The first round of the Ultimate Cup Series took place at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. There, Dani Maciá, together with his teammates Jacek Zielonka and Raphael Narac, won the LMP3 category.
The team was competitive throughout the weekend, from free practice onwards. In qualifying, it was Dani Maciá who was in charge of the third and final session, achieving the fourth fastest time and, therefore, starting from that position for Sunday’s race.
In the first minutes of the race, a safety car came out and the Virage team took advantage of it to bring Dani Maciá’s car 88 into the pits. With a changed strategy, they lapped almost the whole race in a backward position, outside the top 10. This allowed them to run in clean air and without traffic.
In the last stint the situation changed. Dani Maciá got into the LMP3 with more than an hour to go and, with no more stops planned, focused on saving fuel and keeping the pace. While his rivals still had to make pit stops, the Virage number 88 with Dani Maciá at the wheel moved up positions to not only be in the top 10, but to reach the absolute podium and the first position in LMP3.
After 4 hours and 5 minutes of competition Dani Maciá crossed the finish line in first position, giving the victory to Virage, his team. He achieved the victory in the LMP3 category and third place overall.
Dani Maciá: “It was a perfect strategy and saving fuel throughout my stint meant we finished on the podium. It was a perfect job from the whole team, this is just the beginning!”
