A charging drive handed Andy Meyrick a well-deserved fourth-place finish at the blue-riband event of the Michelin Le Mans Cup (MLMC) season, the Road to Le Mans, on Friday, September 18.
Held as a support event to the world-renowned Le Mans 24 Hours, the fourth round of the MLMC proved thrilling and pitted the Briton against 33 rival cars – the biggest field of the year.
Following an LMP3 podium finish for Meyrick and his Brazilian co-driver Daniel Schneider at the previous event at Paul Ricard, hopes were high of further strong results for the pair, who drive for the British United Autosports team.
A promising third place in Thursday’s opening practice session was a clear indication of the speed Meyrick had at the Circuit de la Sarthe, but after encountering traffic at the end of his best qualifying lap, his Ligier JS P320-Nissan would start the opening race from eighth place.
With Schneider starting Race One, Meyrick’s plan was to use all his experience – which includes a fourth-place finish at the Le Mans 24 Hours – to full effect.
Having taken over driving duties during an ultra-slick mid-race pitstop, Meyrick joined the track on the edge of the top 10 and immediately began climbing the order. Within four laps he was up to seventh and he continued picking off his rivals as the race progressed.
Moving past fellow United Autosports driver John Schauerman on the final lap, Meyrick claimed the team’s best result of the race with fourth place, just one spot away from a second-straight podium finish.
Overnight rain left the circuit damp for the start of Saturday’s second race with Schneider starting the race from 15th place and Meyrick taking over during the pit window.
Another determined charge brought the BRDC Superstars Director through the field to 11th place at the chequered flag, only half a second away from the top 10.
Unfortunately, his car was penalised 41 seconds for spending 0.3 seconds less than the mandatory two minutes in the pits during the driver change. This dropped the #24 machine to 13th in class.
Andy Meyrick said: “It was a bit of an up-and-down weekend, but to get a fourth-place finish in Race One on the biggest weekend of the season, and with Daniel having never been to Le Mans before, was really pleasing,” said Meyrick.
The results at Le Mans keep Meyrick and Schneider sixth in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of the final two races, the next of which is at Monza, Italy, on October 10.
