Le
Mans Series 2009
Round 3. Autodromo do Algarve 1000 Kilometres.
August 1st 2009
Friday Review
Heat,
and more Heat
Free
Practice 3
After
the relative cool of Thursday evening’s second Free
Practice session, when the RML Lola Mazda had ended the
two hours as fifth-quickest in LMP2, Friday’s third
session would be staged in the baking heat of the early
afternoon. With track temperatures reaching into the fifties
and higher, the conditions bore little relevance to those
likely to be encountered either in Qualifying later today,
or in the race tomorrow evening, but it was an opportunity
to resolve any balance and performance issues, and for drivers
less acquainted with the new circuit to learn their way
round.
With
the sun almost at its peak, the final Free Practice session
got under way at just before two. Tommy and Mike took it
in turns to drive the #25 RML Lola, with Mike taking advantage
of most of the middle part of the hour to perfect his understanding
of the twists and turns of this complex track. He’s
been concentrating on his technique and, with the aid of
the on-board cctv system developed by AD Group, he and Tommy
have been assessing the best racing line for the Autodromo.
Mike
was certainly not feeling relaxed about the race on Thursday
evening, but a good run on Friday has worked wonders. He
made significant strides forwards, and his pace and confidence
took a significant boost. “That last stint felt so
much better,” he said, his face cracking into a grin
for the first time since he first took to the circuit. “It
feels great to have started properly now,” he explained.
“Now I just need the practice. I can see areas for
improvement, I know that, but I feel much happier. That
felt like my first real run in the car this week, and I’m
getting into my stride.”
Phil Barker, Team Manager, was also looking
more cheerful. “I’m reasonably confident now,
and I’ll be happy if we can qualify in the top three,”
he said, after Tommy posted a time that was within three-tenths
of second in class. Top time, once again, was set by the
ASM Ginetta-Zytek, but the gap between the Portuguese car
and those behind has been fairly generous with each session.
By contrast, the chasing six-pack can be blanketed by little
more than a second.
Phil
would still have liked more, time, of course. “An
hour just goes by so quickly!” he said. “Mind
you, if they gave us four hours I’d still want five.
We’ve definitely moved forwards today. The car was
very lively in the first session (on Thursday), but we overcome
that, and the car was well settled down for the second (night)
session, and was significantly quicker. Now we’ve
moved on again.”
The issue of track and air temperatures
continues to challenge the teams as they attempt to dial-in
their cars. “The track temperature this afternoon
was 52 degrees, but that will be down to the mid-thirties
tonight. It’s very difficult to sort out a balance
when conditions are changing so much, and especially when
a session like that last one can have no real bearing on
what we’ll face in qualifying, or the race,”
he added. “Tonight it will cool down and should be
much closer to the kind of conditions we’ll face in
the race, and that’s what really matters.”
Part
of the routine work involved in preparing for any race weekend
is to do tyre and fuel runs; establishing wear and degradation
on the rubber, and likely fuel consumption over the course
of a stint. From the data collected, a team can then plan
a strategy for the race. “One thing we’ve very
pleased to have established is that the car is very quick
on old tyres,” said Phil. “Tommy’s quickest
time (last night) was set on tyres that had already double-stinted,
so we’re very happy that the car can remain competitive
over an extended period. The car is just not aggressive
on tyres here, and at a pinch I think we could even run
three stints on a single set.” Saving time in the
pitlane – by not having to change tyres – is
time that’s much easier to gain than places on the
track, and so is double valuable.
After
Mike had completed five timed laps towards the second third
of the session, Tommy went back out to run on to the chequered
flag and simulated a “low fuel” run, just to
gain some insight into how far the Mazda-powered Lola could
go once the warning light had started to flicker.
LMP2
Free Practice 3
Pos |
No. |
O/all |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Best
Lap |
1 |
40 |
8 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/Pla |
Ginetta-Zytek
GZ09S |
1:33.868 |
2 |
30 |
12 |
Racing
Box |
Biagi/Bobbi/Piccini |
Lola
B08/86 Coupé |
1:35.562 |
3 |
29 |
13 |
Racing
Box |
Ceccato/Francioni/Piccini |
Lola
B08/86 Coupé |
1:35.578 |
4 |
33 |
14 |
Speedy
Sebah |
Pompidou/Luenberger/Kane |
Lola
B08/80 Coupé |
1:35.628 |
5 |
25 |
15 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
Lola
B08/86 Coupé |
1:35.892 |
6 |
41 |
16 |
GAC
Racing Team |
Ojeh/Gosselin/Peter |
Zytek 07S |
1:36.686 |
7 |
35 |
17 |
Oak
Racing |
Ajlani/Lahaye |
Pescarolo
Mazda |
1:36.716 |
8 |
37 |
18 |
WR
Salini |
Salini/Salini/Jouanny |
WR
Zytek |
1:38.652 |
9 |
43 |
19 |
Q8
Oils Hache |
Jorda/Cortes/Nieto |
Lucchini
Judd |
1:39.898 |
10 |
24 |
20 |
Oak
Racing |
Nicolet/Hein |
Pescarolo
Mazda |
1:39.936 |
11 |
28 |
22 |
Ibanez
Racing |
Ibanez/da
Rocha/Cavailhes |
Courage
AER |
1:41.190 |
12 |
26 |
23 |
Bruichladdich |
Bruneau/Greaves/Sini |
Radical
SR9 AER |
1:43.106 |
Qualifying
The
start of the Le Mans Series qualifying was delayed by ten
minutes after a late finish to the preceding Classic Endurance
Racing (CER) session due to red flags – always a cause
for concern where such beautiful and valuable machines are
involved!
The GT cars went out for their twenty-minute
period before the prototypes, heading off at 19:20. At this
point the air temperature had already started to dip from
a mid-afternoon peak of somewhere in the region of 35 degrees.
By seven it had fallen to 25, and a cooling breeze was ruffling
the marquees and awnings in the paddock.
GT qualifying went more or less to form,
although the GT1 Saleen was late to post a representative
time – Lemeret waiting until the penultimate lap to
lift the Larbre car off the bottom of the screen. A characteristic
of the session was that almost half the cars waited until
half way through before venturing out, no doubt in the hope
that the cooling air would lead to quicker times. By quarter-to
eight, the ambient dipped by one whole degree.
The prototype qualifying session kicked
off at 19:50, with a warning that there was oil at Turns
4 and 5. First to leave the pitlane was Darren Turner in
the 009 Aston Martin Lola, followed by one of the Kolles
Audis and the two Oreca AIMs. The Bruichladdich Radical
was lead out the LMP2 cars, followed by the #28 Ibanez Racing
Courage and the #35 Oak Racing Pescarolo, with Tommy the
8th car to take to the tarmac.
This slow start hadn’t been unexpected
– the GT cars had already demonstrated that the quicker
times were likely to come towards the end of a session,
but RML was keen to lay down a marker, and an empty track
had its own benefits.
Karim Ajlani was the quickest of the LMP2
first flyers for Oak Racing, and 1:37.772 was quite respectable.
Tommy’s first was a 1:38.948 and tentatively claimed
second, but his next lap began immediately with a new fastest
sector. With six minutes gone only 12 prototypes had yet
to appear.
Before Tommy reached the line Bruce Jouanny
crossed it for WR Salini with a 1:37.548, but Tommy was
on a hot one. When the Lola cut the timing beacon seconds
later it was to record an impressive 1:35.056 – the
quickest time recorded b the #25 all week, and one of the
fastest by any LMP2 car. It stood clear at the head of P2
and 4th overall.
The Brazilian hadn’t yet finished,
however, and Tommy’s third was a 1:34.728, consolidating
his grip on provisional pole by nearly three seconds.
Several other top P2 contenders were now
joining in, including Olivier Pla in the #40 ASM Ginetta-Zytek,
Matteo Bobbi in the #30 Racing Box Lola, and Patrick Peter
in the #41 GAC Zytek. Each had the capacity, on paper at
least, to go for class pole.
In LMP1 Bruno Senna moved to second-quickest
overall in the #10 Oreca AIM as Tommy came back down the
pitlane from 6th overall. It was eight o’clock.
First to get near to Tommy’s time
was Xavier Pompidou in the #33 Speedy Sebah Lola, and 1:35.380
was a close second. Pla’s first timed lap at 1:35.580
moved the ASM car into third, with Peter fourth on 1:35.888,
11th overall. Next time round Pompidou improved to a 1:35.288
that moved him to within a few tenths, followed by Pla on
1:34.924 that narrowed the gap to two-tenths.
Throughout this period Tommy sat in the
cockpit, stationary in the pits. Over the years this had
become a familiar sight, and there would have been a time
when he’d have been able to relax in the knowledge
that there was nobody else capable of getting even close.
This time, the chances were slimmer, and not necessarily
in his favour, but what observers didn’t appreciate
was that Tommy, and everyone at RML looking at the telemetry,
knew that he had little chance of going out again to defend
pole. The car’s engine was already displaying some
disconcerting signs of imminent demise.
So, as Lapierre moved fastest overall in
LMP1, setting a 1:31.020 for the #11 Oreca AIM, Pla was
on a lap that would move him quickest in LMP2 with a new
time of 1:34.492. It was five-past eight, and for a while
the timing screens displayed a perfectly arrayed field,
with each class in the correct order and neatly clumped.
With four minutes to go, Patrick Peter moved
a few tenths quicker, posting 1:34.832 for the #41 Zytek.
The final improvement then came from Pla, who swept across
the line to record a new best for LMP2 of 1:34.296 that
not only cleared Tommy’s best by half a second, but
demoted #12 LMP1 Oreca Judd to 12th overall.
The
chequered flag was waved, and only those already on a flying
lap could add to their tally. One to do so was Patrick Peter
in the #41, and 1:34.752 shaved another few tenths off the
margin between him and Tommy, leaving just a few hundredths
to secure the best qualifying performance of nearly two
years for the RML Lola. The air temperature had dropped
to 23.2 degrees at the close.
Driver
and Team Comments
In the minutes after the race, and
for a few hours, the mood in the RML garage and hospitality
was buoyant, for the first time in many months. “That
was better, wasn’t it?” said Tommy, grinning
from ear to ear. The engineers and mechanics walked past
to clap him on the back or shake his hand. It was a sight
not seen for some while, and all the better for that. “It
was a bit of a surprise not to see Olivier (Pla) going in
to the thirty-threes, but you have to put the tyres on for
qualifying that you’ll use to start the race, and
in its own way, that tells a story. It’s nice to split
the Zyteks at last, and to be the top Lola. That’s
Very satisfying.”
“The chassis is great – just fantastic - and
the handling is excellent. We made some bold changes after
the last Free Practice session, and they were the right
changes. We had a really good car for qualifying and I’m
looking forward to carrying that on into the race.”
“I only did three flying laps,
and came in, but there’s no doubt in my mind that
we could have gone even quicker if the circumstances would
have allowed.”
Mike was looking more relaxed than
he had since arriving at the circuit. “Tommy’s
lap is some good news in what’s been an extremely
challenging weekend, so far,” he said. “I think
that’s the best qualifying position yet for the Lola
Coupé, and it proves that the complete Lola Mazda
package is very competitive, when we can overcome the reliability
issues.”
But the story was not yet over, not
by a long chalk. During the qualifying run the AER engine
technicians had noted some data readings that gave them
cause for concern, and as a precautionary measure, the decision
was taken to change the engine before the race. Half an
hour after the publication of the qualifying times, a revision
was issued, that showed that the RML Lola Mazda #25 would
start the race from 21st overall, eleventh in LMP2.
This ten-place grid penalty was the
result of having to fit a new engine since the last one
blew during Round Two in Spa. That not only incurred the
grid penalty, but also earned the team a four-point deduction
in their total for the season . . . already standing at
minus 2 after the first engine went bang in Barcelona. Being
relegated here at the Algarve wasn’t unexpected, but
it was still a disappointment, coming after such a morale-boosting
run. Please see the press release for further details.
So,
as the team headed for their hotel at the end of Friday,
Tommy looked set to begin Saturday’s night race from
the two-third position on the grid. Little did they know
that more was yet to come . . .
LMP2
Qualifying
Pos |
No. |
O/all |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Best
Lap |
Diff. |
1 |
40 |
10 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/Pla |
Ginetta-Zytek
GZ09S |
1:34.296 |
- |
2 |
25 |
12 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
Lola
B08/86 Coupé |
1:34.728 |
0.432 |
3 |
41 |
13 |
GAC
Racing Team |
Ojeh/Gosselin/Peter |
Zytek 07S |
1:34.752 |
0.456 |
4 |
29 |
14 |
Racing
Box |
Ceccato/Francioni/Piccini |
Lola
B08/86 Coupé |
1:34.948 |
0.652 |
5 |
33 |
15 |
Speedy
Sebah |
Pompidou/Luenberger/Kane |
Lola
B08/80 Coupé |
1:35.100 |
0.804 |
6 |
30 |
16 |
Racing
Box |
Biagi/Bobbi/Piccini |
Lola
B08/86 Coupé |
1:35.448 |
1.152 |
7 |
35 |
17 |
Oak
Racing |
Ajlani/Lahaye |
Pescarolo
Mazda |
1:37.076 |
2.780 |
8 |
37 |
18 |
WR
Salini |
Salini/Salini/Jouanny |
WR
Zytek |
1:37.088 |
2.792 |
9 |
24 |
19 |
Oak
Racing |
Nicolet/Hein |
Pescarolo
Mazda |
1:38.396 |
4.100 |
10 |
43 |
20 |
Q8
Oils Hache |
Jorda/Cortes/Nieto |
Lucchini
Judd |
1:39.296 |
5.000 |
11 |
28 |
21 |
Ibanez
Racing |
Ibanez/da
Rocha/Cavailhes |
Courage
AER |
1:39.940 |
5.644 |
12 |
26 |
22 |
Bruichladdich |
Bruneau/Greaves/Sini |
Radical
SR9 AER |
1:40.820 |
6.524 |
For
high resolution digital photographs, please
visit the Algarve
Gallery.