Le Mans Series 2008
Round 2. Monza 1000 Kilometres. April 26th-27th 2008
Weekend Preview

Heading for a Tough Time in Banking

Round 2 of the 2008 Le Mans Series sees the ever-burgeoning championship returning to the historic Autodroma di Monza in northern Italy – one of the most historically significant motor racing circuits of the world. The cars no longer race on the famous banking (as seen, right, in John Frankenheimer's 1966 film Grand Prix with James Garner), but it's going to be a tough weekend nevertheless.

Last year Mike Newton, Thomas Erdos and the RML squad achieved an heroic recovery to finish second in class, although the early running had suggested a win was possibly on the cards. Tommy had started from third, but rapidly moved through to take the class lead and then opened up an advantage of over a minute during his first stint. Mike took over for the middle period of the six-hour race, and continued where his Brazilian co-driver had left off – not merely maintaining that advantage, but building upon it. Towards the end of the fourth hour the first signs of an engine problem started to show, with the temperature rising steadily. Mike pitted, and handed back to Tommy, but for the remainder of the race the MG was forced to make repeated and increasingly more frequent pitstops for the coolant to be topped up – a procedure the experienced RML pit crew honed to the point that the car was rarely stationery for more than five seconds. The additional delays cost the team victory, but they salvaged second in class and eighth overall.

Much has changed in the intervening twelve months. The RML MG EX264 took Mike and Tommy to the Le Mans Series class title, but the heightened profile of the championship, and the arrival of several new cars, new teams and very accomplished driver line-ups means that the competition is even more fierce this season. It will require a trouble-free and uncomplicated run to the chequered flag to assure anyone of a win this weekend, and engine problems will be the last thing anyone wants.

It was with this in mind, and also the knowledge that the Monza circuit is perhaps more demanding on an engine than almost any other, that RML took advantage of an invitation to share Silverstone circuit for a pre-Monza test on Monday April 21st.

The day had been arranged by Jonathan France, boss of Embassy Racing. Barcelona had been a difficult occasion for Embassy, combining the team’s debut test for the all-new WF01-Zytek with the first race of the year. In very public arena, the two cars had shown pace, but in the case of Jonny Kane’s #46, a certain fragility. A steering failure after roughly 40 laps had forced the team to withdraw the second car, although subsequent tests suggested that there was no inherent weakness in the design. Monday’s test was Embassy’s chance to address the testing regime they’d have liked to complete before the season began.

Barcelona had been only marginally better for RML. Although Mike and Tommy salvaged fourth place at the flag, even their rivals conceded that the car was way down on pace. Seemingly unable to out-drag even a GT2 Porsche down the straights, the MG’s saving grace was its exceptional handling through the twisty bits. This, and the skills of both Tommy and Mike as drivers, maintained the car’s representative pace. “We were so desperately short of straight-line speed,” said Thomas Erdos at Silverstone on Monday. “We simply had to try the engine again before Monza.”

The replacement MG XP-21 unit arrived with RML on the Friday before the Silverstone test, and the team were busy over the weekend completing the re-fit and preparing for the test. “We owe Jonathan France a huge thankyou for allowing us to share their track time,” said Erdos. “It’s very kind, and very sporting, since being able to test here before heading off for Monza has proven very useful. It has also been a great opportunity for us to run on the full Grand Prix circuit and carry out a direct comparison against our 2007 data. Better still, we’re able to do that when there’s another competitive team on the track, and that’s of benefit to us both. It provides some kind of comparative benchmark.”

The image below shows former RML driver Warren Hughes (Le Mans 2005) at the wheel of the #45 Embassy racing WF01-Zytek rounding Club Corner on Monday.

The fact that RML has managed to make such great progress with the chassis was what saved the day in Spain. “The chassis improvements continue to become more and more apparent,” said Mike Newton. “They’re hugely significant for us, and already I’m more than three-quarters of a second quicker today than I went here last year. That’s with a heavier car this year, and in less than ideal conditions. That’s a personal plus for me. The car is giving us a lot of confidence already, and with this being the first opportunity so far this year to establish back-to-back comparisons (with data from 2007) there are clearly huge benefits.”

Phil Barker, the team manager at RML, was looking far more relaxed at Silverstone than he had a fortnight previously in Barcelona. “We’ve worked through a series of systems checks and made a few adjustments, and they’ve worked out very well indeed. We really did need to run the car ahead of Monza, and I’m well pleased with progress today. The engine was 50-60 horsepower down at Barcelona, but with the rework we’re confident we’ve got that back now, plus a bit more besides. So we should be back to normal service for Monza, and if not, we’ll soon know about it. Monza is a big power circuit, so if there are any problems at all they’ll show up there more than ever. However, after the work we’ve done this last week and today, we should be on the pace again, and hopefully not exposed like we were in Spain – at least, not to GT2 Porsches!”

Immediately after the test the MG was loaded back into the truck and headed off towards the Channel, where a Monday-night ferry crossing was booked ahead of the long drive for truckies Mason and Andy to Milan.

Once there, RML’s MG EX275 will be joined by another 52 entrants for the weekend’s event. The increase in numbers over Round 1 includes several additional LMP1 prototypes. There’s a second entry for Charouz Racing, with last year’s LMP1 Lola joining the exciting new Lola Aston Martin Coupé. Creation will have two of their CA07s on rack in Monza, with former F3 star Robbie Kerr sharing the second car with Stuart Hall. Epsilon will also have another of their stylish LMP1 Euskadi coupés racing in Italy, although drivers have yet to be confirmed.

Media Coverage

The start of the Monza 1000 Kilometres will be broadcast live on Eurosport from 11:45 to 12:15 (UK time), and then switch to Motors TV from 12:20 to 14:40. The final period will also be live on Motors TV from 16:50 to 18:45. It should also be possible to see highlights from the race on Sunday evening on Eurosport (half hour programme starting at 22:00) and then on Motors TV on Monday 28th April at 18:50.

For those without satellite TV, don't despair. If everything goes to plan, Monza will see the introduction of a new service from the talented people at Radio Le Mans. Live radio coverage of the remainder of the 2008 series is proposed, starting at Monza.

Live radio coverage from John Hindhaugh, Graham Tyler, Graham Goodwin and others.