Le
Mans Series 2006
Round 3. Nürburgring 1000 Kilometers. July 15th-16th
2006
Race
Warm
Up
The round tower of Nürburg Castle,
surrounded by the dark green of the hilltop forest, was
bathed in the golden light of an early morning sun as the
teams started congregating at the race track nestling in
the valley below. Clear skies, devoid of even the slightest
hint of cloud, heralded the onset of another hot, bright,
dry day in the Eifel Mountains.
First on the day’s agenda was
the official warm-up, starting at eight thirty-five. In
recognition of the team’s interrupted free practice
sessions on the previous day, RML elected to give Mike Newton
the full half-hour. “We used the session as an extended
full-tank test for me,” explained Mike. “I only
had two short runs in Free Practice yesterday, and it seemed
sensible to give me some experience of the car in race trim.
We were bedding in brakes as well, and I was able to feel
very comfortable in the car. I felt under a lot of pressure
yesterday, and perhaps I overdrove the car. What I did then
was scrappy, but today I was able to build up progressively,
and it felt much better.” He set a best of 1:52.878,
which was good enough for thirteenth overall, sixth in LMP2.
“That fifty-two eight came very easily, despite the
heavy traffic,” said Mike. “That left me feeling
far more confident for the race.”
Right
at the end, Mike brought the car in at race pace, pulled
up sharply in front of the garage, and the team went through
the process of a simulated driver change; Erdos climbing
swiftly into the cockpit and being strapped into his BSS
seat. All in all, an encouraging start to the day.
While
the team addressed minor issues arising from the session,
and completed final preparation ahead of the day’s
race, the drivers attended the official autograph session
in the paddock, alongside the ACO’s mobile scrutineering
bay. Every driver was expected to attend, and most did.
On
the Grid
By
half-eleven all forty-four cars had taken up their positions
on the grid in anticipation of the quarter-to start. Following
the discovery after qualifying of an irregular restrictor
still fitted to the engine on the Rollcentre Radical, the
green and black car would be starting from the back of the
grid. Soon to be joining first-stint driver Joao Barbosa
when the cars moved off would be Bob Berridge in the Chamberlain
LMP1 Lola, thanks to an isolator switch being inadvertently
set to ‘off’ while the car sat on the grid.
Elsewhere, the marshals were sweeping the track, and the
sound of cars belting round the adjacent 13-mile Nordschleife
circuit echoed around the stands. The two tracks pass close
at this point, and can actually be joined, and a race was
already in progress on the longer circuit. Overhead, the
sun was beating down unmercifully, although a gathering
breeze was enough to cool the modest crowd.
At eleven thirty-five the call came
to clear the track. Spectators, grid girls, photographers
and mechanics started to head back behind the barriers,
and there was an almost palpable sense of anticipation,
especially around the grandstands furthest from the grid,
where a smattering of people were straining eyes and ears
to get a first sense of the cars. Amid all this, the sound
of squealing tyres could be heard from the Nordschleife,
helicopters buzzed overhead and the circuit commentator
prattled away in German.
“Fünf
minuten”, he announced; five minutes to go. Then,
with a stutter of starter motors, and then an increasing
intensity, the engines of nearly fifty racecars powered
into life. It was an awesome noise, made all the more so
by the canyon of grandstands, hotel and pit buildings that
tunnel the grid. The leaders started to move off . . . yet
the rear of the grid, hidden round the corner, couldn’t
even see them! The noise was fabulous, and for the next
six hours the hillsides of the Eifel mountains would echo
to the concentrated sound of Le Mans cars in anger. Magic.
Back
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Race
Start and First Hour
Heading
up the back straight, the pace car pulled off into the pitlane
entry, marshals on either side of the track holding out
“GRID” boards to remind drivers to hold their
positions to the line. At the front, all do, but discipline
at the back isn’t so strongly respected! Out at the
sharp end it was all-change as the lights went green. The
pole-setting Creation was beaten into the first corner by
Nakano in the #13 Courage, with the Pescarolo following
him through on the wider line. Tommy, to the left of middle,
opted for discretion over valour, taking a safer course
into the first hairpin, and then content to follow Michael
Vergers in the Barazi through the initial complex of corners.
By
the end of the opening lap he was sitting comfortably in
third, at ease with the prospect of having Stuart Moseley
in the Bruichladdich Radical ahead of him. “Moseley
was taking a lot of chances, but I didn’t want to
get involved, so I bided my time and let him go. He was
looking very ragged, and taking lots of kerb, so I didn’t
think it would be too long before he either made a mistake
or cooked his tyres.”
For
the first couple of laps, that’s how it stayed, with
Vergers leading, being constantly harried by Moseley, and
Erdos simply watching and waiting. If smoothness was the
key to how this was going to pan out, then the Brazilian
clearly had the edge. Coming through the Bilstein-Bogen
to start the back straight at the end of lap three, Vergers
hit a problem. Suddenly stuck in fourth gear, he was in
no position to fend off the advances of either car, and
as they headed up the hill towards the final chicane, first
Moseley, and then Erdos, eased out of his slipstream and
ahead (above). The Barazi would pit at the end of this lap,
and not be seen again for almost forty minutes.
The
race for the lead in LMP2 then became a straight two-horser.
Already, just four laps into the six-hour race, a significant
gap had opened up between these two and the first of the
Belmondo Courages in third (right). Moseley was pushing
hard in the lead, but that suited Erdos perfectly. Tucked
under the Radical’s rear wing, he was simply waiting
for the opening that he felt sure would be soon in coming.
The outright leader at this stage was still Nakano’s
Courage, but Collard appeared to be driving well within
himself as he carried the Pescarolo through in second. Just
behind them, however, Nic Misassian in the Creation was
about to have a rude encounter with a characteristically
determined Jean-Marc Gounon in the second of the works Courages.
Rising up towards the last “Schikane” to complete
lap seven, Gounon snuck up the inside where there wasn’t
really a space. Next moment Minsassian was left with only
the grass-track option, forced wide through the right-hander
and sent hopping across the ruts as he struggled to retain
fourth place.
While the two P2 leaders were circulating
rapidly as a pair, the greatest moves elsewhere in the category
were being made by Joao Barbosa in the Rollcentre Radical.
Having started last, he was scything through the ranks of
GT2 and GT1 in his efforts to regain what he felt was his
rightful position. In truth, it was an impressive charge.
Equally impressive, when it came, was the Erdos move on
Moseley. “He’d started to make a few little
mistakes,” observed the RML driver. “Nothing
major at first, but he was right on the edge all the way.
Then he left the door open on the run down to the hairpin,
and I was able to pass him cleanly. After that I seemed
to pull away quite easily.”
It
was just after midday, lap nine, as the RML MG regained
the class lead. Moments later the Bruichladdich Radical
went tumbling down the order as Moseley’s attempts
to get back on terms ended in a spin. That brought Miguel
Amaral in the #40 ASM Lola through into second, seven or
eight seconds behind the MG, with the two Belmondos third
and fourth, but some way back. A lengthy gap existed at
this stage between the two French Courages and Bill Binnie’s
Lola in fifth, about to be swallowed up by Barbosa in the
Rollcentre Radical, and then Moseley seventh. The new “works”
Radical had lead for seven laps on its debut, but would
play only a supporting role in the rest of the race.
Free
of other distractions, Tommy was now able to concentrate
on getting the most out of the MG, and had the Zytek ahead
of him to offer encouragement. For the most part, he was
able to keep pace with the LMP1 car around the tight and
twisty Nurburgring, but along the straights the “bigger”
car was able to re-establish its superiority, for the time
being at least. In the race for GT1, qualifying positions
had been largely maintained, and the Oreca Saleen was leading
the Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 by three or four seconds,
but not quite able to shake off the pursuit. Both were about
to be lapped by Collard, who’d eased the Pescarolo
through into the lead, and was now pulling clear.
Having
temporarily fallen away from the Zytek, largely due to traffic,
Tommy suddenly closed right down on the tail of the #2,
and at twenty-past twelve he nipped through to claim sixth
overall. Behind him, Barbosa had already reached and passed
the two Belmondo cars (in a single lap) to be lying third,
behind Amaral, with Sam Hancock sixth, steering first-stint
in the Binnie Lola. The orange Radical had lost more ground,
thanks to the need for a pitstop to replace a disconnected
turbo pipe, and was about to be lapped by Collard, although
the new car’s pace was still impressive.
It
was nearly half twelve when the Barazi Courage appeared
again, hoping at least to garner some points from the outing.
While Tommy was negotiating a way past the Team Modena Aston
(very quick on the straights) and Hancock was closing on
the second of the Belmondos, Amaral was making an enforced
pitstop to time out a penalty, although the reason wasn’t
clear. The ASM Lola would drop well down the order as a
result, and the last-starting Rollcentre Radical would move
through into second.
With twenty-eight laps completed
Thomas Erdos was leading LMP2 by the best part of thirty
seconds, and looking comfortable. In the cockpit, however,
matters were less poised, thanks to the sudden and insistent
flashing of a low-battery warning light. The MG was scheduled
to make a stop soon anyway, so Tommy pressed on for another
lap to complete his planned total, but when he arrived on
the apron it wouldn’t be for the standard refuel and
off that he’d have liked. Instead, the engine cover
was whipped clear and a quick inspection confirmed that
the belt to the primary alternator had snapped. It was a
matter of seconds to switch over to the auxiliary, but those
seconds cost Erdos the lead.
Not
only did Barbosa blast through to head the class, but the
two Belmondos also came whistling by along the pitwall,
followed by Hancock in the #24 Binnie Lola. All were nearing
the end of their first stints anyway, so the situation remained
very fluid – Barbosa pitting two laps later, losing
the two Belmondos to the pits in the meantime, and handing
the lead on to Hancock, who came down the pitlane at the
end of lap 33.
Back
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Hour
2
With
just on an hour of the race completed there wasn’t
much between the head and tail of the leading pack, so every
extra second in a pitstop can make a difference on track,
and so it had proven this time. The MG was back out again
and setting a good pace, but from fifth in class. The initial
challenge for Tommy was to get ahead of the Barazi Courage
– not for position, of course, as the erstwhile leader
was now many laps in arrears, but it was travelling quickly
nonetheless. He managed that cleanly, and then set about
catching those ahead of him. His pre-pitstop advantage played
out well, with the Binnie Lola and both Belmondos being
overtaken in the pits, but the Radical’s advantage
was more substantial.
After
another fifteen minutes of racing the gap between them,
which had fluctuated steadily through traffic, had narrowed
down from ten to just two or three seconds and Erdos was
relishing the tantalising view of that black and green tail
a few yards up the road in front. Finally, and it would
have been just around one o’clock, Tommy latched onto
the tail of the Radical, not long after the LMP1 Creation
had eased through to add a lap to both. The MG was lying
seventh overall, second in LMP2.
Catching the Radical was one thing,
passing it another altogether. For half an hour the duel
waged back and forth, but having had the keener edge to
begin with, Tommy was finding his thrust blunted by a front
left tyre that was deteriorating rapidly. There was no way
he could get by Barbosa, with the talented Portuguese making
the #2 car as fast, and as wide, as he could. In the end
Erdos had to be content with simply maintaining his threat,
possibly hoping that Joao might make a mistake. He did not.
Back
in the RML garage Mike Newton was suited up, helmeted, and
ready to take over. All eyes were on the timing screens,
where proof of Tommy’s challenge was refreshed every
couple of minutes. On the television monitor, one of the
Belmondo cars was seen suffering a major tyre blow-out,
losing much of the front right wheelarch to flailing rubber.
Later the second car would suffer an engine problem, meaning
that neither would finish. A dreadful weekend for the French
team.
Back
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Hour
3
As
the race neared its third hour, the MG came burbling down
the pitlane, exhausts crackling on the rev-limiter. When
Erdos had veered off right into the pitlane entrance, Barbosa
had been just two seconds ahead, with the #24 Binnie Lola
several seconds in arrears holding third. In moments Tommy
was out of the car, and Jason was helping Mike into the
cockpit, tightening his belts and plugging in the radio
and waterbottle. It was a quick change-over, completed while
the car was refuelled and then fitted with fresh tyres,
and Mike was rapidly making his way back out onto the racetrack
again.
A
hot and frustrated Thomas Erdos headed towards the back
of the garage to cool down and find a drink. “I knew
I’d lost the lead after that first pitstop and the
problem with the alternator,” he said. “I was
down in P4 or P5, but I got back up to P2 quite quickly.
The car was going really well, but I was having to push
very hard, and the front left tyre eventually gave way.
There was absolutely no grip whatsoever; it’s totally
shot. After that there was simply no way I could catch Barbosa.
It’s very frustrating, because I know that we’d
have been leading easily if it hadn’t been for the
alternator. I wouldn’t have had to push so hard, the
tyres would have lasted well, and we’d be in a comfortable
position.”
Although
not leading the class, Mike’s situation was still
promising. After the pitstop he’d resumed in 8th overall,
third in LMP2 behind the #24 Binnie Lola and Barbosa, sixth
overall. On paper the gap to the #24 car looked big, at
45 seconds, but with both the cars ahead of him yet to make
their third pitstops, Mike’s deficit was misleading.
On lap 65 Barbosa headed for the pitlane, but it wouldn’t
be for a driver-change. The speedy Portuguese would be retained
for a third consecutive stint, and once the Radical had
been refuelled and fitted with fresh rubber, he was back
out on track, although some distance ahead of Newton. For
three laps Hancock lead the class in the Binnie Lola, but
when he pitted the extended delay for the driver swap, as
well as fuel and tyres, ensured that the blue Lola returned
to the track well down on the MG. Mike was back up to second
in class.
His
immediate concern was the Bruichladdich (pronounced brook-laddick
for the non-whisky aficionados) Radical, just ahead of him
on track (above). Although well down in the race, after
the earlier turbo problem, the orange car was still a fast-moving
target. It took Mike twenty minutes to narrow the gap, but
his attack was relentless, and at 2:30 he swept by to add
another lap to the Radical’s woes . . . for the time
being, anyway!
Back
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Hour
4
Ten
minutes later, soon after the race entered its fourth hour,
the MG completed a scheduled pitstop for fuel, and then
Mike was back out and racing. The race was going by pitstops
for the moment, with no significant changes, certainly in
LMP2. Barbosa had eased away a little on Newton, but the
Binnie Lola was falling back, giving the MG a reassuring
cushion over third. Mike’s personal battle with the
Bruichladdich Radical was about to be renewed however, following
a change in driver in the #21 car. Stuart Moseley was back
at the wheel again, and going just a little bit quicker
than Tim Greaves, whom Mike had overtaken just minutes previously.
By three o’clock the horns were locked once more,
although this time the roles were reversed. It wasn’t
a contest for position, but it was determined none the less.
With nothing to lose, in terms of the race anyway, Mike
wisely let the Radical through. In the long-term scheme
of things, it made no difference.
Hour
5
With
the forecast the day before being for a hot, dry and testing
race, with many cars expected to fall by the wayside due
to the mechanical pressures of the hard-braking Nürburgring,
the race had proven remarkably trouble-free for most competitors.
Only three cars had so far retired, although a handful of
others were experiencing difficulties, but there had been
no stoppages, and no safety cars . . . until now. Mike was
coming towards the end of his double stint, 5th overall,
second in LMP2, and roughly 50 seconds or so behind Martin
Short, now at the wheel of the Rollcentre Radical. Amaral
had moved up to third in LMP2, sixth overall, in the ASM
(formerly Chamberlain Synergy) Lola B05/10 AER, with the
Zytek-powered Binnie example close behind in 7th. At half-past
three the black and yellow Thierry Perrier GT2 Porsche was
tipped into a spin, skittered sideways, and caught the kerbing
side-on. The low-down impact ripped off the front left-hand
wheel and seriously damaged the rear, and the car slithered
into the gravel. It was positioned just on the outside of
a high-speed bend, and with only three wheels, would be
difficult for the marshals to remove. Within moments the
Safety Car was deployed.
It
wasn’t exactly a convenient time for RML. Tommy was
just getting ready to start his next double-stint, but Mike
still had six laps left of his schedule. There was a sudden
rush of activity in the RML garage as the crew leaped to
their stations, tyres were readied, and Tommy pulled on
his helmet. All this was just in case Phil Barker decided
to bring Mike in early, but that would have disrupted a
carefully-planned routine, and might also have meant that
an extra pitstop, perhaps near the end, would be necessary
for a quick splash-and-dash for fuel. For the time being
everyone held their breath. If Rollcentre brought in Short
from the lead, then so too might RML, but the Radical team
kept their driver out there – well, it was probably
his decision anyway, since he’s also team owner! –
and the two cars maintained their station in the queue.
At first there were seventeen cars between Martin Short,
third in the train behind the leading Pescarolo, and Mike
Newton in the MG. As the safety car came through for the
second time, a whole raft of cars dived into the pitlane.
Miguel Amaral brought in the ASM Lola, and so too did half
those cars between he Radical and the MG. From 20th in the
procession, Mike was eleventh, and just eight more stood
between him and his target . . . most of them GT2 cars.
It was panning out well.
Elsewhere,
other dramas were unfolding. From the green light, the Oreca
Saleen S7R, designed by RML, had been leading GT1. The challenge
from the Team Modena Aston had fallen away with fuel pressure
problems, and the Saleen was looking nigh-on invincible.
In the middle of the safety car period, the car came down
to carry out a routine pitstop, but when the time came for
the car to depart, the engine wouldn’t restart. Pandemonium
changed to swift action, as the experienced team hauled
the car back into the garage. The starter motor was swiftly
replaced, but the lead and seven laps had been lost. The
car would finish fourth in class, 17th overall.
At
roughly 3:37 the safety car peeled away into the pitlane
and racing resumed. Having been contemplating a deficit
of nearly a minute, Mike Newton could now see his target
on the track ahead, just nine or ten seconds in front of
him. There were cars between them, of course, and traffic
round the Nürburgring is notoriously difficult to pass,
but Newton set about his task with gusto. The safety car
period had extended the car’s refuelling distance
just a little, which actually proved useful, but he still
only had a handful of laps in which to catch the Radical.
He did it.
At
ten to four he headed down the pitlane having narrowed the
gap to just three seconds, well satisfied with his day’s
work. “I feel I did a good job,” he said, with
justifiable satisfaction. “I took the car out in second,
and I’ve brought it back in second. I’m happy
with that. In fact, I kept us where we needed to be, and
that feels excellent.” He’d not been out of
the car more than a few moments when the broadcast crew
descended upon him, and he was interviewed live on Motors
TV, still hot from the car (below). “Once again, Mike
did a cracking job on that double-stint,” said an
impressed Erdos afterwards. “He brought the car back
in P2. The guy’s done really well, and after the safety
car, the gap was down to a few seconds. It had been over
a minute! I couldn’t have asked for more than that.”
Thomas
Erdos was eager to get back into the action, and knew that
Martin Short would be heading for a pitstop relatively soon.
That moment came about fifteen minutes later, and when the
green and black car powered out of the pitlane again, Martin
Short would have had the dubious pleasure of seeing the
Erdos MG in his rear-view mirrors, just yards behind him
and bearing down the main straight like a train. It took
roughly half a lap for the Brazilian to close that modest
gap, and as they came through Bit-Kurve, out on the back
of the circuit, Tommy swept through and into the lead of
LMP2. It was lap 135.
Immediately, the MG started to pull
away at a rate of knots. Tommy was throwing down some of
the fastest laps yet set in the race, and at about 4:26
posted a new best for the MG of 1:50.251, the quickest lap
for the class so far. His advantage by this time was already
significant, and he could afford to ease back just a little.
His times did stabilise after this, and he was consistently
pacing himself around the steady fifty-ones. “After
I re-took the lead, everything looked rosy,” he said
ruefully. “We were pulling away with no problems,
and leading comfortably.” For sixteen fabulous laps,
it all went perfectly. Early into lap 151, however, it all
went disastrously wrong.
“I
was coming up to Turn Five, the high-speed left, and I went
for the brakes, but the pedal just shot down to the bulkhead.
The car didn’t slow at all! It wobbled a bit, and
then did a full 360 spin into the gravel. I’m afraid
I was no longer in control! It was not a pleasant experience,
and not the kind I ever want to repeat. I went down through
the gears as quickly as I could, and managed to prevent
the stall. That kept the engine running, which was one stroke
of luck. The second was that I was able to drive back out
of the gravel, but I had no brakes for the rest of the lap.”
Ever one to seek out the brighter side of a difficult situation,
Tommy was also keen to admit how fortunate he’d been
not to hit another car. “I was just coming up to overtake
someone as well – I can’t remember who now,
but it might have been the Pro-Tran - but I held back as
we came up towards the corner. On another occasion, I might
have gone to overtake, but this time I didn’t. If
I had, well, I’d probably have gone through on the
inside and rammed straight into him. It was lucky from that
point of view. I suppose I was also fortunate that it happened
where it did, and not at the end of one of the very fast
runs, and lucky too that I was able to get going again.”
Back
to Top
Hour
6, to the Finish
It was a difficult drive back to
the pitlane, with no brakes and his left-hand tyres smeared
by brake fluid, but he made it safely. Once there, the team
jumped into action – not an easy task when the components
you’re dealing with are brake disks and callipers,
all designed to run at exceptionally high temperatures.
It transpired that the front left all-carbon pad had shattered,
allowing the piston to pop out from the calliper, releasing
the fluid. Amazingly, it took them little over five minutes.
Ask that of your local fitters! Not only did the team refit
the disk, calliper and pads to the front left-hand corner,
but they also fitted fresh pads on the other three corners
as well, just as a precaution, and then bled the entire
system. It was another impressive example of teamwork and
efficiency, but there was no hiding the fact that the delay
had cost RML not only the lead, but all three podium steps
as well.
At
just before five, and with less than an hour of the race
remaining, Erdos blasted away from the pit apron, heading
back out into the fray. He rejoined in ninth place overall,
fourth in LMP2. In the meantime, the ASM Lola had come through
into the lead, with Martin Short’s Radical was holding
second and the Binnie Lola third
Spurred
on by his disappointment, Tommy was like a dervish on the
track, whirling round the Nürburgring faster than anyone
else in the race. The opening sector of his first flying
lap was marked up as a red arrow on the timing screens –
the fastest first sector by any car in any class. This was
subsequently converted into a new fastest race lap for the
category of 1:49.797, but he wasn’t finished yet.
At ten past five he did another, this time of 1:49.148 –
more than a second faster than the LMP1 leader’s recent
lap. “I was a bit upset at the time!” he said
later, attempting to explain his speed. “I was also
trying to push hard and recover the lost ground, but that
shows the confidence I have in these guys. I know they’re
never going to send me out in a car that’s not safe.”
It was impressive stuff, and probably did much to ease his
distress, but in the larger scheme of things, it would make
little difference. It proved a point, yes, but the task
ahead was insurmountable, unless others made mistakes.
Having
made his mark on the record book, Erdos eased back again,
and started to pound round the track in a succession of
one-fifties. They weren’t record breaking any more,
but they were still exceptionally quick. Shortly afterwards,
the Rollcentre Radical made its final scheduled pitstop,
Martin Short handing back to Joao Barbosa. The Portuguese
driver promptly produced the Radical’s fastest race
lap at 1:49.781, but he couldn’t keep it up for long.
He did, however, start to close on Angel Burgueño
in the #40 ASM Lola, and it looked as if we’d have
a fight for the lead before the end. The #24 Binnie Lola
was holding third, some distance behind the other two, but
four laps clear of Erdos.
With
fifteen minutes remaining on the clock, the fight for the
class lead came to a head. Barbosa had closed right up on
the tail of the #40 Lola as they came through to start another
lap, and they ran nose-to-tail through the Mercedes Arena
section. Caught among a mass of slower traffic it was hard
for Barbosa to find a way past the Spaniard, but he was
exploring every opportunity. His best came as the pack swept
left through Turn 5, and as they made the short run down
the hill towards Ford, he dived left of the Peninsula TVR,
just as Burgueño headed down the other side. It must
have been a rare experience for the unfortunate GT2 car
in the LMP2 sandwich, because next moment he had both prototypes
crossways in front of him. Burgueño had gone deep
into the corner, smiting Barbosa in the ribs, and sending
the Radical spinning into the gravel. Everyone else survived
unscathed, which was something of a miracle, and Burgueño
soon had the yellow car on track and going again, retaining
the lead, but the unfortunate Barbosa, so evidently the
quicker, was left sitting in the gravel and shaking his
head, as well he might.
The
whole episode was witnessed live on TV, and those watching
must have included the officials in race control. Some minutes
later the ASM Lola was called in for a stop-go penalty,
Burgueño’s move having been considered unnecessary.
“Good to see the officials actually taking some action
over bad driving,” was one comment overheard. For
Barbosa there was the frustration of having to wait for
the recovery tractor to extract him from the gravel, from
whence he made his way back to the pitlane for a check-up
and gaffer-tape repairs. He’d rejoin third in class.
With
only ten minutes to go Tommy had eased right back and was
circulating in the one-fifty-ones, twos and, as the race
neared its end, threes. Burgueno, despite the stop-go, still
had a lap in hand over the Binnie Lola, elevated to second
by the episode at Ford corner, and Barbosa was secure in
third. That left just the battle for outright second between
the recovering Creation and the Racing for Holland Dome
to be decided before the flag. Former F1 driver Alex Yoong
was holding second for Jan Lammer’s team, but Nic
Minsassian was placing the Malaysian under intense pressure.
It paid off, much to everyone’s surprise, when Yoong
responded by going wide and across the gravel at the big
Dunlop hairpin. Minassian in the Creation swept gratefully
by, claiming second with just a couple of laps to go. The
Pescarolo, with a lead of some four laps, was unassailable.
The final twist came with one minute remaining, when the
Labre Aston Martin pitted from the GT1 lead in order to
allow Vincent Vosse one more minute at the wheel, and thereby
qualify for full points. They went on to win their class
by ten seconds!
So a disconsolate Thomas Erdos took
the chequered flag after six exhaustingly hot hours in an
unrepresentative fourth place, ninth overall. “We
won the first five hours!” insisted Adam Wiseberg,
Motorsport Director of AD Holdings. His attempt to put a
brave face on a disappointing result was commendable. “It
is very annoying,” he said, admitting his frustration.
“We had that one in the bag. Even without the others
incurring penalties, we’d have won easily.”
Ray Mallock, team principal at RML, was equally dejected.
“To have such an unusual brake failure cost us the
race is very frustrating. We weren’t even trying to
be clever with brake temperatures or anything – the
ducts were fully open, which is what you need to do round
this circuit. Our car and driver combination clearly had
the pace to win today, so it’s very disappointing.”
Hardest to bear was the sight of an evidently crestfallen
Phil Barker, the team manager. “Well, can you believe
that?” he said. “From where we were at the time,
we were comfortable. With just one more stop to the flag,
it was all on schedule for the win. It’s just unbelievable
that something like that could have happened.”
The one person probably taking it
hardest of all was the driver who’d done so much to
lay the foundations for a win; Thomas Erdos. “It’s
so deflating when this kind of thing happens, because we
beat them all today. You put your heart into a drive like
this, but it’s a tough game.”
The
game resumes in a month’s time, at Donington Park
in England, over the weekend of August 26th and 27th.
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