Le
Mans Series 2007
Round 3. Nurburgring 1000 Kilometers. June 29th - July 1st
2007
Qualifying Press Release. Issued June 30th 2007
Erdos
sets the pace for P2 Pole
Thomas Erdos drove the RML MG Lola EX264
to class pole for Round 3 of the 2007 Le Mans Series at
the Nurburgring in Germany today.
The Brazilian set a blisteringly quick time
of 1:45.492 on his third flying lap to clinch the front-row
in LMP2, and thereby secure his first pole position start
of the season. With almost half the qualifying session remaining,
Erdos brought the MG back to the pitlane to sit out the
remaining minutes. Others tried to match, or better, his
time, but only Michael Vergers in the Barazi Epsilon Zytek
came close. The Dutchman, who took pole for the previous
round in Valencia, clawed closer and closer, but narrowly
fell short at the end by 47 one-hundredths of a second.
Claiming pole came at the conclusion of
two days of determined effort by the RML crew, who had worked
tirelessly to establish an ideal set-up for the MG Lola
EX264 around the twisty, high-downforce Nurburgring circuit.
With each hour-long test the drivers grew more comfortable
with the car’s handling and performance, and late
during Friday’s second session, Erdos topped the LMP2
timesheet with a best of 1:46.308, fourth fastest overall.
While it seemed unlikely he’d be able to match that
relative position in qualifying, it was a tremendous boost
to the team. Equally so was the three-second improvement
in personal best from Mike Newton, who managed this not
once, but consistently throughout a half-hour stint.
After
the disappointment of Le Mans two weeks previously, today’s
result was the perfect tonic for everyone concerned. “I
always believed that pole was a possibility,” said
an ebullient Adam Wiseberg, Motorsport Director of AD Group.
“I’m particularly delighted for the guys in
the team that Tommy achieved it today, and with such a outstanding
lap. Everyone has worked so hard to create a car that can
go out and beat the opposition on pace, and this has given
them all a tremendous boost.”
“I felt we could have gone a little
quicker, perhaps,” suggested Erdos, “but we
needed to put (our rivals) into the position where they
had to push hard, and they did exactly that. Now we can
go forward into the race knowing that we’re in good
shape, with plenty of life left in the tyres. The Zytek
is widely perceived to be the leading chassis in the class,
so it makes it even sweeter to get pole here at the Nurburgring.”
Phil Barker was especially pleased with
Mike Newton’s performance in testing. “He transformed
his laps,” said the RML Team Manager. “The improvement
he’s made this weekend is nothing short of dramatic,
and it really strengthens our position for the race.”
Mike himself was “very pleased that everything that
wasn’t working on Friday, came together so perfectly
in third practice today. We looked at the data, picked out
four or five elements where there was room for improvement,
and I went out there and ticked them off one by one.”
The
1000 kilometre race starts at midday tomorrow, Sunday July
1st, and will run for 195 laps or six hours. Thomas Erdos
will take the start, easier in the knowledge that he begins
the race one row ahead of his nearest rival. “As always,
it’s a long race,” concluded Adam Wiseberg,
“but I believe we’re in as good a shape for
a 1000 kilometre race as we’ve ever been.”
Top
Ten in LMP2
Pos |
No. |
Overall |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
1 |
25 |
8 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
MG
Lola EX264 |
1:45.492 |
2 |
32 |
9 |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Vergers/Ojeh/Barazi |
Zytek
07S |
1:45.539 |
3 |
21 |
12 |
Bruichladdich |
Moseley/Greaves |
Radical
SR9 AER |
1:46.953 |
4 |
40 |
15 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/de
Castro/Burgueno |
Lola
B05/40 AER |
1:47.242 |
5 |
45 |
17 |
Embassy
Racing |
Hughes/Cunningham |
Radical
SR9 AER |
1:48.141 |
6 |
31 |
18 |
Binnie
Motorsports |
Binnie/Timpany/Buncombe |
Lola
B05/40 Zytek |
1:48.235 |
7 |
44 |
19 |
Kruse
Motorsport |
Burgess/de
Pourtales/Siedler |
Pescarolo
C60 Judd |
1:48.570 |
8 |
35 |
20 |
Saulnier
Racing |
Nicolet/Filhol/Jouanny |
Courage
LC75 AER |
1:49.055 |
9 |
27 |
21 |
Horag
Racing |
Lienhard/Theys/Van
der Poele |
Lola
B05/40 Judd |
1:49.110 |
10 |
20 |
22 |
Pierre
Bruneau |
Rostan/Bruneau/Pullan |
Pillbeam
MP93 Judd |
1:49.180 |
High
resolution images from Nurburgring may be viewed and downloaded
from the gallery.