Niklas Krütten produced another very strong performance during his guest appearance in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, part of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 18-year-old driver is supported by the ADAC Stiftung Sport and together with his French team-mate Mathieu de Barbuat, he recorded a top 5 finish in the LMP3 class in both races, which featured a total of 34 cars.
In race one of the “Road to Le Mans” on Thursday, the duo started from eleventh in the #19 COOL Racing car and battled their way up to fifth position. In Saturday’s race, Krütten took over in the cockpit of the Ligier JS P320 in fourth place, after eight laps. After a thrilling chasing performance on the 13.626-kilometre circuit and a great overtaking manoeuvre, the Trier-born driver took the chequered flag in second place. Krütten and de Barbuat were the fastest Ligier drivers in the field, and the team recorded the best overall result in the two races.
Niklas Krütten: “The first race on Thursday went pretty well for us. The team got the tactical timing for the pit stop perfectly right, which helped us move up a few places. I had a lot of fun in the car and in the end, we were very pleased with fifth. It was very special to have the second race in front of packed stands on Saturday. Our race went very well. Mathieu’s pace was good right away. However, my heart nearly stopped when he left the track for a moment. He was able to get the car back under control though, and handed over to me in fourth place. I was able to move up two more places. This podium felt particularly good. Le Mans is now definitely one of my favourite circuits.”
The next competitive appearance for Krütten is in the European Le Mans Series from 17th to 19th September in Spa-Francorchamps. He and his team will head to Belgium at the top of the LMP3 standings. The season finale takes place on 24th October in Portimão (Portugal).