Le
Mans Series 2008
Round 5. Silverstone 1000 Kilometres. September 12th - 14th
2008
Saturday Report
Saturday
Third
Free Practice
09:00-10:00
Still
overcast, but with a hint that the sun may burn through
low clouds perhaps before this first hour was complete,
the weekend's third period of Free Practice got under way.
The track was still cold and damp from overnight light drizzle
and low-lying mist, so quick times so early in the day were
unlikely.
As
has become something of a habit, the RML MG was one of the
first out onto the track, and Tommy was immediately into
his stride. His first flying lap was a modest 2:23, but
in the context of the moment, it was enough for second quickest
in LMP2. There was no opportunity to make more of this,
however, before the first red flag of the day - just five
minutes into the session.
There
was no explanation, and within five more minutes the pitlane
was given the green light and action resumed. Simultaneously,
bright sunshine broke through to bathe the circuit in light.
Five more minutes of lappery, during which Tommy shaved
twenty seconds of the first lap, and then another red flag.
Once
again, it was a modest pause, and the circuit was soon busy
again. Tommy continued to circulate strongly, steadily improving
his times, and with 20 minutes remaining had a best on screen
of 1:58.626, which he handed over to Mike Newton for the
remaining minutes.
That
time from Tommy was roughly four seconds off the pace being
set by the class leading Porsche; the Team Essex #31. Warren
Hughes in the #45 Embassy Zytek was second quickest, narrowly
clear of the #33 Lola, with the Van Merksteijn Porsche fourth.
The MG's time was seventh fastest.
With
the sun rapidly warming the track, times then started to
improve significantly as the dry line broadened. Allan McNish,
the first to dip below 1:50, immediately pitted for slicks
- a sign that the track was about to peak. His next lap
was a 1:43, and others also flying were Warren Hughes in
the #45, suddenly posting second-fastest overall, ahead
of Elgaard's best in the Team Essex Porsche.
With
the first few setting the new standard on slicks, the pitlane
suddenly became a scene of hectic activity as others followed
their lead. With just over five minutes remaining, Mike
pitted the MG. While the RML coupé was stationary
in the pitlane, Jos Verstappen belted past in the #34 Porsche
to claim that second-fastest slot overall. Strangely, until
now, little sign of the Peugeots, with only the Audis -
and the leading LMP2 cars - seemingly able to make the most
of the conditions. It was hard to remind oneself, watching
the action unfold, that this was only a practice session!
Hopes
that Tommy might get another chance, on slicks, came to
nothing when the #20 Epsilon went off in a major way - for
the second time in two days - and brought the session to
a premature close. There was no restart.
So
times overall would not be hugely significant, allowing
for the fact that anyone who missed the final ten minutes
would have been unable to run a truly representative lap
- a situation that included the RML MG Lola EX265C. However,
viewed within the context of the times being set during
those few minutes when Tommy was setting his fastest laps,
then the prospects for qualifying look fair enough.
Top
LMP2 Times - Session 3
| Pos |
No. |
Overall |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
| 1 |
34 |
2 |
Van
Merksteijn M/s |
Van
Merksteijn /Verstappen
|
Porsche
RS Spyder |
1:42.404 |
| 2 |
33 |
8 |
Speedy
Sebah |
Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia |
Lola
Bo8/80 Coupé |
1:45.635 |
| 3 |
46 |
11 |
Embassy
Racing |
Manning/Foster |
WF01
Zytek |
1:48.024 |
| 4 |
45 |
12 |
Embassy
Racing |
Hughes/Kane |
WF01
Zytek |
1:48.098 |
| 5 |
31 |
14 |
Team
Essex |
Nielsen/Elgaard |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
1:50.523 |
| 6 |
27 |
15 |
Horag
Racing |
Lienhard/Theys/Lammers |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
1:50.718 |
| 7 |
32 |
16 |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Barazi/Vergers/Rees |
Zytek
07S |
1:51.668 |
| 8 |
26 |
17 |
Bruichladdich |
Rostan/Petersen/Lueders |
Radical
SR9 AER |
1:52.182 |
| 9 |
35 |
20 |
Saulnier
Racing |
Ragues/Lahaye |
Pescarolo
Judd |
1:54.671 |
| 10 |
41 |
21 |
Trading
Performance |
Ojeh/Gosselin/Sharpe |
Zytek
07S |
1:54.679 |
| 11 |
44 |
28 |
Kruse
Schiller |
de
Pourtales/Noda |
Lola
B05/40 |
1:56.694 |
| 12 |
25 |
33 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
MG
Lola EX265C |
1:58.626 |
| 13 |
37 |
40 |
WR
Salini |
Salini/Salini/Gommendy |
WR
Zytek |
2:02.022 |
| 14 |
40 |
43 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/Pla |
Lola
B05/40 AER |
2:03.875 |
ACO
Press Conference
The
Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organisers of the Le Mans
24 Hours and governing body for the Le Mans Series, took
the opportunity of the weekend's gathering of teams, drivers,
media and manufacturers to stage a major press conference
at which the future of regulations for Le Mans and the Le
Mans Series could be discussed. Ratification - and in some
cases, clarification - will follow in November, but the
essence suggests that major changes are on the way.
There
are four main objective underlying a whole raft of highly
significant changes. The first of these is to re-establish
competitive equity, not only between diesel and petrol-engined
cars in LMP1, but also between the classes as well. There
is a desire to give petrol-engined cars a fairer chance
against the all-dominant diesels. There is also a wish to
see the demarcation between classes more clearly defined.
Finally, in this regard, it is felt that LMP2 and GT2 are
entering a phase of dominance by overtly factory-supported
teams, and the ACO wishes to make these classes more accessible
to privateer, non-factory entrants.
The
second major objective is to improve on-track safety, and
to this end the performance potential across all classes
is to be reduced, slowing down the prototypes, in particular,
and ensuring that the ACO's imposed speed limit for La Sarthe
circuit is tagged at 3 minutes 30 seconds minimum. This
year several LMP1 cars lapped quicker than this, and the
leading LMP2 car was only a few seconds shy.
The
third aim it to reduce costs overall. One means of achieving
this is to limit the number of tyres that teams are able
to use during the course of a race weekend. There may also
be time limits introduced to the pit-window, with a set
minimum time for tyre changes linked with an encouragement
to use harder tyres that last longer. Planned changes to
prototype rules that would have brought forward the move
towards enclosed cars has been postponed, and the current
regulations, with various lesser modifications, will be
retained in 2009 and 2010.
Significantly,
there is to be the introduction of "production"
engines for LMP2 cars, based upon road-car derived GT2 units,
and engines across all categories will have to be used for
a minimum of two races - similar to the current requirement
in Formula 1.
Finally,
there is to be an embracing of diverse aspects of "sustainable
development". The introduction of eco-friendly fuels
will continue into a second-generation. The introduction
of new regulations governing tyres will also contribute
towards this environmentally-aware aspect of the changes,
but more radical will be the progressive introduction of
increasingly more demanding noise limits, starting with
113 decibels in 2009, and reducing to 110 decibels in 2010.
These limits are scheduled to be reduced further in future
years.
More
details, particularly as they affect RML, to follow.
Qualifying
13:40-14:00
The
first twenty minutes were reserved for GT1 and GT2 cars
only. With only four entries in GT1 this weekend - the Astons
of Team Modena and Strakka Racing, a single Corvette for
Luc Alphand Adventures, and the Spartak Racing Lamborghini
- most interest was being provided by the GT2 cars.
Pole
in GT1 went to Peter Kox in the Spartak Lambo - a first
for the hard-working team, and getting the better of Tomas
Enge in the Modena DBR9, who was delayed on what might have
been his quickest lap. GT2 top honours to Rob Bell in the
ever-flying Virgo Ferrari. Another impressive demonstration
from the man from Newcastle.
A
brief pause, and then the first of the prototypes took to
the track. Keen as Brazilian mustard, Thomas Erdos had been
waiting there for the green light for several moment, but
courteously allowed Allan McNish to move in front and have
first stab. 1:41 and McNish crossed the line to start his
first flyer, followed just behind by Tommy in the MG.
The
opener from McNish, when he crossed the line 1:31.323 later,
was the fastest achieved by anyone so far this week, and
a new lap record for circuit, but it was a momentary achievement.
Similarly, Tommy's opener of 1:39.645 held top slot in LMP2
for a while as well, but Elgaard came through moments later
with 1:36.139, and Pla also shaved Tommy's best with a 1:39.139,
and this was then bettered by Ragues in the #35 Saulnier
car. All paled when compared with Jos Verstappen's first
flyer; 1:34.417.
Tommy's
second was a 1:37.770 (retaining fourth at the time) and
his third a 1:37.753, but others were joining in lap-by-lap.
While McNish was setting another new fastest overall (1:31.020),
Tommy had been demoted to sixth, with Pompidou up to speed
in the #33, and a quick opener from Olivier Pla in the ASM
Lola. Michael Vergers, too, was on impressive form, and
his second flyer took the Barazi Zytek through to second
in class.
Tommy's
next lap might have been his quickest, but as he entered
the final complex, the Salini WR spun right in front of
him, slithering across the track and forcing the MG driver
to back off. It was Tommy's last chance, and with the best
of the tyres now spent, he cruised the next lap and then
headed back to the pitlane.
Others
were just getting into their stride, however. Ojeh came
through in the #41 to claim sixth - for a while anyway.
Lammers was also making strides in the Horag Porsche, and
neither of the Embassy cars had yet set a time. That was
about to change . . .
At
1:52, with eight minutes remaining, Warren Hughes posted
his first flyer, and it moved him into seventh. Tommy's
time now looked less secure, and the MG had slipped to tenth
in class. Next to show was Darren Manning in the #46 Embassy
car, who narrowly bettered Tommy's time.
In
LMP1, there was high drama. On his first flyer, perhaps
on tyres that were not yet up to temperature, Nic Minassian
ran deep into Vale and lost control, slithering into Xavier
Pompidou, who had held out wide to give the charging Peugeot
enough room. There was hard contact at the rear of the 908,
and the #7 headed for the pitlane. Stepane Sarrazin in the
#8 was only just taking to the track - the car having had
to undergo repairs itself after an 'off' during the morning's
final practice. Despite being baulked on his first lap,
Sarrazin's opener was still enough for fastest overall,
demoting McNish to second.
It
took Peugeot roughly three minutes to repair the 'legal
panel' at the rear of the 908, and at 1:55 Minassian was
back out and on a charge. His first flyer, when it came
a couple of minutes later, was a 1:30.370, and topped the
charts, but Sarrazin wasn't finished. His next lap regained
pole. Could Minassian better that? He could . . . and his
next lap looked on course for pole with a pair of fastest
sectors, until he came up behind a much slower prototype
through Bridge. Visibly, he backed off, and that was qualifying
over. McNish did try again, but simply couldn't match the
Peugeot pace.
Through
all this, Tommy had sat in the garage, watching the times
tumble, and unable to respond. When the chequered flag finally
fell, he had to watch the other LMP2 Lola Coupé take
third in class, behind Michael Vergers second for Barazi,
and pole once again for Jos Verstappen in the #34 Van Merksteijn
Porsche.
Top
LMP2 Times - Qualifying
| Pos |
No. |
Overall |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
| 1 |
34 |
8 |
Van
Merksteijn M/s |
Van
Merksteijn /Verstappen
|
Porsche
RS Spyder |
1:34.212 |
| 2 |
32 |
12 |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Barazi/Vergers/Rees |
Zytek
07S |
1:35.378 |
| 3 |
33 |
13 |
Speedy
Sebah |
Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia |
Lola
Bo8/80 Coupé |
1:35.907 |
| 4 |
40 |
14 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/Pla |
Lola
B05/40 AER |
1:35.998 |
| 5 |
31 |
16 |
Team
Essex |
Nielsen/Elgaard |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
1:36.282 |
| 6 |
27 |
17 |
Horag
Racing |
Lienhard/Theys/Lammers |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
1:36.338 |
| 7 |
46 |
18 |
Embassy
Racing |
Manning/Foster |
WF01
Zytek |
1:36.768 |
| 8 |
45 |
20 |
Embassy
Racing |
Hughes/Kane |
WF01
Zytek |
1:36.920 |
| 9 |
41 |
21 |
Trading
Performance |
Ojeh/Gosselin/Sharpe |
Zytek
07S |
1:37.277 |
| 10 |
25 |
23 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
MG
Lola EX265C |
1:37.753 |
| 11 |
35 |
24 |
Saulnier
Racing |
Ragues/Lahaye |
Pescarolo
Judd |
1:38.282 |
| 12 |
44 |
25 |
Kruse
Schiller |
de
Pourtales/Noda |
Lola
B05/40 |
1:38.487 |
| 13 |
37 |
27 |
WR
Salini |
Salini/Salini/Gommendy |
WR
Zytek |
1:40.737 |
| 14 |
26 |
28 |
Bruichladdich |
Rostan/Petersen/Lueders |
Radical
SR9 AER |
1:41.073 |
There
are high resolution images posted in the
Silverstone Gallery.
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