George King was back amongst the headline-makers at round three of the 2023 Ligier European Series (LES), claiming a brace of podium finishes — as well as a new lap record — to reignite his championship challenge.
Having suffered an untimely retirement while on course for a top three finish — and potential victory — at the famed Le Mans circuit last time out, King and Portuguese team-mate Bernardo Pinheiro headed to the south of France sitting an unrepresentative fourth in the standings, knowing they needed a couple of good results from Paul Ricard to ensure they remained in contention for the title.
Solid performances in practice set the Team Virage duo up for what would turn out to be a frenetic qualifying session, with every car looking for an all-important slipstream, without wanting to be the one punching a hole in the air for their rivals. King looked to be an especially promising time, posting fastest 'purple' sectors through the first two-thirds of the lap, only to be blocked by a slower car on the run to the line, erasing all of the advantage he had built.
"Qualifying was particularly frustrating," King admitted. "On my fastest lap, I was sixth-tenths up and about to set the fastest time by almost half a second before getting blocked, which cost us a potential pole position. The whole of qualifying was a fight for the slipstream, though, with everyone looking for it — and no-one wanting to give it up!"
Starting the weekend's opening race from third on the grid as a result of his qualifying frustration, King appeared to have delivered the perfect riposte, with a great start putting him three-abreast with the front row cars, but being in the most vulnerable track position heading into turn one, he decided discreation was the better part of valour and tucked back into third, before popping back out to snatch second at turn three. Closing on the leader, the Briton then made a move for the lead at Signes but, having momentarily left the door ajar before attempting to claim the best line for the corner, was clipped by the other car and tipped into a spin.
"I overtook for P1 on the straight and was defending, trying to move back and get a good line through Signe," King explained. "Admittedly, I did leave the door open — which I knew was a mistake as soon as I moved back over to the racing line — but the car behind just lunged into T8. I saw him in my mirror and tried to leave space, but he touched the inside kerb, which unsettled the car, causing snap oversteer which, when corrected, resulted in contact with my car, causing us both to spin..."
Rejoining in last position, and thankfully without damage to his #60 Ligier JSP4, King spent the remainder if his stint catching and passing cars that had taken advantage of his mishap, setting a new lap record in the process. Having temporarily assumed the lead of the race when the erstwhile leader pitted, the 22-year-old handed over to Pinheiro with the Portuguese driver able to resume in second place where, despite his best efforts to catch the leader, the #60 eventually finished.
Race two, by contrast, was a lot less dramatic. Pinheiro started and was able to keep pace with the leader before a prolonged period of defending from the car behind allowed the frontrunner to extend a gap that the #60 wasn't able to close, despite the best efforts of both drivers. King took over behind the wheel with the yellow-and-black Virage machine second in the order, but some 13 seconds adrift of P1. Pushing hard, both to catch up and add another fastest lap to his haul, King managed to shave a few seconds from the deficit but, with track temperatures climbing and his tyres quickly losing performance, it proved a gap too big to bridge.
"There wa just too much to do, and catching traffic towards the end effectively ended any hope we had of closing in," King conceded. "I was less than a tenth from getting the fastest lap, which again showed the pace that we had in the #60 Team Virage car, and another second place is still a good result. I think we managed some damage limitation this weekend, especially with what happened in race one — which I am still annoyed about. However, I am super happy with my performance, especially getting all the way back up to P2 in the opening race, and we are now back in P2 in the championship after our unfortunate Le Mans result. Thanks as always to Bernardo and Team Virage. Bring on round four!"
King and the #60 Team Virage Ligier will be back in action in round four of the Ligier European Series, at Motorland Aragon in Spain, over the weekend of 25-26 August.
