Manchester geared up for season finale

Jack Manchester will contest the final round of the 2019 European Le Mans Series this weekend in Portugal as the competitive championship draws to a close. Returning to the cockpit of his Dallara P217 after a high-speed accident during practice at Silverstone, the 4 Hours of Portimão will see Manchester’s debut season in the ELMS conclude as he is reunited with his Thunderhead Carlin Racing team mates Harry Tincknell and Ben Barnicoat.

In what has been a season of learning and exciting challenges, Manchester has risen to meet them and produced some brilliantly mature drives throughout his debut year in the championship.

“This season so far has been really interesting for so many reasons,” said Manchester. “We built the team from the ground up and we’ve been pushing hard together and going in the right direction all season long. I think we can take so many positives from the year.”

Manchester and his Thunderhead Carlin Racing team mates have already raced at exciting and historic circuits this season; from his debut in Paul Ricard to a top ten finish in Barcelona, Manchester had been pushing hard until brake failure caused a high-speed accident during practice at Silverstone ruled him out of action for over a month.

“I had a nasty crash at Silverstone and had to take time away from the car to make sure that the injury fully healed. I’ve since taken careful steps to get back in the gym and tested with the team last week as well. It was obviously not ideal to have to sit out the previous round at Spa when I so desperately wanted to compete, but I needed to listen to the back specialists and make sure that I was 100% ready for the season finale this weekend.”

Manchester has since returned to the cockpit of his Dallara P217 car for two days of testing in Portugal ahead of the race weekend. This track time has eased the 21-year-old back into the swing of things ahead of the season finale of the European Le Mans Series.

“I’m really looking forward to being back behind the wheel of the car and continuing the progress that we’ve made together as a team."

"I’m sure we can have a great weekend together, push hard and get a well-deserved strong finish.”

The 4 hours of Portimão will see Manchester tackle the 17 corner, 4.648km track in anger this weekend. The Algarve International Circuit, in the south of Portugal has hosted a huge amount of exciting racing over the years with great overtaking opportunities throughout.

This weekend will be preceded by a day of official testing on Wednesday – the rest of the weekend’s schedule is as follows:

Friday 25th October
12:30 – 14:00 – Free Practice 1

Saturday 26th October
11:35 – 13:05 – Free Practice 2
16:20 – 16:30 – Qualifying

Sunday 27th October
10:00 – 10:30 – Autograph session
12:30 – 16:30 – Race

The race followed online via live timing and a video stream on the official website: https://www.europeanlemansseries.com/en/live

For behind the scenes content follow Jack’s official social channels on Twitter and Instagram.

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