Le
Mans Series 2007
Round 4. Spa 1000 Kilometers. August 17th - 19th 2007
Race Press Release. Issued August 20th 2007
RML
Victorious, from Start to Finish
The RML AD Group MG Lola recorded an impressive
start-to-finish LMP2 win in the Spa 1000 kilometres in Belgium
yesterday for Round 4 of the 2007 Le Mans Series, not only
taking class honours, but finishing in an unprecedented
third position overall.
The MG Lola EX264 ran faultlessly, while
equally impeccable driving stints from both Thomas Erdos
and Mike Newton were matched by some exemplary pitwork by
the entire RML crew.
Erdos took the rolling start, skilfully
negotiating a start-line incident between two of the LMP1
cars ahead of him, and was never headed from that moment
on. During a flawless opening double-stint the Brazilian
established a class lead of nearly fifty seconds, which
Mike Newton not only maintained, but extended during a solid
middle-stint, frequently interrupted by safety car periods
and threatening rain. By the time Erdos returned to the
cockpit for the final two hours the MG’s lead had
been extended to almost two minutes.
The race had not been without incident,
however, and Mike Newton was fortunate that a glancing blow
from Christian Fittipaldi in the Team Modena GT1 Aston Martin
caused only modest damage, and he had been able to press
on to the next pitstop without delay. Other teams and cars
were not so fortunate, and nineteen of the forty-nine starters
failed to make the distance.
The performance from the LMP2 category was
particularly robust around the seven-kilometre Spa-Francorchamps
circuit, and the nimble category-two cars were constantly
harrying the more powerful LMP1 runners. The RML MG led
the charge, having started from tenth overall. Erdos and
Newton worked steadily through the field to achieve the
squad’s first-ever overall podium finish, finishing
third behind the #7 Peugeot 908 and last year’s LMP1
championship-winning Pescarolo Sport #16. Not since Donington
Park in 2006, when the team finished fourth, has the RML
challenge looked so strong.
Thomas Erdos was especially delighted. “It’s
an absolutely fantastic result,” he said. “It
shows just how strong this package is. It also demonstrates
how the team’s determination and commitment has carried
us through from the beginning of the year, when all the
other teams looked so strong. Our pitwork was perfect today,
the car ran like clockwork, and we were there where it mattered
at the end.”
Adam Wiseberg, Motorsport Director of AD
Group, principal sponsor of the RML sportscar programme,
was full of praise for the team. “That was one of
those races when just about everything went exactly right
for us,” he said. “We made all the right calls
and everyone did an excellent job. It’s a great feeling
to have achieved back-to-back victories, particularly when
one considers the quality of the competition, and how the
class is improving race by race.” The team also won
last time out at the Nurburgring in Germany.
“That
was an action-packed race all the way through,” said
Mike Newton. “I had to push hard nearly all the time!
This result finally pulls us clear of the rest, and gives
us a clear championship lead to carry forwards to the next
round at Silverstone.” That takes place over the weekend
of September 15th and 16th.
LMP2
Race Results
Pos |
No. |
Overall |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Laps |
Best
time |
1 |
25 |
3 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
MG
Lola EX264 |
140 |
2:10.881 |
2 |
40 |
5 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/de
Castro/Burgueno |
Lola
B05/40 AER |
137 |
2:11.529 |
3 |
27 |
7 |
Horag
Racing |
Lienhard/Theys/Van
de Poele |
Lola
B05/40 Judd |
136 |
2:13.152 |
4 |
35 |
11 |
Saulnier
Racing |
Nicolet/Filhol/Jouanny |
Courage
LC75 AER |
133 |
2:12.500 |
5 |
31 |
14 |
Binnie
Motorsports |
Binnie/Timpany/Buncombe |
Lola
B05/40 Zytek |
132 |
2:11.285 |
6 |
45 |
31 |
Embassy
Racing |
Hughes/Manning |
Radical
SR9 AER |
110 |
2:10.531 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
26 |
NC |
Ranieri
Randaccio |
Randaccio/Collini |
Lucchini
McLaren |
97 |
2:20.563 |
8 |
32 |
DNF |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Vergers/Ojeh/Barazi |
Zytek
07S |
125 |
2:11.141 |
9 |
21 |
DNF |
Bruichladdich |
Moseley/Greaves |
Radical
SR9 AER |
81 |
2:12.428 |
10 |
44 |
DNF |
Kruse
Motorsport |
Burgess/de
Pourtales/Siedler |
Pescarolo
C60 Judd |
46 |
2:13.766 |
11 |
20 |
DNF |
Pierre
Bruneau |
Rostan/Bruneau/Pullan |
Pillbeam
MP93 Judd |
37 |
2:16.546 |
High
resolution images from Spa may be viewed and downloaded
from the dedicated gallery.