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Le Mans Series 2006
Round 4. Donington Park 1000 Kilometers. August 26th-27th 2006

Practice and Qualifying

Qualifying

A Fifth Consecutive Pole for RML's Thomas Erdos

Preparations by RML for the Le Mans Series 1000 Kilometers of Donington Park progressed well through two sessions of free practice before culminating in an awesome performance from Thomas Erdos to secure the team’s fifth consecutive pole of the Le Mans season on Saturday afternoon.

Free Practice 1

There had been no previous opportunity for the team to test at Donington before the first Free Practice session on Saturday morning, when conditions were dull, overcast and damp. Thomas Erdos and Mike Newton had taken the opportunity of a track day at Donington a few weeks previously to re-familiarise themselves with the undulating circuit, but the Brazilian obviously didn’t need much reminding. His first serious attempt was a 1:38.195, set on only his third lap, and proved sufficient to take the MG right to the top of the screens. It stayed there for some time before the LMP1 runners got into their stride, and was a marker for what was to become a familiar pattern for the weekend.

Photo: David Lord

Most teams were fitting full wets, and several of those who elected to brave lesser rubber ended their attempts amid the embarrassment of gravel. Both Radicals, however, were running the MG a close pace for quickest in LMP2, and also challenging the more powerful P1 cars, several of which were finding the conditions less suited to their greater horsepower. With time, and use, a dry line started to appear, and with just over half an hour gone Emanuel Collard threw in a 1:34 to set the record straight, topping the times outright in the LMP1 Pescarolo. He wasn’t on slicks yet, but within ten minutes nearly everyone else was. With that, the times started to tumble.

Photo: David LordThe first to show in LMP2 was Stuart Moseley, who pipped Erdos for top slot with an impressive 1:32.925, reputedly on intermediates. Tommy tried a change of rubber, but elected to return to full wets before going to slicks as the conditions finally became sufficiently dry. It paid dividends, and he took much delight in taking the MG right back to overall quickest with a vastly improved 1:26.820. Half an hour remained, and he wasn’t finished yet. Ten minutes later he’d bettered that with a 1:25.316.

He would probably have gone quicker still in the final minutes of the session had a minor problem not arisen with the car’s exhaust. He pitted, just to be on the safe side. Moments later Rob Barff, returning to the Rollcentre Radical line-up for the first time this season, popped in a scorcher right at the close. The Radical’s 1:24.241 was good enough to lay claim to top honours in LMP2, for the time being at least. “That session went well,” said Erdos. “The car was running strongly throughout, and we seem to have achieved a good set-up for the circuit already. We had one minor issue with the exhaust right at the end, but we only lost a couple of laps’ track time, so it was nothing significant. The guys were able to fix it very quickly, as they always do with any problem!” Back to Top

Free Practice 2

The day’s second session started dry, and got better. Once again Thomas Erdos was setting the pace in LMP2, with Rob Barff getting to grips impressively with the Rollcentre Radical. These two raised the stakes in LMP2, certainly at the start of the ninety-minutes, although Sam Hancock also showed pace in the Binnie Motorsports Lola. Tommy’s best, before pitting briefly for a few tweaks, was a 1:25.473, a few tenths better than Barff’s twenty-five-seven. Hancock managed a twenty-five-two before Erdos re-emerged, and the RML driver promptly set a new class best of 1:24.004. That would stand proud for about half an hour, until Joao Barbosa stepped aboard the #22 Radical to improve on Barff’s best with a 1:23.703. Moseley, having promised much in the Bruichladdich Radical, had been having a problematic time early-on, suffering minor damage after contact with another car, but resumed after repairs to throw down some impressive times in the orange SR9.

Photo: David Lord

While all this was happening, Mike Newton (below) had swapped places with Erdos aboard the RML MG. He enjoyed half a dozen laps at the wheel, getting to grips with a circuit he’s not raced for a couple of years, before handing back to Erdos. “My times were positioning me a fraction short of the zone where I’d wanted to be,” admitted Mike, “but I had relatively few laps, and on that basis, I was pleased to set a time within a second or so of where I might have liked. I’m confident I’ll be able to go quicker in the race, but it’s not the fastest lap that really matters, but being consistent.”

Photo: David Lord

The final ten minutes initially saw Moseley back to the fore in LMP2, posting 1:23.252 to leapfrog Barbosa’s earlier twenty-five-seven, but Erdos was far from finished. His very last lap was almost twenty-three-dead (1:23.024 to be exact) and the best we’d see this side of qualifying.

The day had gone well, and the RML crew looked forward to qualifying with justifiable optimism. In both sessions Erdos had looked comfortable, capable and convincing. “We were always quickest, or thereabout, and running strongly,” he said. His times were only bettered at the end of the first session by a combination of drying track and that exhaust issue, but he’d looked to have everything well under control throughout the second. The pundits were predicting more of the same when the serious stuff started later in the afternoon.
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Qualifying

Thomas Erdos was among the first to show when the twenty-minute qualifying session began for Round 4 of the 2006 Le Mans Series, and he wasn’t hanging about. His very first flying lap was a tad over one twenty-two, and he followed that a couple of minutes later with an even better 1:21.998. It was impressive stuff, and had the red, white and blue MG topping the screens for quite some while before the LMP1 runners truly got going. It was also enough to convince Phil Barker, Team manager at RML, that pole was more-or-less in the bag. He allowed Erdos one more lap (a ‘paltry’ twenty-two-two) and then brought him into the pitlane.

Photo: David Lord

By this time almost half of the session had been and gone, and Tommy’s first attempt still looked competent enough for LMP2 pole. There was an intense battle going on for outright pole between Marc Gounon, Emanuel Collard and Stefan Johansson, but with more than half a second over the next best in class, Erdos looked safe. The MG was trolleyed backwards into the garage and the Brazilian clambered out of the cockpit.

Photo: David LordNo sooner had his boots touched the fresh concrete of Donington’s new pit garages than Stuart Moseley (right) popped up with a 1:21.881 to pip the MG’s provisional pole by just over a tenth. Then, while Phil Barker and Thomas Erdos were still exchanging quizzical glances, he came through to clock an even better time of 1:21.776. “I looked at Phil to see if I could work out what he was thinking,” said Erdos. “We usually try to save the best of the tyres for the race, but I hadn’t done many laps up to that point. I felt sure there was more in the car, and we knew it would be the first time this season that we’d not had pole. I think Phil was keen to keep that record intact.” Barker was indeed. “When Tommy went out and set that time of 21.9, we thought, yes, that’s good, not a bad effort! I’d brought him back in to preserve the tyres for the race, but when the Radical went two-tenths quicker, I knew I had to send him out again.”

This had probably been a case more of honour than necessity. Over the course of a 1000-kilometer race, the difference between starting on the front row pole, and the front row second, is neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things, but the team had a point to prove, and Erdos wanted to give something back to his hard-working pit crew. He leaped back into the cockpit, was strapped in firmly, and within seconds was powering out along the pitlane towards Redgate. One lap. That’s all it would take, and that’s just about all he had time for. His first flyer was an awesome 1:21.557, almost half a second faster than his previous best. He completed a gentle slowing-down lap, and then returned to the pitlane, job done. “One lap was enough to stick it back on pole, that’s all,” smiled a very satisfied Phil Barker. “That was a stunning effort.”

Moseley had continued to pound around the track but couldn’t come close to his previous best, and certainly nowhere near the Erdos magic. The flag fell with Erdos safely on pole once again; his fifth LMP2 pole in a row, with Moseley second and Barbosa fourth in the Rollcentre Radical, demoted by a late-charging Sam Hancock in the #24 Binnie Lola Lola 05/42 Zytek.

Photo: David Lord

“I’m delighted to get pole again,” grinned Erdos, evidently amused but perhaps also relieved by the turn of events. “We have to dig a little deeper every time to maintain the unbeaten record, but this is a great result for the whole team.” Adam Wiseberg, ever quick with a dead-pan quip, appeared less impressed . . . at first. “I think he could have gone quicker,” declared the Motorsport Director from AD Holdings, a look of intense seriousness on his face. “I think we’ll have to let Mike qualifying the car next time if Erdos can’t find a bit more pace.” He couldn’t keep a straight face for long, however, and his iron-lipped grimace rapidly elevated into a broad grin. “No, that was a scorching lap,” he said, “quite fantastic, and a tremendous effort. All credit to Tommy. He got out of the car, probably thinking he’d done all that was necessary, and then had to get back in and start all over again. Doing that is one thing, but finding another half second is very impressive. That’s the mark of a truly great driver.”

What does go through a driver’s mind when that happens? “When someone else goes quicker than you, it fires you up again,” said Erdos. “You have to consider so many issues under circumstances like that. Do I go out and trash the tyres, or save them for the race. We always say we won’t jeapordise our race strategy by going too hard for pole, but we decided this time that there was sufficient left in the tyres that it wouldn’t be such a risk. It was also important for the team. The guys work so hard, and it’s good to reward them. It also proves we have the fastest car, and they’ve built it. Even so, that last lap was a bit of a wild ride!

Photo: David LordThe topic of tyres is an important one. The cars must start the race on the same set used in qualifying, although each team is permitted to change one of the four in the event of damage or excessive wear. This is to discourage anyone from using silly rubber just so they can achieve pole or set an unrepresentative qualifying time. There is little strategic advantage in doing this anyway, since tyres of this type won’t last long under race conditions and those fitting over-soft “qualifying” rubber would have to pit soon after the start of the race to change them. However, most teams do take advantage of the “one in four” allowance and replace a single tyre, usually the front left which has to work so much harder than all the rest, especially at a circuit like Donington.

Ray Mallock, team principal and founder of RML, was delighted by Tommy’s qualifying performance. “It feels very good to get pole again and retain our unbeaten record for the year, but it was very tight this time,” he said. “The Radical has been very quick throughout practice, and we expected a strong challenge from them in qualifying, but Tommy was able to dig a bit deeper and meet that challenge.” The Radical has been closest to the MG in terms of outright pace all year, but the arrival of the Bruichladdich car, in effect a works supported effort, means there are now two SR9s gunning for pole. “Stuart Moseley is a local man and knows this circuit well,” observed Erdos. “Even so, he did a great job today. It’s made everything very tight at the top of P2, but I enjoy the competition!” With the SR9's smaller cousins, the SR3s, 4s and 8s supplying one of the support races this weekend, the factory obviously made a particular effort at Donington. “We knew they’d throw the kitchen sink at this one,” said Mike Newton, and Adam Wiseberg agreed. “The (works) Radical team has put a lot of resources at this round, including drivers, and we always knew we were going to have to be absolutely perfect to come away with a good result. Everyone’s fired up and ready to go. We’ll just see what’s happened by the time we get to half-six tomorrow afternoon!” Back to Top

All photographs this page courtesy of David Lord © dailysportscar.com
View high-resolution Gallery for additional images from Saturday.