Le
Mans Series 2008
Round 3. Spa 1000 Kilometres. May 9th - 11th 2008
Saturday Report
Saturday
Third
Free Practice
The
weekend’s third and final session of Free Practice
got under way at just after 09:45 on Saturday. It proved
to be a very positive hour of track-time for RML’s
Thomas Erdos and Mike Newton, although the session itself
was interrupted twice by red flags.
Within
ten minutes, Tommy had moved through to third in LMP2, setting
a first flyer of 2:11.173, but times were soon set to tumble.
Michael Vergers enjoyed a much improved run in the Barazi
Epsilon Zytek, posting an early best of 2:07.803, but then
shaving several more tenths of that to peak at 2:07.048.
He’d end the period third in LMP2.
Tommy’s
next (and third) lap was a 2:08.493, but with all three
Porsches now picking up their pace, and Vergers clearly
on form, it was only good enough for fifth.
The
first red flag interruption came about as a result of a
spin for the Bruichladdich Radical on the exit of La Source,
which left the flat-bottomed LMP2 see-sawing on the kerbs
and unable to move. It had to be dragged off by one of the
recovery vehicles.
Immediately
after the restart we witnessed the first sub-two-minute
lap from any of the LMP1 prototypes, with Dindo Capello
posting a 1:59 in the #1 Audi. It was a gauntlet that the
Peugeots couldn’t resist, and the response from Sarrazin
was almost immediate. 1:58.180 was an emphatic reply, and
significantly, the first sector of the next lap was quicker
still, although he eased off quickly after that.
Tommy
was also going quicker in the MG, and his first flyer was
a 2:07.739. That didn’t lift the car’s status
in LMP2, but when he came through next time around and set
2:07.167, it raised him to fourth, with the #34 fastest
(7th overall), the #27 second, then the #32 Zytek third
(2:07.048), and Tommy fourth.
The
WR Zytek #37 ploughing off into the barriers at the top
of Radillon brought out the second red flag, and RML took
the pause as an opportunity to put Mike into the car, and
the CEO of AD Group stayed in until the chequered flag.
His best lap was a 2:14.528.
Top
LMP2 Times - Session 3
| Pos |
No. |
Overall |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
| 1 |
34 |
8 |
Van
Merksteijn M/s |
Van
Merksteijn/Verstappen |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
2:04.771 |
| 2 |
27 |
9 |
Horag
Racing |
Lienhard/Theys/Lammers |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
2:05.550 |
| 3 |
32 |
10 |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Barazi/Vergers/Rees |
Zytek
07S |
2:07.048 |
| 4 |
25 |
12 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
MG
Lola EX265 |
2:07.167 |
| 5 |
31 |
14 |
Team
Essex |
Nielsen/Elgaard |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
2:07.621 |
| 6 |
40 |
15 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/Pla |
Lola
B05/40 AER |
2:07.625 |
| 7 |
45 |
17 |
Embassy
Racing |
Hughes/Kane |
WF01
Zytek |
2:08.082 |
| 8 |
33 |
18 |
Speedy
Sebah |
Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia |
Lola
B08/80 Coupé |
2:08.424 |
| 9 |
35 |
19 |
Saulnier
Racing |
Ragues/Lahaye |
Pescarolo
Judd |
2:08.649 |
| 9 |
46 |
20 |
Embassy
Racing |
Kimber-Smith/Foster |
WF01
Zytek |
2:08.649 |
| 11 |
44 |
22 |
Kruse
Schiller |
de
Pourtales/Noda |
Lola
B05/40 |
2:09.016 |
| 12 |
41 |
25 |
Trading
Performance |
Ojeh/Gosselin/Schroyen |
Zytek
07S |
2:12.345 |
| 13 |
26 |
26 |
Bruichladdich |
Rostan/Petersen/Lueders |
Radical
SR9 AER |
2:14.784 |
| 14 |
37 |
37 |
WR
Salini |
Salini/Salini/Roussel |
WR
Zytek |
2:19.457 |
Qualifying
Qualifying
for Round 3 of the 2008 Le Mans Series turned out to be
a very stop-star affair, and memorable perhaps for a sequence
of major accidents for some of the LMP2 competitors that
left the session punctuated by red flag stoppages.
Tommy
had not even joined the track before the first of these
took place, on the exit of the "unnamed lefthander"
after Rivage. The Kruse Lola Mazda appeared to lose the
back end through the corner, and then spun wildly into the
tyre wall. It was seriously damaged by the impact - car
and barriers alike, and the red flags were instantly shown.
Tommy had just been about to receive a full set of fresh
tyres in anticipation of his qualifying run, and the pit
crew were sent scurrying back to the tyre warming booth
to replace the wheels.
At
this point only a handful of cars had actually managed to
come through to post a sensible time, and heading LMP2 -
as the only car to have achieved a flying lap - was the
Essex Racing Porsche, Casper Elgaard setting a token 2:16.498.
In LMP1, by contrast, Allan McNish had already popped in
a 1:58.705 to establish some kind of a target for the Peugeots
to aim for. They'd not yet left their garages.
The
marshals had the Kruse Lola cleared away and returned to
the pitlane quite quickly, but it took almost twenty minutes
to replace the tyre wall. At 2:50 the session resumed, with
Erdos joining in a minute later.
Several
LMP2 cars were then quick to post their first times, including
the #35 Saulnier Racing Pescarolo Judd, and Olivier PLa
in the #40 ASM Lola. Both comfortably eclipsed Elgaard's
pre-stoppage time. Didier Theys then came through to better
them both, briefly, before Michael Vergers displaced them
all in the Barazi Zytek.
Times
were still not on a par with the day's earlier Free Practice
session, but 2:05.841 from Jos Verstappen suggested that
quick times were certainly still possible. However, those
in the know felt that the additional heat baked into the
track by several hours of uninterrupted sunshine, and higher
ambient temperatures, might preclude a match to the sub
two-oh-five of the morning. Then, out of the blue (given
previous performances this weekend) came a 2:05.880 from
the Speedy Sebah Lola Coupé to move into second.
Tommy
had yet to post a time, but his first came up soon enough.
A time of 2:07.539 was his opening flyer, and slotted the
MG into fifth.
Moments
later, the session's second major incident erupted in a
cloud of dust and gravel - once again, at that unnamed left-hander
after Rivage. In a carbon-copy of the Kruse accident, Olivier
Pla in the similar ASM Lola lost rear-end grip and careered
into the same tyrewall. Once again, the red flags were waved
and the same exhausted marshals ventured onto the track
to recover the car, and then undertake a second rebuild
of the tyrewall.
The
car was brought back to the pitlane on another flatbed (above),
and unloaded to much shaking of heads by the ASM mechanics.
Another late night looked to be in store for the Portuguese
team.
The
delay this time was fifteen minutes, but Tommy wasn't hanging
around. A quick calculation suggested there might be just
enough time for two flying laps, assuming the remainder
of the session went to time. At just gone three o'clock,
he headed away down the pitlane towards the exit, where
he joined the growing queue of cars awaiting the green light.
At three-fifteen that came, and a mass exodus began. Not
only were drivers like Tommy keen to see if they could improve
their laps, but the two Peugeots had yet to post representative
times, and the prospect of an Audi front row was spurring
them on.
Marc
Gené was the first to achieve something meaningful
for Peugeot, moving in just behind the two Audis, but team-mate
Stephane Sarrazin made certain of pole seconds later, posting
an awesome 1:58.069. Hopes that Gené might join him
on the front row evaporated when Robbie Kerr dumped the
#15 Creation in the gravel. He kept the car going, and returned
to the track, but not before the yellow flags had slowed
several last minute charges, including Gené's hopes
of pole.
Tommy's
prospects of an improved time were also thwarted by another
car, although in his case it was a case of being seriously
baulked. "Potentially, there's no doubt it would have
been a better lap," said the Brazilian. "He'd
obviously decided to abort his lap, and eased back. What
he obviously didn't do was check in his rear-view mirrors,
as he made no attempt to let me through. In fact, he turned
in on me as I came up to the next corner, and I had to brake
hard to avoid him."
That
effectively ended Tommy's qualifying challenge, and with
the chequered flag fluttering from the starting gantry,
the session came to a close. "It's a nice feeling to
have qualified nearer the front than we have in the previous
two rounds," said Adam Wiseberg, but there was no disguising
the fact that Tommy would still have preferred to be a little
further up the field. "The car's reliable, the engine's
strong, the balance is good, and we have a good car for
the race," was all he said.
Top
LMP2 Times - Qualifying
| Pos |
No. |
Overall |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
| 1 |
34 |
8 |
Van
Merksteijn M/s |
Van
Merksteijn/Verstappen |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
2:05.841 |
| 2 |
33 |
9 |
Speedy
Sebah |
Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia |
Lola
B08/80 Coupé |
2:05.880 |
| 3 |
32 |
12 |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Barazi/Vergers/Rees |
Zytek
07S |
2:06.349 |
| 4 |
27 |
13 |
Horag
Racing |
Lienhard/Theys/Lammers |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
2:06.955 |
| 5 |
25 |
15 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
MG
Lola EX265 |
2:07.539 |
| 6 |
46 |
16 |
Embassy
Racing |
Kimber-Smith/Foster |
WF01
Zytek |
2:08.047 |
| 7 |
40 |
17 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/Pla |
Lola
B05/40 AER |
2:08.224 |
| 8 |
31 |
18 |
Team
Essex |
Nielsen/Elgaard |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
2:08.322 |
| 9 |
35 |
19 |
Saulnier
Racing |
Ragues/Lahaye |
Pescarolo
Judd |
2:08.676 |
| 10 |
45 |
20 |
Embassy
Racing |
Hughes/Kane |
WF01
Zytek |
2:08.873 |
| 11 |
41 |
21 |
Trading
Performance |
Ojeh/Gosselin/Schroyen |
Zytek
07S |
2:11.269 |
| 12 |
26 |
23 |
Bruichladdich |
Rostan/Petersen/Lueders |
Radical
SR9 AER |
2:12.207 |
| 13 |
44 |
44 |
Kruse
Schiller |
de
Pourtales/Noda |
Lola
B05/40 |
no
time |
| 14 |
37 |
- |
WR
Salini |
Salini/Salini/Roussel |
WR
Zytek |
DNS |
There
are high resolution images posted in the Spa
Gallery.
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