Unavoidable first-lap contact ends Lindsay Brewer and Célia Martin's Le Mans Classic weekend
- RACERS
- 4 hours ago
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Despite showing strong pace in qualifying at the Le Mans Classic, Lindsay Brewer and Célia Martin saw a promising weekend end in heartbreak when unavoidable opening-lap contact forced the retirement of their Klausen Racing Ford GT and left them unable to start the second race.
After a challenging yet encouraging start to the inaugural GT3 Revival Series season, Lindsay Brewer and Célia Martin arrived at the prestigious Le Mans Classic determined to experience the #40 Klausen Racing Ford GT Matech at the most legendary racetrack in the world, the Circuit de la Sarthe.
The all-female pairing had embraced the unique challenge of racing one of the original first-era GT3 machines, with Brewer also gaining valuable experience on Europe's most iconic circuits in her first international campaign, while Martin brought extensive endurance racing expertise following her progression through the Iron Dames programme.
The duo enjoyed a promising debut at Paul Ricard, overcoming early technical setbacks to secure fifth place in the ProAm class after steadily improving throughout the weekend. They followed that performance with another determined outing at Spa-Francorchamps, where difficult qualifying left them fighting from the back of the field in both races, yet they recovered to eighth- and ninth-place class finishes despite losing valuable practice time and competing in races shortened by red flags.
The third round of the season brought the championship to one of the most iconic venues in motorsport history as part of the renowned Le Mans Classic. For Célia Martin, the event marked an emotional return to Circuit de la Sarthe after competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Iron Dames in 2025. For Lindsay Brewer, meanwhile, it represented her first-ever opportunity to drive on the legendary 13.6-kilometre circuit.
Although the opening rounds had shown encouraging pace, the Klausen Racing Ford GT Matech had also suffered from several reliability issues, limiting the duo's opportunity to fully demonstrate their potential. Heading into Le Mans, the primary objective was therefore to ensure the historic machine ran reliably.
Track action began on Thursday with free practice, where the team adopted a cautious approach. Martin completed the session behind the wheel, focusing almost exclusively on bedding in the brakes and ensuring every system on the Ford GT functioned correctly. Rather than chasing lap times, the priority was reliability and preparation for qualifying, with no representative time set during the session.
The approach paid dividends on Friday morning when Martin took the wheel for the first qualifying session. With the Ford GT running faultlessly, Martin unlocked the pace that had only occasionally been hinted at during the previous rounds. Delivering a superb sequence of laps, the Frenchwoman produced comfortably the team's strongest qualifying performance of the season to date, stopping the clocks at an 4:07.509.
The lap secured third place in the ProAm class and sixth overall among the 41-car field. After two weekends where reliability issues had masked their pace, Martin's performance finally placed the team among the frontrunners.
The second qualifying session then handed driving duties to Brewer for her very first experience of the Circuit de la Sarthe later in the day.
The American immediately faced an additional challenge as an early red flag interrupted the session, significantly reducing her already limited track time. With every lap around Le Mans representing valuable learning, the interruption deprived Brewer of precious opportunities to build rhythm.
Once the session resumed, however, she quickly settled into an increasingly confident rhythm.
Initially recording a 4:17 lap, Brewer steadily found significant time with each passing run. She soon lowered her benchmark into the 4:13s, moving into fifth position within the ProAm class. Continuing to improve sector after sector, Brewer eventually posted a best lap of 4:12.777, allowing the #40 Ford GT to qualify fifth in the ProAm class and 19th overall.
Saturday morning brought the opening race of the weekend, with the combined qualifying times determining the starting order. Brewer was entrusted with the opening stint, lining up seventh in the ProAm class and 16th overall on the packed 41-car grid.
As the lights went out, Brewer made an excellent getaway, confidently attacking the opening Dunlop chicane. However, the promising start lasted only moments: approaching the opening sequence of corners, the #45 Audi ahead was tagged into a spin directly across the racing line. Faced with an unavoidable situation in the middle of the tightly bunched pack, Brewer reacted instantly in an attempt to avoid the incident but had nowhere to go. The Ford GT made unavoidable contact with the spinning Audi, sustaining damage.
The incident brought Brewer's race to an immediate end at Turn 1 before Martin had the opportunity to take over the car. Fortunately, Brewer emerged unharmed from the impact, but the damage inflicted on the Ford GT Matech proved extensive.
The consequences extended in fact beyond the opening race; given the rarity of the historic Ford GT Matech and the limited availability of replacement components at the circuit, the #40 Ford GT was withdrawn from the second race, bringing an early end to what had initially promised to become the team's strongest weekend yet in the GT3 Revival Series season.
Attention now turns to the Nürburgring on 29-30 August.
