The “Star-Spangled Banner” is not a common sound on the overall podium in Europe. The continent is largely dominated by home teams, but last weekend, Florida-based DragonSpeed managed to become the first-ever outright race winner in the European Le Mans Series race at legendary Belgian circuit Spa Francorchamps. While the drive lineup of Nicolas Lapierre, Henrik Hedman, and Ben Hanley are all from Europe, the team’s Oreca 05—which runs in the ELMS’ top LMP2 class—nonetheless carries the American flag under the direction of team owner and principal, Elton Julian.
At Spa, DragonSpeed pitted their Oreca during a Safety Car period just before the race returned to green-flag conditions. That gave them an advantage on every team except the Belgian WRT Team, but strong closing performances in the last two stints from young British star Ben Hanley and former Peugeot and Toyota factory LMP1 driver Lapierre put them past WRT’s Ligier JS P2 on the way to the team’s first LMP2 victory. The pit during the Safety Car had come after two separate incidents less than 30 minutes apart damaged the same stretch of the Spa’s Armco barriers.
Julian had previously raced in the American Le Mans Series LMP-Challenge (LMPC) class, where had racked up six class wins in 2010 and 2011 before moving into a team principal role. He had run GT racing programs until this year, which was the team’s first with the Oreca LMP2 car. Next year, DragonSpeed will run two brand-new Oreca 07 cars next year in the ELMS.
You can watch the entire four-hour race here, though the final 90 minutes are where things start to get good.
So the drivers are not American nor is the equipment..
another click bait headline.. congrads