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Le Mans Series 2008
Round 4. Nürburgring 1000 Kilometres. August 16th - 17th 2008

Saturday Report

Saturday

Third Free Practice

09:05-10:05
The good weather continues into a second day - many regular racegoers gazing towards the skies in disbelief. Together with Spa, not far away in neighbouring Belgium, the Nürburgring does not have a reputation for bright sunshine and cloudless skies, but LMS Saturday offers exactly that.

True to form, Tommy was first out in the RML MG Lola, and was soon into a rapid stride, setting second fastest in LMP2 with his first flyer, and then responding with each successive improvement from his rivals. By twenty-past none he'd yo-yoed through second, fifth, third, second and then third positions, posting a best of 1:45.040 to be just a fraction of a second behind Belicchi in the #33 Speedy Lola, and some three tenths or more behind an ever-improving Fernando Rees in the #32 Barazi Zytek on 1:44.698. Another of these talented Brazilians, Rees has never raced at the Nürburgring before, and his times have been getting progressively quicker. The #33 Lola coupé had a troubled time on Friday, with electronic problems, but after carrying out an extensive redevelopment programme since Le Mans, the team is hoping for a stronger run this weekend.

So, at the half-way stage through the final hour of practice, the Porsches stood fourth, fifth and sixth in class, with yesterday's pacey ASM Lola in seventh. That was all about to change however, and with 25 minutes remaining, Verstappen came through with a 1:43.901 to go quickest in LMP2. The purple and white Van Merksteijn Porsche is without its namesake this weekend - Peter van Merksteijn preferring to compete in the World Rally Championship, also taking place in Germany. Having won Le Mans already, at his first attempt, Peter announced a few days ago that his goals in sportscar racing have already been achieved, and he won't personally be continuing with the team next season, although there is some speculation that the outfit may well continue with a fresh driver line-up.

Tommy handed over to Mike at this stage, and the CEO of AD Group took to the track with just over twenty minutes remaining and completed ten minutes around the circuit, typically lapping around the 1:52 mark. By the time he returned to the pitlane for the first time, that earlier 1:45.040 from Tommy still held fourth, with neither the Essex nor the Horag Porsches yet to show their hand. After a brief stop, Mike returned to the track, and continued through to the chequered flag.

Despite what appeared to be a quick track, there were no last-minute fireworks from the two remaining Porsche Spyders, so a very untypical final screen in LMP2, with Verstappen fastest in class from the Barazi Zytek with the Speedy Sebah Lola third and RML fourth.

Overall, a much closer tussle for any potential pole with the #2 Audi second, heading the #7 Peugeot, but still a second behind Lamy in the #8 Peugeot 908, who set a remarkable 1:39.023 in the final minutes of the session. Encouragingly, however, the leading petrol-fuelled car moved closer to the diesels, with the Charouz LMP1 Lola only half a second behind the fourth-placed #1 Audi. At the opposite end of the field, a significant improvement for the Lavaggi, with a best of 1:48.499 finally seeing the red and white car elevated above the status of "last in LMP1", comfortably bettering the #4 Saulnier Pescarolo. Less than a second separated all four runners in GT1, with Team Modena's Aston quickest on 1:53.602. In GT2, a dominant run from Marc Lieb in the #77 Felbermayr Porsche, freed from the challenge from Rob Bell in the Virgo Ferrari - still in the throes of a major rear-end rebuild following a serious fire on Friday afternoon. The team hopes to join the race from the pitlane on Sunday.

Top LMP2 Times - Session 3

Pos No. Overall Team Driver Car
Time
1
34
6 Van Merksteijn M/s Bleekemolen/Verstappen Porsche RS Spyder
1:43.901
2 32 11 Barazi Epsilon Barazi/Vergers/Rees Zytek 07S
1:44.698
3 33 12 Speedy Sebah Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia Lola Bo8/80 Coupé
1:44.819
4
25
13 RML AD Group Erdos/Newton MG Lola EX265
1:45.040
5 31 18 Team Essex Nielsen/Elgaard Porsche RS Spyder
1:45.464
6 27 20 Horag Racing Lienhard/Theys/Lammers Porsche RS Spyder
1:45.812
7
45
21 Embassy Racing Hughes/Kane WF01 Zytek
1:46.687
8
41
22
Trading Performance Ojeh/Gosselin Zytek 07S
1:46.722
9
40
23 Quifel ASM Amaral/Pla Lola B05/40 AER
1:46.722
10
44
24 Kruse Schiller de Pourtales/Noda Lola B05/40
1:47.411
11
46
25 Embassy Racing Manning/Foster WF01 Zytek
1:48.067
12
35
35 Saulnier Racing Ragues/Lahaye Pescarolo Judd
1:48.134
13
26
28 Bruichladdich Rostan/Petersen/Lueders Radical SR9 AER
1:49.113
14
37
30
WR Salini Salini/Salini/Roussel WR Zytek
1:52.416

Qualifying

14:00-14:20
As has become the norm this season, the GT cars completed qualifying first, with pole in GT1 falling to Tomas Enge in the Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 ahead of Olivier Beretta in the Courage #73. In GT2 the front row will comprise the #90 Farnbacher Racing Porsche on pole with Marc Lieb in the Team Felbermeyr 997 alongside. The Virgo Ferrari, usually quickest in the class but still undergoing a rebuild, will take part in tomorrow's warm-up, but will start from the back of the grid.

Tommy was one of the first to take to the track when the green lights showed for the start of the prototype session, following one of the Audis and Jos Verstappen in the #34 Porsche out of the pitlane. First to set a time for LMP2 was Verstappen in the #34 Porsche, with a 1:44.035, followed shortly afterwards by Tommy on a 1:44.807. Moments later Elgaard swept across the line with a best of 1:43.970 to move fastest.

Next to show was Vergers; his 1:44.283 slotting the Barazi Zytek into third, and then a stack of good times from the likes of Theys, Kane and Manning. Tommy, caught amid some relatively slower cars joining later, aborted his second flyer, but found space for his third. A 1:45.903 was enough to recover 6th in LMP2, if only temporarily. "It was very frustrating," he admitted afterwards. "I'd had a good first flyer, and came up behind the LMP1 Saulnier Courage just at the start of the main straight. He must have seen me closing on him for most the the previous lap, so why block me? He knew I was quicker, and I'm confident that next lap would have been my best."

A new fastest from Verstappen - 1:43.169 - recovered top slot for the Van Merksteijn car, with Elgaard's time holding second for Team Essex. With Vergers claiming third, Theys was up to fourth in the Horag Porsche. Kane, qualifying the #45 Embassy Zytek, was holding fifth when Tommy headed back down the pitlane with seven minutes remaining. "I had encountered oversteer pretty early on, but it was getting progressively worse," said Erdos. It caught me totally by surprise. After practice, we expected to be very competitive - maybe even good enough for a top three." Instead the MG lay 8th in class at this stage, after improvements from Olivier Pla (ASM Lola) and Darren Manning (#46 Embassy WF01).

Ten minutes still to go, and the Speedy Sebah Lola spins off. Andrea Belicchi would recover after a few moments, and then go through two laps later to set a best for the coupé of 1:43.981, third in class and ousting Vergers. Tommy remained in the pitlane, disappointed no doubt, but with little prospect in the dying minutes of improving on a disappointing ninth in class.

A minute or so to round off qualifying, and the order looked more-or-less settled in LMP2 after Pla posted a final improvement for the ASM Lola of 1:44.682 to move into fifth. In LMP1, it was another one-two for Peugeot, Marc Gene claiming pole in the #7 with Lamy second in the #8. An unexpected but welcome third place on the grid for Stefan Mucke in the Charouz Lola Aston Martin ahead of both Audis and Olivier Panis, sixth in the lead Oreca Courage.

“We made a mistake in tyre choice, simple as that,” conceded Phil Barker, team manager of RML’s Le Mans sportscar programme. “We elected to run on the softer compound after a good performance in practice this morning. We knew that the ambient conditions would play a part in how effective that choice became, but we didn’t expect the track temperature to have risen to such an extent by the time qualifying began.” During the morning’s hour-long practice session, the MG had run a strong fourth in class, and Thomas Erdos had been confident of finding more pace given the opportunity. In the four hours between that ending, and the start of qualifying, the surface temperature of the track had risen a full fifteen degrees. Relatively early during that same interval the team had also needed to commit to their choice of tyres. “Under those conditions it was very difficult for Tommy to set a representative time. He was contending with major oversteer and didn’t stand a chance,” concluded Barker.

“It seems that our choice of tyres was simply not suited to the conditions this afternoon,” admitted Adam Wiseberg, motorsport director of AD Group. “From this morning’s data, we thought we could do well on the softer tyre, and were hoping for a low 44 or even better, but we were caught out by the rising temperatures. Being more positive, we face a six-hour race tomorrow knowing we have a reliable car with an excellent race pace, and I am confident we can restore the balance before the start at midday.”

The team has an opportunity to check that balance during warm-up on Sunday morning, which starts at 08:40.

Photo: David Stephens / Studio 21

Top LMP2 Times - Qualifying

Pos No. Overall Team Driver Car
Time
1
34
7 Van Merksteijn M/s Bleekemolen/Verstappen Porsche RS Spyder
1:43.169
2 31 9 Team Essex Nielsen/Elgaard Porsche RS Spyder
1:43.608
3 33 13 Speedy Sebah Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia Lola Bo8/80 Coupé
1:43.981
4 32 15 Barazi Epsilon Barazi/Vergers/Rees Zytek 07S
1:44.013
5
40
17 Quifel ASM Amaral/Pla Lola B05/40 AER
1:44.682
6 27 19 Horag Racing Lienhard/Theys/Lammers Porsche RS Spyder
1:44.828
7
45
21 Embassy Racing Hughes/Kane WF01 Zytek
1:44.928
8
46
22 Embassy Racing Manning/Foster WF01 Zytek
1:45.693
9
25
23 RML AD Group Erdos/Newton MG Lola EX265
1:45.903
10
35
24 Saulnier Racing Ragues/Lahaye Pescarolo Judd
1:46.033
11
41
25
Trading Performance Ojeh/Gosselin Zytek 07S
1:47.106
12
44
26 Kruse Schiller de Pourtales/Noda Lola B05/40
1:47.233
13
26
28 Bruichladdich Rostan/Petersen/Lueders Radical SR9 AER
1:48.580
14
37
33
WR Salini Salini/Salini/Roussel WR Zytek
1:54.370

There are high resolution images posted in the Nurburgring Gallery.

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