Bourdais leads early at Petit Le Mans, two titles settled

Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta began with two championships being decided and Sebastien Bourdais jumping out front before a full-course caution came out to begin the second lap.

When Jack Hawksworth went under the green flag in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, he and Ben Barnicoat secured the GTD PRO championship for Vasser Sullivan Racing. The same applied to Gar Robinson as he secured his second LMP3 championship by starting the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier. Both are now free to enjoy pursuing a race victory for the next nine-and-a-half hours.

“It’s a pretty nice position to be in,” said Hawksworth after putting the No. 14 on pole yesterday. “It’s been kind of a surreal weekend, really, because we know all we’ve got to do for the championship. It’s kind of weird; it’s been really relaxed all weekend rather than feeling the pressure. So take the green and once we’ve done that we’re clinched and super excited about that — it means a lot to everyone involved, a lot of hard work over the last seven years. After that, we’ll concentrate on the race. It’s gonna be fun — really go after it and there’s some great competition out there.”