George King won a second sportscar championship title in just two-and-a-half years of international competition at the weekend, but the final round of the Ultimate Cup Series at Circuit Paul Ricard was anything but easy for the British driver.
Sitting on the verge of the UCS crown after back-to-back race wins in rounds four and five at Estoril and Magny-Cours, King headed to the south of France as the championship favourite, but an expanded grid of 35 sports prototypes — as well as assorted GT entries — meant that he could not rest easy before the chequered flag fell on Sunday afternoon.
Having not been to Paul Ricard in Team Virage's LMP3-class Ligier JS P320 since the opening round of the UCS back in March, King used Thursday's open test sessions to relearn both the machine and circuit, and was encouraged by the pace he and co-drivers Manuel Espirito Santo and Viacheslav Gutak showed right from the early laps. That should have set the trio up for another strong weekend, but Friday's first official practice session proved otherwise, with the #14 car an early casualty of the day's strong Mediterranean winds.
"Friday was scheduled with sessions both during the day and at night but, sadly, we wouldn’t really get to run in either," King explained. "It was very windy that day, with gusts up to 50mph which affected the car a lot throughout the lap. From what I heard, each lap would feel completely different depending on where the gusts hit you. Unfortunately for Slav, a particularly strong gust caught him as he was going through T7, which is normally an easily flat left-hand turn going onto the Mistral Straight. On the video, he does nothing wrong but, when the car suddenly started to slide — which we believe was due to the wind — Slav tried to catch it, before over-correcting and being sent into the wall on the right-hand side of the track.
"The impact destroyed the left-hand side of the car, finishing our Friday running on the spot. Fortunately, Slav was okay, but it sucked not being able to drive even a single lap for the whole day, especially when the sessions are so spread apart."
The Team Virage mechanics set about repairing the damaged car as soon as it was returned to the pits and almost had it ready for the final minutes of the second, night-time, session before coming up short. Nevertheless, the effort not only impressed King but also gave the #14 crew a chance to take part in qualifying.
"The team worked their magic and it was unbelievable to see how much they got done in a short period of time," King noted with awe. "They almost had the car ready for the last few minutes of FP2 and, even though they just ran out of time, massive kudos is due for their effort in getting the car fixed so quickly."
Despite the rebuild meaning that King's crew would have to go straight into qualifying without being able to shake down the repaired car, they emphasised the team's work and exacting standards as King and Espirito Santo both topped their respective groups, adding to Gutak's earlier traffic-affected sixth spot to ensure another pole position for the #14.
"The car felt amazing!" the Briton exclaimed. "It was like driving a brand new car — probably because at least half it was actually new —and, even though I didn't have enough time to maximise everything in pursuit of the perfect lap due to a lengthy red flag, I was able to go quickly straight away. After going fastest of all on my first flying lap, I didn't expect to unlock much more performance, but went quicker still next time around to claim top spot in my group."
With Espirito Santo also going quickest by eight-tenths of a second in his session, the #14 machine was guaranteed first place on the grid, where Gutak would be entrusted with the start on Sunday afternoon. The youngster had demonstrated that he had the mettle for a mass start, having regularly taken the first stint in his successful Asian Le Mans Series campaigns, but slightly misjudging his braking point into the opening corner sent the yellow-and-black Ligier wide and having to navigate the penalty chicane before rejoining well down the field. Despite a stellar recovery drive that saw King take over behind the wheel back up in third position, the writing was already on the wall for the #14 which, given the standard of its driving strength, was already facing longer mandatory pit-stops than the majority of its rivals.
King produced another mature and consistent stint, but was called in for refuelling during a full-course yellow flag period as Team Virage attempted to overcome the two-minute penalty of those longer stops. The tactic worked in as far as the 22-year-old handed over to Espirito Santo with the car in first place, although the need to still make mandatory stops clouded the actual position relative to its rivals.
As expected, Espirito Santo delivered his usual accomplished stint but, when the chequered flag fell, the Team Virage crew found themselves in an unaccustomed sixth on the road, but completing the Prototype category podium in third place.
"We had to take some gambles to try and offset the pit-stop penalties but, on this occasion, things didn't work in our favour," King observed. "Slav and Manuel put in mega stints but, in a race without a single safety car, there was too much to overcome. It's not the result that we wanted, but the best we could have done in the circumstances.
"The good news, however, is that I could still be confirmed as both the overall and LMP3 class champion for 2023, while Virage took the Teams' title to ensure a clean sweep of the silverware."
Having already clinched second overall in the Ligier European Series, also with Team Virage, King's UCS success capped another impressive season for the Briton.
"Obviously, I'm extremely happy with how the year has gone with this amazing team," he confirmed. "I owe a massive 'thank you' to Julien [Gerbi] and Philippe [Gautheron] for giving me the opportunity to compete in two championships while imparting the knowledge to allow me to grow into a better person and a better driver. The team were amazing all year and everyone was so friendly and welcoming — like one big family — and it was a pleasure to share the cars with some amazing drivers and learn from them as well.
"Thank you too to my manager James [Winslow] for helping to sort this deal and being with me throughout the year to coach me in the ways of driving an LMP3. It was just a shame we didn't get the chance to go head-to-head here at Ricard…."
King will reveal his racing plans for 2024 in due course.
