RML
AD Group pleased with fourth
Thomas
Erdos set a time of 3:41.952 to claim a second-row
slot on the LMP2 grid for RML AD Group’s
Lola-Mazda in Saturday’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
The red, white and blue coupé will line
up alongside the similar silver and blue Speedy
Racing Team Sebah entry, and directly behind
last year’s winning Porsche RS Spyder,
this time entered by the Japanese Team Goh squad.
Class pole fell to the #31 Porsche RS Spyder
entered by the Denmark-based Team Essex.
There
had looked to be every chance that Tommy would
have been able to claim third, and was eight-tenths
up on his best time before he caught up with
a slowing GT1 Corvette in the Porsche Curves,
right towards the end of his quickest lap. Having
to back off cost him the lap, but he admitted
that matching the pace set by the Porsches was
never really on the cards. “The sector
times suggest that we could have been the top
Lola, but traffic got in the way – as
I’m sure it did for everyone, but that’s
just the way of things. I lost a lot of time,
and for sure, third on the grid was possible,
but I was very happy with the car at the end
of today. We ran with a full load of fuel on
standard race tyres, and still set a time that
was potentially good enough for third in class.
I’m actually delighted with that, but
more so because I know we have a very well-balanced,
competitive car for the race.”
Rupert
Manwaring, Marketing Director for RML, said;
“I’m delighted that all three drivers
are happy with the balance and performance of
the car. It would have been nice to be the quickest
Lola, but we are the fastest of the Mazda-powered
cars, and that is a satisfying achievement for
the team. The most important thing is that the
drivers themselves are confident in the car,
and feel comfortable with their ability to maintain
a fast pace throughout the race.”
“I’m
really impressed with Tommy’s lap, in
the darkness,” said John Doonan, Manager
of Motorsports Team Development for Mazda North
American. “Our primary goal this evening
was to ensure that every driver had plenty of
time in the car, and to be able to set three
forty-fives at night suggests that we’re
in really good shape for the race.”
Phil
Barker, Team Manager at RML, was well satisfied
by the turn of events. “That was a very
good session. We made a series of changes just
to improve the race balance, and the drivers
are now very comfortable in the car. We know
there was a quicker time in the car if we’d
had the opportunity to go for it, and even on
Tommy’s quickest recorded lap, we lost
a significant amount of time through the final
sector with traffic. Third and the top Lola
would have been nice, but we have the bonus
of an excellent car for the race, and we can
be satisfied with that.”
The
only very minor cause for concern was that Chris
Dyson missed sight of the chequered flag at
the end of the first of the evening’s
two sessions. It had only just been unfurled,
but he technically, and inadvertently, completed
one lap too many. Called up to see the race
director, he was immediately apologetic. “Truthfully,
I just didn’t see it, but Daniel Poissenot
was very understanding. It was a split second
thing, and he advised me to “be careful
Chris!” for the future.” Chris completed
a generous run of laps just before the break,
and then added to that with night-time laps
after ten o’clock. “We were on double-stinted
tyres and full tanks, and the car still felt
great,” he said. “We have a car
that can run at a great pace, and that gives
us great encouragement for the race.
Mike’s
times were particularly impressive, bearing
in mind how little running he’s had this
season. “Mike’s pace tonight must
have boosted his confidence,” said Tommy.
“He was quickly into setting some good
times through heavy traffic, and for Mike to
come straight here after two negative events
at Barcelona and Spa and achieve that kind of
pace, straight into the three-fifties, is a
credit to him.” Mike was quietly pleased.
“My last lap was a fifty-eight, but that
included two or three second-losing incidents
with traffic, so we can confidently count that
as a fifty-six or fifty-five, which is OK. That
was on two-thirds tanks and tyres that were
well past their best as well, so if that is
potentially around my race-pace, I’m quite
satisfied. If I’d had a clear lap and
actually done a fifty-five, I’d be very
happy,” he said.
During
Friday, and before the weekend’s race,
the team will be refitting the engine that they
“ran in” on Wednesday night. “We’ve
extended our policy of pre-testing components
before we use them to include the engine,”
explained Mike. “Everything has been run-in,
and there’s nothing new and unproven for
us to encounter in the race. The gearbox, race
suspension and also now the engine have all
been validated and as good as we can hope for.
That engine is now a known quantity; it’s
already exhibited characteristics of good power
and reliability, and it’s now run-in and
ready to put in the car. It’s a cunning
plan, and so far it has worked well.”
The
race begins at 15:00 (CET) on Saturday afternoon.
LMP2
Times - Qualifying
Pos |
No. |
Overall |
Team |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
1 |
31 |
19 |
Team
Essex |
Collard/Elgaard/Poulsen |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
3:37.720 |
2 |
5 |
20 |
Team
Goh |
Ara/unimoto/Maassen |
Porsche
RS Spyder |
3:37.802 |
3 |
33 |
23 |
Speedy
Sebah |
Pompidou/Luenberger/Kane |
Lola
B08/80 Coupé |
3:41.724 |
4 |
25 |
24 |
RML
AD Group |
Erdos/Newton/Dyson |
Lola
B08/86 Coupé |
3:41.952 |
5 |
40 |
25 |
Quifel
ASM |
Amaral/Pla/Smith |
Ginetta
Zytek GZ09S |
3:42.012 |
6 |
30 |
26 |
Racing
Box |
Biagi/Bobbi/Piccini |
Lola
B08/86 Coupé |
3:42.848 |
7 |
41 |
27 |
GAC
Racing Team |
Ojeh/Gosselin/Peter |
Zytek GZ07S |
3:44.830 |
8 |
35 |
28 |
Oak
Racing |
Ajlani/Lahaye/Moureau |
Pescarolo
Mazda |
3:45.032 |
9 |
32 |
29 |
Barazi
Epsilon |
Barazi/Berville/Moseley |
Zytek GZ07S |
3:52.956 |
10 |
39 |
30 |
Kruse
Schiller |
Marsh/Noda
/dePourtales |
Lola
B05/40 |
3:53.072 |
11 |
26 |
33 |
Bruichladdich |
Bruneau/Greaves/Rostan |
Radical
SR9 AER |
3:55.320 |
12 |
24 |
36 |
Oak
Racing |
Nicolet/Hein/Yvon |
Pescarolo
Mazda |
3:57.524 |
Additional
photographs are available from the Le
Mans Gallery