Le
Mans 24 Hours 2009
Qualifying
Press Release - Friday June 12th 2009
RML
AD Group pleased with fourth
Thomas
Erdos set a time of 3:41.952 to claim a second-row slot
on the LMP2 grid for RML AD Group’s Lola-Mazda in
Saturday’s Le Mans 24 Hours. The red, white and blue
coupé will line up alongside the similar silver and
blue Speedy Racing Team Sebah entry, and directly behind
last year’s winning Porsche RS Spyder, this time entered
by the Japanese Team Goh squad. Class pole fell to the #31
Porsche RS Spyder entered by the Denmark-based Team Essex.
There
had looked to be every chance that Tommy would have been
able to claim third, and was eight-tenths up on his best
time before he caught up with a slowing GT1 Corvette in
the Porsche Curves, right towards the end of his quickest
lap. Having to back off cost him the lap, but he admitted
that matching the pace set by the Porsches was never really
on the cards. “The sector times suggest that we could
have been the top Lola, but traffic got in the way –
as I’m sure it did for everyone, but that’s
just the way of things. I lost a lot of time, and for sure,
third on the grid was possible, but I was very happy with
the car at the end of today. We ran with a full load of
fuel on standard race tyres, and still set a time that was
potentially good enough for third in class. I’m actually
delighted with that, but more so because I know we have
a very well-balanced, competitive car for the race.”
Rupert
Manwaring, Marketing Director for RML, said; “I’m
delighted that all three drivers are happy with the balance
and performance of the car. It would have been nice to be
the quickest Lola, but we are the fastest of the Mazda-powered
cars, and that is a satisfying achievement for the team.
The most important thing is that the drivers themselves
are confident in the car, and feel comfortable with their
ability to maintain a fast pace throughout the race.”
“I’m
really impressed with Tommy’s lap, in the darkness,”
said John Doonan, Manager of Motorsports Team Development
for Mazda North American. “Our primary goal this evening
was to ensure that every driver had plenty of time in the
car, and to be able to set three forty-fives at night suggests
that we’re in really good shape for the race.”
Phil
Barker, Team Manager at RML, was well satisfied by the turn
of events. “That was a very good session. We made
a series of changes just to improve the race balance, and
the drivers are now very comfortable in the car. We know
there was a quicker time in the car if we’d had the
opportunity to go for it, and even on Tommy’s quickest
recorded lap, we lost a significant amount of time through
the final sector with traffic. Third and the top Lola would
have been nice, but we have the bonus of an excellent car
for the race, and we can be satisfied with that.”
The
only very minor cause for concern was that Chris Dyson missed
sight of the chequered flag at the end of the first of the
evening’s two sessions. It had only just been unfurled,
but he technically, and inadvertently, completed one lap
too many. Called up to see the race director, he was immediately
apologetic. “Truthfully, I just didn’t see it,
but Daniel Poissenot was very understanding. It was a split
second thing, and he advised me to “be careful Chris!”
for the future.” Chris completed a generous run of
laps just before the break, and then added to that with
night-time laps after ten o’clock. “We were
on double-stinted tyres and full tanks, and the car still
felt great,” he said. “We have a car that can
run at a great pace, and that gives us great encouragement
for the race.
Mike’s
times were particularly impressive, bearing in mind how
little running he’s had this season. “Mike’s
pace tonight must have boosted his confidence,” said
Tommy. “He was quickly into setting some good times
through heavy traffic, and for Mike to come straight here
after two negative events at Barcelona and Spa and achieve
that kind of pace, straight into the three-fifties, is a
credit to him.” Mike was quietly pleased. “My
last lap was a fifty-eight, but that included two or three
second-losing incidents with traffic, so we can confidently
count that as a fifty-six or fifty-five, which is OK. That
was on two-thirds tanks and tyres that were well past their
best as well, so if that is potentially around my race-pace,
I’m quite satisfied. If I’d had a clear lap
and actually done a fifty-five, I’d be very happy,”
he said.
During
Friday, and before the weekend’s race, the team will
be refitting the engine that they “ran in” on
Wednesday night. “We’ve extended our policy
of pre-testing components before we use them to include
the engine,” explained Mike. “Everything has
been run-in, and there’s nothing new and unproven
for us to encounter in the race. The gearbox, race suspension
and also now the engine have all been validated and as good
as we can hope for. That engine is now a known quantity;
it’s already exhibited characteristics of good power
and reliability, and it’s now run-in and ready to
put in the car. It’s a cunning plan, and so far it
has worked well.”
The
race begins at 15:00 (CET) on Saturday afternoon.
LMP2
Times - Qualifying
Pos |
No. |
Overall |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
1 |
31 |
19 |
Team
Essex |
Collard/Elgaard/Poulsen |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
3:37.720 |
2 |
5 |
20 |
Team
Goh |
Ara/unimoto/Maassen |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
3:37.802 |
3 |
33 |
23 |
Speedy
Sebah |
Pompidou/Luenberger/Kane |
Lola
B08/80 Coupé |
3:41.724 |
4 |
25 |
24 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton/Dyson |
Lola
B08/86 Coupé |
3:41.952 |
5 |
40 |
25 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/Pla/Smith |
Ginetta
Zytek GZ09S |
3:42.012 |
6 |
30 |
26 |
Racing
Box |
Biagi/Bobbi/Piccini |
Lola
B08/86 Coupé |
3:42.848 |
7 |
41 |
27 |
GAC
Racing Team |
Ojeh/Gosselin/Peter |
Zytek GZ07S |
3:44.830 |
8 |
35 |
28 |
Oak
Racing |
Ajlani/Lahaye/Moureau |
Pescarolo
Mazda |
3:45.032 |
9 |
32 |
29 |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Barazi/Berville/Moseley |
Zytek GZ07S |
3:52.956 |
10 |
39 |
30 |
Kruse
Schiller |
Marsh/Noda
/dePourtales |
Lola
B05/40 |
3:53.072 |
11 |
26 |
33 |
Bruichladdich |
Bruneau/Greaves/Rostan |
Radical
SR9 AER |
3:55.320 |
12 |
24 |
36 |
Oak
Racing |
Nicolet/Hein/Yvon |
Pescarolo
Mazda |
3:57.524 |
Additional
photographs are available from the Le
Mans Gallery.