 Hours of Algarve in Portugal to secure the title.

The #22 United Autosports USA team took the victory by 0.808 seconds with a late pass by Oliver Jarvis around Alex Lynn.

The win was the second of the year for Jarvis, Marino Sato, and Phil Hanson.

The #22 United Autosport entry held a 20-second lead over Allen’s #25 Algarve team until the United team suffered a slow pit stop and saw a Safety Car deployment late in the race.

At the restart with 30 minutes remaining in the race, Lynn, in the #25, was first, and Jarvis was fifth.

An accident on the restart allowed Jarvis to pick up three positions quickly and move into second place behind Lynn.

Jarvis was able to close the gap, use lap traffic in turn six, and make the pass on the outside of Lynn in turn seven with eleven minutes remaining in the race.

Sunday’s 4 Hours of Portimao will determine the LMP2 Drivers’ Championship.

Allen, Simpson, and Lynn enter the final round with a 20-point lead over Jarvis, Sato, and Hanson.

Twenty-six points are available for Sunday’s race.

The #65 Panis Racing Oreca, driven by Manuel Maldonado, Tijmen van der Helm, and Job van Uitert, finished third in LMP3.

In LMP2 Pro-Am, Malthe Jakobsen, in the #37 Cool Racing Oreca with Alexandre Coigny and Nicolas Lapierre, claimed the win.

The #12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine of Leo Weiss, Torsten Kratz, and Oscar Tunjo won in LMP3.

In GTE, the #77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 was victorious.