Ligier being wrapped
Our new Ligier P3 car being wrapped, it takes a lot of skill and patience to get the finish as good as these guys do !
Driver opportunities 2016
After a hectic 2015 race season we have just taken delivery of the new Ligier JS P3 car which we will be running in the 2016 European Le Mans series.
We are the first ever non-works team to win an LMP3 race and with experience in LMP2 we are confident that we will be winning races in 2016 with the Ligier which will be available for testing from the end of November.
Drives may also be available in the V De V series.
Please contact Nick Reynolds on 01204 903344 or mobile 07711 888901 email:[email protected]
Victory at Imola !!
RLR Msport racing with the University of Bolton claimed a stunning victory to finish on top of the podium in Imola, Italy.
Rob Garofall and Morten Dons finished two laps ahead of their closest rival.
The victory puts the RLR at the top of the team classification, after two races, with 40 points. Rob Garofall is now the leading driver in the LMP3 category.
Silverstone race winners Charlie Robertson and Chris Hoy started the race from pole position, with Robertson building a big lead over the remaining LMP3 runners.
However a penalty and technical issues dropped the Scot down the field handing the advantage to the no15 SVK by Speed Factory Ginetta and the no7 University of Bolton / RLR Ginetta Nissan of Rob Garofall and Morten Dons.
Dons and Garofall worked hard to build a two lap advantage and took the LMP3 victory in Italy.
‘Right from the start of the weekend we were very confident we could do well here,’ said driver Rob Garofall.
‘The team prepared a fantastic car. The boys were working in the garage every hour that was available from Thursday through to this morning and it’s fantastic to give them back a well deserved win.
‘And for the students that are on the course at the University of Bolton to be here at Imola and be involved at the very start of their motorsport careers with a win in an international motor race is fantastic.’
Danish driver Morten Dons was competing for the first time for RLR msport / University of Bolton.
‘I enjoyed it very much and it’s a big dream to have my European Le Mans Series debut,’ he said in the post race press conference.
The Next round is at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on July 11th / 12th.
‘I arrived here on Friday and hadn’t driven a prototype, nor been to Imola, so to come away with a win is absolutely fantastic.’
European Le Mans race at Imola
This weekend sees RLR msport running the University of Bolton Ginetta Nissan LMP3 car at the legendary Imola circuit in Italy. Looking to repeat our podium success at Silverstone with Rob Garofall and Morten Dons at the wheel, the team will be ably assisted as always by 4 students from the University. Here’s to a great weekend !
British GT round at Rockingham
The twisty and challenging Rockingham Raceway greets the British GT Championship for the second round of 2015 and new to the grid, after considerable success in Britcar, are Anna Walewska with new co-driver Rob Garofall, in the University of Bolton/Westons Removals Ginetta G55 run by RLR msport.
Speaking to the drivers before the race, Rob says: “we opted not to use the Sunday morning warm-up session in the horrendous conditions”. Anna says: “the Avon wet tyre compound is harder than the Dunlops so they should be able to continue using the tyres on a drying track without fear of them becoming too soft, idealy we will be out on slicks if the rains stops”. Sunshine is breaking through as the team makes final preparations for gridding up means tyre choice becomes more of a challenge. The decision can be left right to the grid with the GT3 cars whose centre-lock wheels allow for a faster change, but the GT4 cars retain studs and a wheel change is a much longer process. Rockingham dries fairly quickly in the wind, so a decision to stay on wets can lead to an early unscheduled stop for slicks, loosing valuable time. The decision is to start the race on slicks and a set of Avons is quickly retrieved from the tyre warmer and wheeled out to the waiting car just before its called out to join the grid.
Anna takes the first stint, as mandated in the championship regulations - the amateur driver has to go in first allowing Rob to take the flag - but even before the first lap is complete a collision between the two McLarens (Ross Wylie & Salih Yuloc) at the chicane brings out the safety car, giving Anna and the GT4 cars behind her a chance to catch right up with the rest of the pack. The #12 McLaren is later disqualified for avoidable contact. By 15 minutes into the race, Anna is up to P7, setting new fastest laps that were bettering some of the cars in the top five places. The #32 Ginetta of Steve Tandy pits twice in quick succession with problems that had persisted since Friday, leaving Anna P9 in GT4. With the faster GT3s coming up to lap for the first time, Anna loses a little pace in traffic and a slow puncture, unbeknown to the team, starting around 15 laps into her stint lead to a difficult handling car to manage until the driver change pit stop. Graham Coomes in the #49 Stratton Motorsport Ginetta then spins and quickly recovers but only a single place behind Anna; Paul McNeilly in the Fox Motorsport car however gets past taking the advantage back. Just before the one hour mark, Anna enters the pits for two dump-churns of Sunoco fuel. Co-driver Rob Garofall jumps in for the second half of the race. Before you can blink, Rob is back in to the pits with a punctured and almost destroyed front-right tyre. Looking at lap times, and how Anna said she felt the car had been behaving, it looks like the tyre had already started to loose pressure during the latter laps of her stint. As soon as the new set is on, Rob’s times immediately tumble and he sets a new fastest lap of the race of 1:34.104. The #62 Academy Motorsport Aston beaches itself into the Tarzan gravel with 25 minutes left and the field gathers as the Lotus Evora safety car is deployed once again. With the stranded Aston recovered and safety car recalled, Rob’s times drop again, benefiting no doubt from the newer tyres, and he is soon closing on #53 Nash. Traffic really bunches up in the final laps and Rob steals two further places to finish 11th in GT4 - later judicial decisions don’t affect their first finish of the season. With points in the bag and only minor damage to the car, the season has therefore begun in trying conditions and both drivers are already getting use to the car, with Anna’s fastest lap less than 0.4 seconds shy of Rob’s. Anna concludes “I am so pleased with my pace and with a test it will be even better. I had a slow puncture for 70% of my stint - we didn’t know until Rob went out and came back with a puncture, all in all its been a great weekend thanks to sponsors The University of Bolton and their super students that were working with the team all weekend, Westons and Team RLR”. The next round is at Silverstone on 30/31st May on the full GP circuit. The long straights will give the Bolton University/Westons Ginetta G55 a chance to really stretch its legs but may also give the more powerful Astons an advantage.
Silverstone ELMS Round 1 2015
RLR msport racing with the University of Bolton claimed third place in the inaugural LMP3 race of the season.
Taking place at Silverstone, the team finished only behind the factory Ginetta LNT teams.
Drivers Rob Garofall and Jens Petersen drove some of the fastest laps in LMP3 over the race weekend.
CAPE driver, Rob Garofalo also drove the fastest LMP3 lap in the first ever official practice session.
Fuel pickup problems in the race itself meant an additional pitstop and hampered the team’s chances of finishing further up the podium, but a third place finish was a tremendous achievement on the opening weekend.
Several current Motorsport students attended the race day and assisted the RLR Msport team.
‘At times it was difficult to know which team members were the students because they were all so professional,’ said Rob Garofall.
The team will next compete at Imola in Italy on May 16-17 before travelling to Red Bull Ring (Austria), Le Castellet (France) and Estoril (Portugal) over the next six months.
