Le
Mans Series 2008
Round 4. Nürburgring 1000 Kilometres. August 16th -
17th 2008
Race Press Release. Issued August 17th 2008
Sixth
at the flag belies a strong run from RML at the Nürburgring
Taking
sixth place at the chequered flag fails to do justice to
a strong showing from the RML driver pairing of Thomas Erdos
and Mike Newton in Round 4 of the 2008 Le Mans Series at
the Nürburgring in Germany. Having qualifying ninth
on tyres that proved unsuited to the conditions –
and having to start the race on the same rubber –
Tommy drove a blistering triple stint that saw the MG rise
through the LMP2 ranks to a peak of second.
It
was an impressive performance from the Brazilian, who admitted
later that the first fifty minutes on the softer compound
had been “very tough”. This overlooks the fact
that the team’s original plan had been to bring the
car in ahead of schedule for an early pitstop and replace
those tyres, but such had been his pace and competitiveness
that Phil Barker, team manager at RML, elected to let him
run the distance. “Tommy drove an absolute blinder
and allowed us to maintain a regular pitstop schedule. That
was very valuable to us,” he said.
After
the pitstop, and fitted with fresh “medium”
compound tyres, the MG was transformed. "It was like
I'd climbed into a completely different car," said
Erdos. "It was a revelation! I was able to settle down
and really enjoy the drive, knowing that I had the car that
was handling and performing perfectly." Such was his
enthusiasm, and the evident improvement in pace, that he
was offered a third successive stint. He took full advantage
of the opportunity, and maintained a charge that lifted
the car from that ninth place at the start all the way through
to second in class. He completed two and three-quarter hours
before handing over to Mike Newton for the middle sector
of the race.
After
the pitstops had unravelled the CEO of AD Group found himself
running fifth, but also right in the middle of heavy traffic.
“I think I came into a series of maybe eight or nine
laps when I didn’t have a single clear run,”
said Mike. “I was either baulked by slower cars, or
encountering yellow flags on every second or third corner.
It was very frustrating!”. Within half an hour he
also discovered that the engine was losing some of its edge.
“It was definitely not as strong as it had been, and
I could almost run the whole of the main straight without
getting into sixth gear. That also made tackling the GT
cars much more difficult.” It also made defending
Tommy’s hard-won positions an almost insurmountable
challenge, and Mike did well to hold on to sixth before
handing back to Thomas Erdos for the final seventy-five
minutes.
Rejoining
in seventh, Erdos picked up one place and two whole laps
on the next cars in the class during those final stages,
and had closed to within striking distance of fifth before
time ran out. He took the chequered flag in sixth place.
“I’m pleased to have finished, but disappointed
that we could only manage sixth today,” admitted Phil
Barker. “We ran a clear race, without problems, and
although the engine was a bit flat towards the end, we deserved
better from a trouble-free run. Even so, three points will
do nicely, but with two or three more laps, perhaps Tommy
could have given us something better.”
Adam
Wiseberg, Motorsport Director of AD Group, was particularly
impressed with Tommy’s triple-stint. “That was
a very strong drive through to second,” he said, “The
car ran reliably, the crew was fantastic, and there were
no mistakes or problems anywhere. The team deserved more
of a reward than sixth, but as always this year, we face
a very competitive class in LMP2 and it’s a credit
to RML that the MG remains in contention after nearly five
years of development.”

The
final round takes place at Silverstone on September 14th
LMP2
Result
Pos |
No. |
O/all |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Laps/gap |
Time |
1 |
34 |
7 |
Van
Merksteijn M/s |
Bleekemolen/Verstappen
|
Porsche
RS Spyder |
188 |
1:45.697 |
2 |
35 |
9 |
Saulnier
Racing |
Ragues/Lahaye |
Pescarolo
Judd |
184 |
1:47.652 |
3 |
31 |
10 |
Team
Essex |
Nielsen/Elgaard |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
22
secs |
1:46.391 |
4 |
46 |
11 |
Embassy
Racing |
Manning/Foster |
WF01
Zytek |
183 |
1:48.217 |
5 |
40 |
12 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/Pla |
Lola
B05/40 AER |
182 |
1:46.596 |
6 |
25 |
13 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
MG
Lola EX264 |
181 |
1:47.445 |
7 |
45 |
14 |
Embassy
Racing |
Hughes/Kane |
WF01
Zytek |
180 |
1:47.904 |
8 |
32 |
15 |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Barazi/Vergers/Rees |
Zytek
07S |
56
secs |
1:46.881 |
9 |
33 |
16 |
Speedy
Sebah |
Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia |
Lola
Bo8/80 Coupé |
179 |
1:45.732 |
10 |
41 |
17 |
Trading
Performance |
Ojeh/Gosselin |
Zytek
07S |
4
secs |
1:49.311 |
11 |
44 |
21 |
Kruse
Schiller |
de
Pourtales/Noda |
Lola
B05/40 |
172 |
1:48.094 |
12 |
27 |
23 |
Horag
Racing |
Lienhard/Theys/Lammers |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
170 |
1:46.459 |
13 |
26 |
34 |
Bruichladdich |
Rostan/Petersen/Lueders |
Radical
SR9 AER |
159 |
1:50.294 |
|
|
|
NOT
CLASSIFIED |
|
|
|
|
14 |
37 |
43 |
WR
Salini |
Salini/Salini/Roussel |
WR
Zytek |
126 |
1:53.612 |
For
in-depth coverage, see Sunday
review here.
There are high resolution images posted in the
Nurburgring Gallery.