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Le Mans Series 2007
Round 5. Silverstone 1000 Kilometers. September 14th - 16th 2007
Friday
Report

Friday

This weekend has a strange “end of term” feeling to it. The Silverstone 1000 Kilometres will be the last race in Europe for the Le Mans Series in 2007, and there’s a fair chance that perhaps two out of the four championship titles could be resolved on Sunday.

What happens on Sunday may also have a significant bearing on the final scheduled race for the season at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil. There’s a strong undercurrent within the paddock that the race, which involves a twelve-week round trip for the cars, is unlikely to be well attended. The rumours suggest that only those teams that feel they have to go, probably because they’re still in with a shout of a title, will actually make the trip – those who’ve won their class crowns, or have no chance, may sign off their year here in Northamptonshire.

Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos face the weekend knowing that 31 points gives them a seven-point lead in the race for the LMP2 title. Currently sharing second place are the three ASM Quifel drivers; Miguel Amaral, Angel Burgueno and Miguel De Castro on 24, with the Horag Lola team third on 21 points.

During the course of the year the complexion of the LMP2 category has changed in subtle ways. The pace-setters at the start of the season appear to have been struggling of late, while various newcomers, most notably the Embassy Radical squad, have started to feature prominently in the running. Adding to that mix this weekend is a new entry from LNT. More familiar in their bright orange livery as the “works” Panoz GT2 squad, LNT’s Lawrence Tomlinson has declared his intention to contest LMP2 in 2008, and a toe in the water at Silverstone takes the form of a very quick and well-sorted Zytek chassis. Driven by the very capable Danny Watts and Tom Kimber-Smith, the car is sure to be a strong contender.

First Session

The first of the day’s two Free Practice sessions got under way at 10:30, with Tommy Erdos quick to join the track right at the start of the period. He ran a series of installation laps, and then headed back out again after a brief pitstop for adjustments hoping to set a few quick laps. He didn’t get very far. Negotiating the high-speed Bridge Corner, where the prototypes run flat through the right-hander before braking hard for the start of the Brooklands-Luffield complex, one of the GT2 Porsches cut in sharply across the back of the MG. “He just turned in on me,” said Tommy afterwards. “I was already past him running through on the inside by the apex, and he hit me in the rear left-hand corner. There wasn’t a great deal of damage, mostly cosmetic, but I had to come into the pits for a check-up.

The MG was drawn backwards into the garage so that the team could examine the car. Although largely superficial, a brand-new sidepod had only just been fitted to the MG, and this will now have to replaced. The brand new undertray, also recently fitted, also suffered some minor damage, but can be repaired.

With the MG given the OK, Tommy went back out for a final run before handing the car over to Mike Newton for the second half of the period. He enjoyed a relatively untroubled seven timed laps before the chequered flag drew the first hour’s practice to a close.

“We’re not exactly where we’d hoped to be,” admitted Erdos, looking at the times. These showed the LNT Zytek as fastest in LMP2 with a best of 1:38.734, with the Embassy Radical second on 1:39.355, and the RML MG EX264 third on 1:39.613. “I’m not at all surprised to see the Zytek there at the top,” he added. “Danny is a very quick driver, and so’s the car, so I'd have expected them to be on the pace. It’s a well sorted car, having been the ex-Fernandez car from Le Mans, and with two very capable drivers, it should be fast.”

The incident with the Porsche merely highlights two problems that the LMP2 runners now face. On the one hand, having nearly 50 cars running simultaneously on a circuit like Silverstone, where very fast sections are punctuated by equally slow ones, will inevitably lead to bottlenecks and issues with traffic. On the other, the smaller prototypes find that the faster GT1 cars are almost as quick as they are down the straights, and overtaking is made doubly difficult. “Traffic is a big issue here,” conceded Erdos. “There’s also been an influx of new drivers to the series this weekend. Some are big names, some are not, but there are undoubtedly some big egos involved!” Mike Newton readily agreed. “Some of the GT1s make it especially difficult,” he said. “Even if you’re two or three seconds a lap faster than they are, once you’re stuck behind one of them, you often have to wait until you’ve gone all the way round the track to Bridge before you can get by. Once you’re in front, it’s easy enough to pull away.”

This has been an underlying concern all season, but with news that the LMP2 category is to be penalised with another weight gain in 2008, next season looks set to be even more of a challenge for the Category Two drivers. “The regulations will insist that the minimum weight of the LMP2 cars rises from 775 kilos to 825,” explained Mike. “Bear in mind that some of these cars started life as 675 kilos, and you can see that we’re now driving around with the equivalent of two passengers strapped into the car. If we think it’s tough now, it’ll be even tougher next year.”

Other than being frustrated by the traffic, and having to brake hard to avoid another errant GT2 Porsche, also through Bridge, Mike’s session went well, but both RML drivers admitted that their pace had not been representative. “Perhaps we can lull the others into a false sense of security,” joked Tommy. Phil Barker, team manager, was satisfied that progress had been made, but was as critical of the traffic conditions as his drivers had been. “It’s pretty manic out there,” he declared, “and some of the driving standards leave a bit to be desired, but we’re in good shape, and the damage is nothing we can’t deal with.”

Top LMP2 Times - Session 1

Pos No. Overall Team Driver Car
Time
1
46
6 Team LNT Kimber-Smith/Watts Zytek 07S
1:38.734
2
45
8 Embassy Racing Hughes/Manning/Cunningham Radical SR9 AER
1:39.355
3
25
10 RML AD Group Erdos/Newton MG Lola EX264
1:39.613
4
40
14 Quifel ASM Amaral/de Castro/Burgueno Lola B05/40 AER
1:40.706
5
21
15 Bruichladdich Moseley/Greaves Radical SR9 AER
1:41.878
6
35
16 Saulnier Racing Nicolet/Filhol/Jouanny Courage LC75 AER
1:42.312
7
32
17 Barazi Epsilon Vergers/Ojeh/Barazi Zytek 07S
1:42.961
8
31
18 Binnie Motorsports Binnie/Timpany/Buncombe Lola B05/40 Zytek
1:43.550
9
20
19 Pierre Bruneau Rostan/Bruneau/Pullan Pillbeam MP93 Judd
1:43.975
10
27
27 Horag Racing Lienhard/Theys/Van de Poele Lola B05/40 Judd
1:50.097
11
26
28 Ranieri Randaccio Randaccio/Lavaggi Lucchini McLaren
1:50.404

The second session began at 3:30

Second Session

Friday Free Practice closed with Tommy and Mike both feeling much happier with their standing in LMP2, but still concerned by the density of traffic around the circuit.

Tommy spent the majority of time in the car, performing a series of out, one flying and then back in type laps, with the team making minor adjustments to the car at each pitlane visit. “It’s our normal approach,” explained Phil Barker. “We give the guys equal time in the first session, just to get a feel for the track, and then use the second session to get the chassis properly tuned in. It went exactly to plan.”

That became evident when Tommy swept through, roughly half way through the session, with a time of 1:38.217 to top the times in LMP2. “It was the first time he’d been able to string together a clear set of sectors, and not run into traffic,” said Barker. It certainly put a grin onto Tommy’s face – and even more so when the chequered flag fell at the end of the hour and the MG was still there at the top of the class. “We’re chipping away,” added Phil Barker. “It’s a combination of track conditions and traffic, but we’re moving in the right direction, but we’re not quite there yet. Perhaps we’ll need just a little more of the Erdos magic tomorrow, just to make sure.”

Top LMP2 Times - Session 2

Pos No. Overall Team Driver Car
Time
1
25
6 RML AD Group Erdos/Newton MG Lola EX264
1:38.217
2
21
8 Bruichladdich Moseley/Greaves Radical SR9 AER
1:38.609
3
46
9 Team LNT Kimber-Smith/Watts Zytek 07S
1:38.584
4
32
10 Barazi Epsilon Vergers/Ojeh/Barazi Zytek 07S
1:39.043
5
40
11 Quifel ASM Amaral/de Castro/Burgueno Lola B05/40 AER
1:39.049
6
35
12 Saulnier Racing Nicolet/Filhol/Jouanny Courage LC75 AER
1:39.212
7
45
15 Embassy Racing Hughes/Manning/Cunningham Radical SR9 AER
1:39.957
8
31
16 Binnie Motorsports Binnie/Timpany/Buncombe Lola B05/40 Zytek
1:40.311
9
27
19 Horag Racing Lienhard/Theys/Van de Poele Lola B05/40 Judd
1:42.568
10
20
20 Pierre Bruneau Rostan/Bruneau/Pullan Pillbeam MP93 Judd
1:43.416
11
26
23 Ranieri Randaccio Randaccio/Lavaggi Lucchini McLaren
1:46.620

Paddock Chat

Two significant news items came out of the paddock today. The first was the revelation that Paul “Chirpy” Smallcorn is to leave RML after this weekend’s race.

After more than twelve years with the company, Paul (pictured left, at Valencia in May) has almost become part of the fabric of the team, not only at race weekends, but also as a member of the full-time workforce at Wellingborough.

It was there that he was able to indulge his particular passion for classic sportscars, and he worked on a whole succession of restoration projects for RML, as well as assisting in the development of their contemporary race cars. He leaves RML to join a company of dedicated restoration experts, where his skills with metal will no doubt breathe fresh life into many historic cars over the coming years. He will be sorely missed at RML, for his ready good humour, dedication to the team, and unstinting hard work. Good luck Paul.

The other news involves Embassy Racing, one of RML’s nearest rivals in the Le Mans Series.

At a press conference at 12:30 today Jonathan France, owner of the team, confirmed the rumour that Embassy will not only be committed to the Le Mans Series again in 2008, but will do so with a two-car squad based upon a new chassis of their own design. In partnership with Zytek, who will provide the engine, Embassy has called upon the skills of Peter Elleray to design the new car. His pedigree is exceptional, having been the pen behind not only the current Radical SR9, but also the Le Mans winning Bentley. Also a member of the squad is Alastair Macqueen, who worked with RML at Le Mans in 2005, and shares the Bentley link with Elleray, having been Project Manager for the team.

The car is currently in the early development stages, and scale models (above) are undergoing rigorous wind-tunnel testing. The first car, designated WF01, is expected to make its test debut in late January 2008. Former RML driver Warren Hughes is confirmed as one of four professional drivers being appointed to the line-up by France, although Neil Cuningham is also expected to remain a member of the squad.

For full results of all races and events being staged at the Silverstone this weekend, please visit this link, where it is possible to download PDF files for all sessions

The third Free Practice session is scheduled for 09:30 tomorrow.

There are high resolution images posted in the Silverstone Gallery.

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