2021 ELMS LMP3 Champion Laurents Hörr has made the full time step up to LMP2 with IDEC Sport this season, racing alongside former LMP2 driver champions Paul Loup Chatin and Paul Lafargue. The double Michelin Le Mans Cup champion has made a good start for the French team, helping the team to a 3rd and 5th place finishes in the LMP2 category in the opening two races of the season.
However, the young German knows it could’ve been so much better if it hadn’t been for a dose of bad luck.
“Both races have been an emotional rollercoaster for me. Starting a lap behind and finishing on the podium in Barcelona was certainly a cool comeback,” he recounted. “Le Castellet was a hard one, fighting for the victory and then finishing 5th because of a puncture. On a positive note, it shows we always have the pace, but need to bring it together!”
“We have great pace and form great synergies together inside the team. Working with Paul and Paul-Loup is a lot of fun and together we managed to build good pace. It is great to work with everybody inside the team.”
Aside from the two ELMS races, the IDEC Sport trio had a good run at Le Mans, but that bad luck struck again at the Circuit De La Sarthe. The IDEC Sport Oreca-Gibson still managed to finish 6th in the super competitive LMP2 category. “Le Mans was outstanding this year. All the ceremonies, the pole position, the heavy rain we survived and then looking for a podium close to the end. Unfortunately, we had a puncture just on my out lap on a fresh set of tyres, and honestly, I was super gutted afterwards. However, I am still proud of the pace we had in the race and the work we all accomplished.”
Next on the ELMS schedule is a night race at the new for the series circuit at MotorLand Aragon. “I have never raced there before, but had already a few tests there, but not on the ELMS layout,” Laurents Hörr said. “It is good to have some new tracks on the calendar time by time, despite we lost two of my absolute favourite venues. This track certainly is different than others and with the heat and the night race it could mix up everything a little bit.”
The 4 Hours of Aragon is Round 3 of the 2023 European Le Mans Series and will take place on Saturday 26 August.
