Cian Carey reaction to Le Mans Cup debut
Ratoath driver Cian Carey made his debut earlier this month in the European Michelin Le Mans Cup with Italian outfit TS Corse at the opening race of the season in Barcelona.
Carey stepped up from a successful three years in Formula 3 where he was the first driver to win back-to-back British F3 titles.
The season-opener was a new challenge of endurance racing in a prototype LMP3 car and the Ratoath man shares the car with Italian teammate Pietro Peccenini.
Joining the Le Mans Cup grid for one of the biggest championships in the world will see the Meath man compete against some of the highest level racing drivers.
Carey produced a big performance on the international stage in the opening week of the Le Mans Cup and was delighted with his performance.
It was the first of six races for the 27-year-old this season who recently signed his first professional contract with Italian team TS Corse.
Each race is of two hours duration with the driving duties shared
“Overall, I’m very proud of the job I did on my first weekend in professional racing particularly on the Friday where I was top of the leader board in practice," commented Carey.
"Thanks to everyone at TS Corse who did an amazing job all week,” he added.
Carey finished in the top 10 in the pre-season testing on the Wednesday before the race and followed it up with a magnificent performance in practice on the Friday morning to go top.
He finished the day second overall with the second fastest time of on the grid all weekend.
Pietro Peccenini who shares the car with Carey started Saturday’s big race after the morning’s qualifying.
The Italian made a strong start, but an incident at turn one left him and the team back in 29th position.
He moved up to 20th before Carey took over for the final hour and 10 minutes.
The Meath man produced another big performance behind the wheel to move up the field quickly.
However, with half an hour remaining Carey got a radio message to say the team had received a drive through penalty for a pit lane infringement.
It was hugely disappointing as Carey and the team looked set for a top five finish.
"The car was beautiful to drive and qualifying had gone really well, but we were very unlucky at the start of the race," stated the Ratoath man.
"My teammate Pietro showed great pace and was getting faster and faster as the week went on.
"We know we have the speed to challenge at the front.
"To top the times at testing and finish the Friday in second position was huge for me when you look at the world class names on the list below me.
"I’m already looking forward to race two in Paul Ricard in June,” added Carey.
The European Le Mans Cup championship calendar is visiting the world’s most iconic race venues.
The season started in Barcelona, but the headline race of the year will be supporting the 24 hours of Le Mans in August - the biggest race in world motorsport.
All races will be televised live on YouTube over on the Michelin Le Mans cup page.
To follow Cian Carey’s season you can follow him on his Instagram @ciancarey19 for updates.
RACE SCHEDULE
Thursday 3rd - Saturday 5th June - Paul Ricard (France)
Thursday 8th - Saturday 10th July - Monza (Italy)
Wednesday 18th - Saturday 21st August - Le Mans (France)
Thursday 16th - Wednesday 18th September - Spa Francorchamps (Belgium)
Friday 22nd - Sunday 24th October - Portimao (Portugal).