Le
Mans Series 2007
Round 5. Silverstone 1000 Kilometers. September 14th - 16th
2007
Race Press Release. Issued September 17th 2007
Down
to the Wire
Mike
Newton and Thomas Erdos claimed a valiant fourth-placed
finish in Round 5 of the 2007 Le Mans Series, and by doing
so they retain a six-point advantage in the race for the
LMP2 crown.
It
was another frustrating race for RML. Their nearest rivals
for the title finished just one place ahead of them on the
day, narrowing the gap between them by a single point, but
it had only taken a minor incident early in the race to
deny RML another second-place at the flag - or perhaps a
third consecutive win. In the end the final outcome came
down to a chance touch between the MG’s rear left
tyre and the front splitter of a GT1 car that Tommy Erdos
had just lapped. The resulting puncture ripped away a small
part of the bodywork, but making good the repairs cost the
team six valuable minutes in the pitlane.
Up
until that point the race had steadily fallen RML’s
way. A mature and well-measured start by Thomas Erdos had
seen the #25 MG through onto the tail of the LMP2 class
leader, despite strong challenges from newcomers LNT, with
a works-prepared Zytek 07S driven by Danny Watts, and an
on-form Quifel-ASM Lola. Then, having closed to within tenths
of snatching the lead from Miguel de Castro, the slightest
tap from a tail-ender sent the MG back to the pits.
An
initial repair proved quick but, in the longer term, ineffectual.
At the end of what proved to be a third stint for Thomas
Erdos, permanent repairs had to be carried out, and by the
time Mike Newton resumed the race the MG had fallen back
to ninth in class. This heralded another of those stirring
fight-backs that have, of necessity, become a trial of RML’s
character time and again over the past three seasons. Mike
rallied strongly, and began the task of clawing back lost
ground. He entered into a determined battle with the Binnie
Motorsports Lola – repeatedly challenging for the
position, but each time finding his route hindered by backmarkers
or, on one occasion, a sizeable chunk of debris that had
the MG airborne and put Mike’s skills as a pilot to
the test.
Mike
not only regained two places on track but also recovered
a significant amount of time, and Thomas Erdos was able
to build upon those strong foundations for the final sixty
minutes. The Brazilian drove superbly, not only passing
the Binnie Lola, but two other LMP2 rivals as well, and
took the chequered flag fourth in class. “Both drivers
did a brilliant job,” said Phil Barker, Team Manager
for RML. “Mike rose to the challenge. I had to badger
him a little, but he responded well, dug deep and did everything
I asked of him. Tommy was then able to take the battle to
Eric (van de Poele) and get the better of him, thanks to
Mike’s efforts.”
It
was indeed “a great save!” as Mike commented,
and a crucial one for the championship. Adam Wiseberg, Motorsport
Director of AD Group, principal partners in the RML sportscar
programme, was full of praise for the way the team had rallied
round. “We had some problems here today,” added
Wiseberg, “but we overcame them in typical RML AD
Group fashion. We certainly achieved a far better result
than we might have thought possible a couple of hours into
the race, and as usual, both drivers gave a sterling performance.
Despite some sense of frustration, we are really pleased
with what they’ve achieved. We’re still six
points clear for the title, and only the Quifel-ASM Lola
could now catch us.”
The
overall classification after Silverstone shows RML’s
Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos heading LMP2 on 36 points,
with 30 points for Quifel-ASM. The Saulnier Racing trio
of drivers, third on 23, can no longer challenge for the
title. In GT2 the championship was settled, with Virgo Motorsport’s
Robert Bell taking the crown after regular co-driver Allan
Simonsen missed the race. Three squads remain in contention
in each of LMP1 and GT1.
LMP2
Results
Pos |
No. |
O/all |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Laps |
Best
Lap |
1 |
32 |
5 |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Vergers/Ojeh/Barazi |
Zytek
07S |
187 |
1:40.865 |
2 |
46 |
7 |
Team
LNT |
Kimber-Smith/Watts |
Zytek
07S |
186 |
1:38.626 |
3 |
40 |
8 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/de
Castro/Burgueno |
Lola
B05/40 AER |
185 |
1:40.614 |
4 |
25 |
9 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton |
MG
Lola EX264 |
184 |
1:40.653 |
5 |
31 |
10 |
Binnie
Motorsports |
Binnie/Timpany/Buncombe |
Lola
B05/40 Zytek |
182 |
1:40.974 |
6 |
35 |
11 |
Saulnier
Racing |
Nicolet/Filhol/Jouanny |
Courage
LC75 AER |
181 |
1:42.069 |
7 |
21 |
14 |
Bruichladdich |
Moseley/Greaves |
Radical
SR9 AER |
180 |
1:41.381 |
8 |
45 |
16 |
Embassy
Racing |
Hughes/Manning/Cunningham |
Radical
SR9 AER |
177 |
1:41.309 |
|
|
|
Not
classified: |
|
|
|
|
9 |
27 |
N/C |
Horag
Racing |
Lienhard/Theys/Van
de Poele |
Lola
B05/40 Judd |
183 |
1:42.102 |
10 |
20 |
N/C |
Pierre
Bruneau |
Rostan/Bruneau/Pullan |
Pillbeam
MP93 Judd |
57 |
1:44.054 |
11 |
26 |
DNS |
Ranieri
Randaccio |
Randaccio/Lavaggi |
Lucchini
McLaren |
- |
- |
High
resolution images from Silverstone may be viewed and downloaded
from the dedicated gallery.