Le
Mans Series 2008
Round 3. Spa 1000 Kilometres. May 9th - 11th 2008
Race Press Release. Issued My 12th 2008
Three
Points the Hard Way
RML AD Group’s Mike Newton and Thomas
Erdos salvaged three valuable points from Round 3 of the
2008 Le Mans Series at Spa in Belgium, but they had to do
it the hard way. A blown turbo, followed shortly afterwards
by gear selection problems, cost the team nearly fifty minutes
in repairs, but determined graft from the pit crew saw the
MG Lola EX265 through to the chequered flag.
The two hours of the 1000 kilometre race
had promised much better for the reigning LMP2 champions,
with Thomas Erdos holding fifth in class at the start, and
then working forwards into fourth, and then closing on third
before the end of his second stint. A lengthy safety car
period right at the beginning of Mike Newton’s mid-race
period came at just the wrong time for RML, and cost the
MG the best part of a lap. This loss was compounded minutes
after the restart when the car’s turbo failed. Mike
Newton was able to return the MG to the pits, where the
engineers and mechanics carried out a remarkable repair
in just over half an hour, but with a further 14 laps lost
to the leaders, any chance of a meaningful result had evaporated.
Back in the race, Newton posted some of
his best-ever laps of the Spa circuit as he strove to regain
lost ground, but minutes after his mid-stint pitstop for
fuel he was forced to return once again to the garage with
gear selection problems. This time the repairs were completed
in under twenty minutes and Mike was swiftly back into the
race. With both the drivers’ and the team titles to
defend, every point counts.
Thomas Erdos returned to the cockpit for
the last half hour, and took the chequered flag in a richly
deserved sixth place. “That was really hard work!”
he said. “We soldiered on, despite all the problems,
and we collected some points for the team. As drivers, we
just had to keep going, but it’s been very tough on
the lads. The fact we finished at all is all thanks to them.”
“Once we’d lost the turbo, there
was no way we could compensate for that, so there was no
alternative but replace the unit,” said Team Manager
Phil Barker. “It was one of those days when things
just didn’t go right for us. The safety car periods
both cost us dearly, and then we had the second issue with
the gearbox. Some days you get the rub of the green, some
days you don’t. I guess we had some valuable pitstop
practice ahead of Le Mans next month, and Mike did really
well.”
Rick Perry, chief race technician on the
RML MG Lola had been largely responsible for refitting the
turbo, and had suffered several burns to his hands from
the damaged, but still red-hot unit. “That’s
what we do. Tommy drives, we fix!” he said, confirming
that his injuries were largely confined to a few blisters
and some cuts and grazes.
Adam Wiseberg, Motorsport Director for AD
Group, was philosophical about the Spa result. “You
have some good days, and you have some bad days, but as
usual, the boys did their stuff,” he said. “Now
we have look ahead and focus on the Le Mans 24 Hours next
month. We have an excellent record at Le Mans, having won
the class twice, in 2005 and 2006, and it’s what we’ve
been working towards all year.”
The
team will be heading across to France in three week’s
time for the official Le Mans test, which takes place over
the weekend of May 31st and June 1st.
LMP2
Result
Pos |
No. |
O/all |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Laps |
Time |
1 |
34 |
6 |
Van
Merksteijn M/s |
Van
Merksteijn/Verstappen |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
138 |
2:06.711 |
2 |
27 |
7 |
Horag
Racing |
Lienhard/Theys/Lammers |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
138 |
2:07.664 |
3 |
31 |
8 |
Team
Essex |
Nielsen/Elgaard |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
135 |
2:07.929 |
4 |
35 |
10 |
Saulnier
Racing |
Ragues/Lahaye |
Pescarolo
Judd |
134 |
2:08.676 |
5 |
41 |
12 |
Trading
Performance |
Ojeh/Gosselin/Schroyen |
Zytek
07S |
133 |
2:10.086 |
6 |
25 |
28 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
MG
Lola EX264 |
111 |
2:10.441 |
7 |
26 |
30 |
Bruichladdich |
Rostan/Petersen/Lueders |
Radical
SR9 AER |
106 |
2:13.812 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
33 |
n/c |
Speedy
Sebah |
Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia |
Lola
B08/80 Coupé |
128 |
2:07.074 |
9 |
45 |
n/c |
Embassy
Racing |
Hughes/Kane |
WF01
Zytek |
77 |
2:10.195 |
10 |
32 |
n/c |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Barazi/Vergers/Rees |
Zytek
07S |
62 |
2:08.682 |
11 |
40 |
n/c |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/Pla |
Lola
B05/40 AER |
35 |
2:09.924 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DNS |
46 |
n/c |
Embassy
Racing |
Kimber-Smith/Foster |
WF01
Zytek |
0 |
no
time |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DNS |
44 |
- |
Kruse
Schiller |
de
Pourtales/Noda |
Lola
B05/40 |
DNS |
DNS |
DNS |
37 |
- |
WR
Salini |
Salini/Salini/Roussel |
WR
Zytek |
DNS |
DNS |
There
are high resolution images posted in the Spa
Gallery.
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