Jason Pribyl Invited to ELMS Rookie Test

TeamWWF Driver Ambassador Jason Pribyl was invited to a European Le Mans Series (ELMS) Rookie Test over the weekend in Portimao, Portugal.

The test went well, according to Pribyl, which led to an offer to compete in the Asian Le Mans Series and the Michelin Le Mans Cup with Forestier Racing by VPS Racing.

Pribyl got a call Thursday morning, and by Friday he was at the Algarve International Circuit, also known as the Portimao Circuit. Sometimes in racing, things happen just as fast off the track as they do on the track.

“It was really last minute. I went to Portimao to test an LMP3 (Le Mans Prototype 3) car, having never driven an LMP3 car before and not knowing the layout (of the track),” Pribyl said. “It has 15 corners on three miles of track with an elevation change of 90 feet. Road Atlanta, for example, has 79 feet of elevation change. I met the team Friday, watched them operate and got a feel for them before the rookie test on Sunday.”

Pribyl had a two-hour testing block Sunday morning and a four-hour block Sunday afternoon.

“The morning sessions were to learn to track, which was a little bit difficult since I was out there with LMP2 cars and GT3 cars alongside 19 LMP3 cars,” Pribyl said. “Managing traffic was a lot more difficult than I imagined. Then I had two afternoon test sessions. I set my best time in the last session of the weekend. Of the 43 LMP3 drivers out there, I was one of 10 who weren’t racing in LMP3 last year. It really wasn’t a rookie test.”

Pribyl, who is currently competing in the GB3 Championship, said the LMP3 car is much different from what he has been driving this year.

“It was my first time driving a car with power steering and downforce,” he said. “The biggest thing I noticed was you couldn’t feel the downforce in your hands, but you could feel it in your body. The steering wheel felt just as light as ever, which was super weird… especially coming from single-seat cars. There is no physical battle involved. The car has 470 horsepower, and we topped out at 162 mph. Just learning the different procedures was super interesting.”

For comparison, his GB3 car has 315 horsepower.

Pribyl will now shift his focus back to the GB3 Championship, but said some LMP3 tests are coming up in November.

“They said they would be happy to have me,” Pribyl said. “Some things have to happen (for that to work), but it was pretty much exactly what we were hoping for. It was a great experience.”