Early puncture denies Tom Gamble podium in European Le Mans Series (ELMS) season opener

Tom Gamble’s podium chances were denied due to an early puncture in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) season opener, reports Paul Horton.

Twenty-year-old Gamble, from Epperstone, racing for United Autosports, finished seventh in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) in France.

Alongside his team-mates Phil Hanson and Duncan Tappy, Gamble said his outing at Circuit Paul Ricard in the 4 Hours of Le Castellet endurance race would not live long in the memory.

“It was a race to forget,” he said.

“A tyre failure early in the race put us out of contention, but we have lots of positives to take away from Paul Ricard.

“I would like to thank the team who did a fantastic job and also my sponsors R&D Advisors who are always there behind me.”

Having arrived at the French Circuit under two weeks ago, the team showed some great pace during free practice and qualifying.

Gamble took to the 3.642-mile circuit — with its five left-hand turns and eight right-hand turns — in style, claiming a time of 1-43-668secs and reaching speeds of up to 200.4kph in free practice.

Saturday’s qualifying session saw Gamble in control and, with less than four minutes left on the clock, a shoot-out to claim pole took place which saw Gamble claim the front place race spot, before losing out to pole to Swiss driver Mathias Beche by 0.153 of a second.

Sunday’s race saw the car sitting on the line in front to start in second place after Gamble’s qualifying efforts.

Hanson started proceedings. He set a series of fastest laps and, three hours and 47 minutes into the race, he took the lead.

He then took the #22 United Autosport Oreca into the pit for new tyres, but a problem with the front left wheel at the stop prevented a smooth transition.

This dropped the car down to fifth as he left the pit exit.

Rookie LMP2 driver Tappy took control after lap 33, but he quickly had problems as the car suffered a puncture.

After 30 minutes, Gamble jumped in for the final two hours and pushed the car to its limit as he reached P5. He then lost two places after a pit stop for fuel.

Gamble next races on May 15 in Italy in the 4 Hours of Imola.