This month\u2019s summary is something of a mid-season review of a hectic few months at Inter Europol Competition, with a look ahead to the forthcoming events on both sides of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n
The team is proud of the many achievements already made this year, including our first LMP2 race victories in both the European Le Mans Series and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and our podium success at Le Mans.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no such thing as a proper \u2018summer break\u2019 but following this weekend\u2019s trip to Road America – where the Inter Europol by PR1\/Mathiasen Motorsports squad is aiming for back-to-back race victories – there is a short hiatus until the European Le Mans Series reconvenes at Spa-Francorchamps on August 25th.<\/p>\n
Closing in on the IMSA Championship lead<\/strong> The victory, by less than a second, followed up from the team\u2019s first podium position, secured a few weeks earlier at Watkins Glen. Heading to Road America this week, the team is second in the standings with 1296, just 12 shy of the title leaders.<\/p>\n Recognising the massive contribution that Bronze-graded drivers make to the series, IMSA runs the Jim Trueman Award. As well as the accolade itself, the winning driver also earns the team a place on the grid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, so for Nick to be second, 20 points away from the leader, is very special. He will be going all out again this week in the #52.<\/p>\n P1 in the ELMS Championship heading to Spa<\/strong> It was all a bit confusing after the chequered flag flew as we finished in P4. This was later revised to P3\u2014meaning a podium position\u2014only to be reverted back to the original result just this week.<\/p>\n Either way, Inter Europol Competition has retained its championship advantage and heads to Spa-Francorchamps at the top of the standings.<\/p>\n LMC & LES driver squads aiming high<\/strong> Since then, however, it has been more difficult \u2013 especially at Le Mans – leaving the driver pairing sixth in the standings heading to Spa. They \u2013 and #43 teammates Tim Creswick and Sebastian Gravlund \u2013 will seek significant points hauls in the Ardennes.<\/p>\n In the Ligier European Series, Romain Favre is fourth in the standings after a victory at Le Castellet and third at Le Mans (they gave him the wrong trophy on the LM podium BTW!) despite significant damage to the Ligier JSP4. Romain only knows one speed, so while the title leader is somewhat distant, he will be aiming to jump another position in the championship next time out.<\/p>\n Heading to Road America<\/strong> The Inter Europol by PR1\/Mathiasen Motorsports driver pairing of Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann have momentum on their side after a dominant performance at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, but despite their combined wealth of experience, it\u2019s a new circuit to both!<\/p>\n Friday 2 August Nick Boulle on the IMSA challenge and more\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Heading to Road America, Nick is in the limelight, not just for his impressive season to date but also for his championship position with teammates Tom Dillmann and Kuba Smiechowski, the Jim Trueman Award, and his race debut at the Wisconsin circuit! He talks us through the past, present, and future.<\/p>\n Q) Nick, it\u2019s turning into quite a season with Inter Europol by PR1\/Mathiasen Motorsports. You have moved to the front in your opening stints in every race, helping the team achieve success last time out at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Tell us about the race win and the season to date.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat a special result\u2014especially to win an IMSA race overall. I\u2019m still excited about it, and I hope we can take that momentum to Road America. It felt really good to \u2018get the monkey off our back\u2019, if you will, and finally score a win with the crew.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to say that I did not realise I was out front until the first caution. I thought I was chasing P1, so I definitely relaxed after that!<\/p>\n \u201cThe season has progressed really well so far, and I think we are all getting more and more comfortable working together and hopefully we can continue to get stronger. The team has been working so hard to make it come together over the past few races and it seems we have made a step in those crucial pressure race decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Q) The team is second in the standings ahead of Road America, one of the classics on the IMSA race calendar. This is a new circuit for you, so tell me about your preparations for this event, given the clear expectations.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cRoad America will be new! I have to say this is an area where having such a strong teammate in Tom Dillmann has been a massive help. I don\u2019t get to drive very often due to work commitments between our jewellery stores and work events, so being able to lean on him for advice and some help has been massive. I can work on the sim in my free time and get a lot out of it that way so that I don\u2019t show up completely blind.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, this hard work pays off, and we are fast out of the box for Road America.\u201d<\/p>\n Q) As the team\u2019s bronze-rated driver, the Jim Trueman Award recognises your impressive contributions to the IMSA campaign. You\u2019re second in this mini battle, and were you to win it, is Le Mans 2025 on the radar?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201c100%! My goal has always been to be able to go to Le Mans and fight for a class victory. My hope is we can have a strong result this year in IMSA and show up next year at Le Mans with a chance at victory!<\/p>\n \u201cIt won\u2019t be easy; I need to juggle my first priority, which is always our family business. I am still staying fit and race-ready throughout the year, but hopefully, we are all pushing hard enough for a few more results on the top step of the podium soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Q) It\u2019s the time of the season where drivers look ahead to the conclusion of the current campaign. There can only be one objective for you now, tell us about the final rounds ahead, the Michelin Endurance Cup and the race for the title.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThere is a lot to be excited for this year\u2026 We have three special races ahead \u2013 Road America is a special challenge in that it feels like you are going somewhere as you race around the track.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter that, Indianapolis \u2013 the name speaks for itself\u2026 Winning at the Brick Yard would be dream come true. And for Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta \u2013 this track is so special. I have driven there once, and it is such high commitment. I am super excited to drive there in a P2 car. I\u2019m already imagining turn 1 in qualifying\u2026!<\/p>\n \u201cAs for the title race, I am trying to stay focused on getting all of the details right in every session. At the end of the day, that is all I can control\u2014my part of the race and making sure Tom and Kuba get a car they can race hard and finish with.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve both been super supportive of my learning as I get more comfortable with the car and have so much experience for me to learn from that I have really enjoyed every session. I build up maybe a bit slowly in terms of pace, but I feel like I am finding my footing sooner now by the time the race comes.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we got to put it all on the line for the last few races and try to end on top!\u201d<\/p>\n Sebastian Alvarez: ELMS championship leader<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re at the halfway point, and as things stand, Sebastian and Inter Europol Competition teammates Vlad and Tom lead the ELMS championship standings in the #43 entry. It\u2019s not been an easy ride as the team prepares for the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, but so far, so good!<\/p>\n Q) We\u2019re at the halfway point of the European Le Mans Series. You and your #43 teammates Tom and Vlad are leading the championship! Barcelona was not brilliant, but you rebounded at Paul Ricard. Imola was tricky, but you got a podium. Can you summarise the season so far, please?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re halfway though and yes, we have had a good first half! Barcelona wasn\u2019t where we wanted to be, but Paul Ricard was a mega race! Imola was damage limitation for us given the brake issue before the start, so we could never have guessed that we would come away with such a great result. So, now we push on, minimise the mistakes and do the very best job that we can.\u201d<\/p>\n Q) Yor two-point championship advantage is a narrow one. Next up is Spa-Francorchamps where historically Inter Europol Competition has enjoyed great results. How are you preparing for this event?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSpa-Francorchamps is a great track and Inter Europol Competition has had great results there in the past. It\u2019ll be a bit different this year as they have resurfaced areas of the track. We still have the data from before \u2013 that will help a bit \u2013 but in a way, we\u2019ll have to start again in terms of baseline setup, so perhaps it\u2019s like going to a new track!<\/p>\n \u201cThis doesn\u2019t make it easy; we\u2019ll all have to work hard with our engineers to develop the car \u2013 to make it as quick as possible \u2013 in the timeframe that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n Q) The #43 Oreca has been fast at a variety of circuit characteristics so far. Spa is a great circuit with three very differing sectors. Weather conditions aside, do you focus on the high-speed turns mid-lap or the fast start and end to the lap in terms of the race setup?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSpa is a great track in that \u2013 as a driver \u2013 you can play around a little more with the downforce. We can go high downforce [fast middle sector] or low [fast sectors one and three] so I think that\u2019s something we will experiment with on the test day at the circuit to determine which option is better for the strategy and the race.\u201d<\/p>\n Q) Mugello is a new venue this year and some teams have tested there recently. What\u2019s the plan for the final two rounds of the championship there in Italy and for the season finale at Portimao?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMugello follows Spa, and we\u2019ve not been able to test there yet. It\u2019s a new circuit to me, and I believe it\u2019s a demanding track with high-speed blind corners. I\u2019ve driven it on the Sim to understand the layout, but yes, we need to prepare as much as possible. Portimao, I feel comfortable there, having driven and raced there before. As always, we\u2019ll give our all!\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This month\u2019s summary is something of a mid-season review of a hectic few months at Inter Europol Competition, with a look ahead to the forthcoming events on both sides of the Atlantic. The team is proud of the many achievements already made this year, including our first LMP2 race victories […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":16948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nNick Boulle and Tom Dillmann recorded the team\u2019s first victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this month. It was a dominant performance, with Nick moving quickly to the front of the field, pulling a margin and putting Tom in the best possible position to capitalise on the position and pace from the #52 Oreca.<\/p>\n
\nEarly in the month, Inter Europol Competition travelled to Imola for the third round of the championship. It wasn\u2019t the easiest of race weekends for either of the two LMP2 squads, but after winning at Paul Ricard, the #43 team of Vlad Lomko, Sebastian Alvarez, and Tom Dillmann were able to recover from a pit lane start-to-finish in fourth position.<\/p>\n
\nImola was a stand-alone event, meaning that neither the Michelin Le Mans Cup nor the Ligier European Series attended it. In summary, the Le Mans Cup season started off really nicely, with the #34 duo of Alex Bukhantsov and Rik Koen securing Inter Europol Competition\u2019s first-ever Le Mans Cup podium.<\/p>\n
\nThe second IMSA race in a month takes place this weekend at Road America, Wisconsin. It\u2019s a great track, too, at over six kilometres in length, high speed, elevation changes and a firm driver favourite.<\/p>\n
\n14:55 \u2013 16:25 Free Practice 1
\nSaturday 3 August
\n10:55 \u2013 12:25 Free Practice 2
\n17:20 \u2013 18:25 Qualifying
\nSunday 4 August
\n15:10 \u2013 17:50 IMSA Sports Car Weekend (160 minutes)
\n*All times listed as ET
\nMore detail here>><\/a>\u00a0 and the races are now all live and for free on YouTube outside of the US<\/a>.<\/p>\n