The Murphy Prototypes endurance racing team is back in action next weekend, when it heads to Austria for round three of the five-round European Le Mans Series.

 The race - the 4-Hours of Red Bull Ring, takes place on Sunday 12th July on the 4.326km (2.688-mile) Grand Prix circuit situated close to the city of Spielberg in the Styrian Alps.

After scoring a podium position in round two - the 4-Hours of Imola and where the team finished in second place - four weeks later Murphy Prototypes followed the result with an impressive fifth in the LMP2 class and 13th overall in the 24-Hours of Le Mans. The results underpinned the team’s potential and, with LMP2 (as opposed to LMP1 at Le Mans) being the top category in the European Series, team principal Greg Murphy makes no secret of the fact that they are in it to win it: “You have to aim high in motorsport and that’s what we do for every race. Because the competition is extremely fierce, we know it’s going to be tough to win, but it also means the sense of achievement when we score a good result is very high. We proved in the last ELMS round that a podium place is achievable and, looking at the bigger picture, if we can continue to finish in the top three for the rest of the season, then it’s going to do our title hopes no harm at all.”

The team’s Oreca 03R will be driven at the Red Bull Ring by its three regular ELMS drivers: RSA-born Mark Patterson from New York, Nathanaël Berthon from Romagnat in France and Anglo-Irish driver Michael Lyons from Bishops Stortford. With the trio finishing second in Italy, it is clear the combination works well and consequently, hopes are high this weekend for another podium finish.

Mark Patterson: “Given the solid race pace we’ve shown at all of the venues and the clever strategies implemented by the team, we know we have the car, the crew and the drivers to get ourselves on the podium. Being a ‘classic’ design, the circuit at Red Bull Ring features hard braking, blind-corner entries and consequently unbalanced exits, before long straights. It’s no bull at all and it's the type of track that us drivers dream about.”

Nathanaël Berthon: “I’ve raced at Red Bull Ring twice before and I know that finding good grip is always an issue, but it’s the same for all the teams, of course. It has not been my luckiest circuit up to now, so it’s time to break that tradition as I am sure we have the potential of another podium result - and let’s hope it’s one step higher this time!”

The programme for the 4-Hours of Red Bull Ring begins on Saturday (11th) with two, 90-minute Free Practice sessions. The 20-minute Qualifying session takes place at 09.45 on Sunday, with the four-hour race getting underway at 13.30 (all times CEST).