Close and hot, and that's just the weather

All was well in the RML AD Group camp as the team prepared for the first of the action from Round 3 of the Le Mans Series from Imola. Initial impressions of the track from those who haven't been here before seem to major on two principal themes:

Firstly, what an amazing venue! The circuit has evolved over the last sixty years within a residential district of Imola, and houses and gardens stand cheek by jowl with the infrastructure of the track, sometimes directly overlooking the catch fencing, and others with back gardens and orchards beside the Armco.

The juxtaposition of home and racetrack must be something inherently Italian, and demonstrates the nation's passion for fast cars - especially in this region of the country, where all the big names are located. It is impossible to imagine a similar situation in England, where the locals around tracks like Brands Hatch and Castle Combe, some a mile or more from the track, complain about the noise. Here in Italy, they live 50 metres from the howl of a race car, and love it. Well, they seem to in Imola. Not so sure about Monza!

The second topic for discussion has been the nature of the track itself. Tommy walked the five kilometres in the relative cool of Thursday evening, and came back having noted various changes since he and Mike last raced here, in the FIA GT Championship in 2004. The Bassa Chicane is no longer used for car racing, so the run from Rivazza, past the pits, and out towards Tamburello is now flat out, and very quick. In fact, the whole track is fast, with even some of the chicanes, added in the 1970s, relatively quick by today's standards. The kerbs too, are not intrusive (with the exception of two, at the Alta Chicane, which might launch the unwary) and these effectively extend the width of what is otherwise a very narrow track. A grid of 50 cars, or even only 49, after the withdrawal of the Guess Racing LMP1, may be the capacity of the garage complex, but it could actually be way beyond the ideal maximum for the track itself. First practice may reveal more.

What the Future Holds?
The big news in the paddock on Thursday was the unexpected announcement from Porsche, confirming (in the first instance, via a video on YouTube, below) that the Stuttgart factory intends a return to Le Mans in 2014 with a new LMP1 programme. A conversation overheard in the media centre suggests that even Audi was caught unaware of the plans . . . .

The announcement comes at a time when there is considerable uncertainty in sportscar racing, with rumour and speculation about the future of the Le Mans Series, the ALMS, the ILMC (soon to be replaced by the World Endurance Championship) and the various GT series. Some teams who thought their plans were set firm for 2012 and beyond, now find themselves in a state of indecision, waiting to be given clarification on the class structure and regulation details of all the major Le Mans-style championships. The fact that Porsche has sufficient confidence in the way the sport will develop over the next couple of years is encouraging, and with talk that Toyota and possibly Nissan may also be considering full factory involvement, the prospects for the World Endurance Championship, and the 24 Hours itself, look stronger than they have for many years. What happens to the privateer teams, and more especially, the GT championships is more open to debate.

One of the greatest concerns for those not able to consider a full season in the WEC is the likely entitlement for entries to Le Mans. With the 24 Hours a designated round in the ILMC/WEC, all those teams committing to a full season in the Championship will be assured an entry to Le Mans. That is currently expected to be around 30 cars. In addition, all those winning their class at the 24 Hours are automatically invited to return again the following year. That could include WEC participants, but it might not. That leaves, potentially, just 12 places remaining for those competing in the LMS, the American Le Mans Series and the Asian Le Mans Series. If only the winners in each class are awarded a place, as is currently the case, then nine more entries are accounted for - assuming no LMP1 in the American Le Mans Series in 2012. In addition, the winner of the Michelin Green X Challenge is assured a place at Le Mans, as is the 2011 Formula Le Mans title-holder. This, in a worst-case scenario, leaves the ACO with dispensation to award just two wild-card entries. While this undoubtedly encourages full-season entries to the WDC, it leaves the other Series lacking one of the major attractions of recent years.

First Free Practice
The day's first practice session got under way at 12:15 local time, with 48 out of 49 taking part - the one failing to show being the #65 JetAlliance Lotus Evora, although its sister, the #64, only managed a single lap.

Tommy took the RML AD Group HPD on track early in the session, and did a majority of the set-up work over the course of the next ninety minutes, with Mike completing a handful of laps right at the end. "I think we probably spent more time in the pits than almost anyone else," suggested the Brazilian, although a total of 17 was fairly typical of the session. "At the beginning we had a fairly long brake pedal, which made judging braking points a little awkward, and then we had one brake that was getting hotter than it should, so we had to sort those minor issues out before we could actually begin on the set-up." Tommy also felt that the suspension needed to be a bit stiffer, but in every other respect, the car was "operating fine".

The ninety minute allocation met with approval, though. "There was a lot of disruption, with four red flags, and that didn't help, but an hour and a half gave us time to make best use of what was left, and Mike was able to get in several laps towards the end," said Tommy. Neither driver has been here since their GT days in 2004. "That was coming together nicely," said Mike. "At least I've got past the "where am I stage", and becoming more familiar with the layout. My first time through Tamburello, I was looking for a red marker on the wall that I'd seen in Tommy's on-board video. I saw the mark, and braked, then thought, no, that's far too early . . . and then I saw another gap in the wall further on, with another red marker. It took a few laps, but I think I'm there now."

Tommy suggested that the anticipated difficulties associated with the narrowness of the track hadn't been as evident as he'd feared, although "the real problem for us is still the lack of overtaking speed". The other major problem has been the heat. "The sweat was pouring down into my eyes, inside my helmet, even before I'd left the garage," said Mike. Tommy was quick to agree. "The heat is terrible when you're sat in the garage, but it's not so bad when you're out on track. That's one of the big benefits of the open-topped car. Last time we were here it was in the Saleen, and the heat inside the cockpit was unbearable."

Last time he was here, the track was also seven years younger. "I really like the layout. It's great fun, but the surface is so poor now," he suggested. "It's extremely bumpy and the grip level is very low, and that spoils the experience of what should be a fantastic circuit."

First Session - LMP2 Times

	#	o/a	Team	Car	Drivers	Session 1
1	45	10	Boutsen Energy	Oreca 03 Nissan	Kraihamer, de Crem	01:39.795
2	46	11	TDS Racing	Oreca 03 Nissan	Beche, Thiret, Firth	01:40.501
3	39	12	Pecon Racing	Lola B11/40 Judd	Companc, Russo, Kaffer	01:41.569
4	41	13	Greaves Motorsport	Zytek 09S	Ojjeh, Lombard, Kimber-Smith	01:41.345
5	49	14	Oak Racing	Oak Pescarolo Judd	Nicolet, Prémat	01:41.360
6	42	15	Strakka Racing	HPD ARX -01d	Leventis, Watts, Kane	01:41.683
7	26	16	Signatech	Oreca 03 Nissan	Mailleux, Ordoñez, Ayari	01:41.892
8	33	17	Level 5 Motorsports	Lola HPD	Tucker, Bouchut, Barbosa	01:42.073
9	40	18	Race Performance	Oreca 03 Judd	Frey, Meichtry, Rostan	01:42.323
10	43	19	Team RLR	MG Lola EX-265	Garofall, Phillips, Gates	01:42.804
11	39	20	Extreme Limite	Norma Judd	Rosier, Basso	01:43.547
12	36	21	RML AD Group	HPD ARX -01d	Erdos, Newton, Collins	01:43.993
13	35	22	Oak Racing	Oak Pescarolo Judd	Barlesi, Da Rocha, Lafargue	01:44.399
1	93	23	Genoa Racing	Oreca FLM	Petersen, Julian, Zugel	01:45.451
2	92	24	Neil Garner M'sport	Oreca FLM	Keen, Keating, Hartshorne	01:45.767
3	95	29	Pegasus Racing	Oreca FLM	Schultis, Simon, Schell	01:47.105
4	99	33	JMB Racing	Oreca FLM	Ducote, Marcelli, Marroc	01:47.342
5	91	39	Hope Racing	Oreca FLM	Moro, Graves, Zhang	01:47.970

Tyre Manufacturer denoted by:

Dunlop

Michelin

The session was interrupted several times by red flags, but the incidents were not serious. The first, almost right at the start, signified the temporary demise of the #65 Lotus. The second was for a GTE Ferrari (Ralph Firman), pushed to safety on the exit of Tamburello. The third was for two spinners, one the RLR MG Lola, and the final one was to mark a suspension failure for Lucas Ordonez in the Signatech Nissan.

Fastest overall was the #7 Peugeot Sport 908 (Bourdais/Davidson) on 1:34.227, with the Bernhard/Fassler Audi R18 second, half a second behind. Quickest in GTE-Pro was the Fisichella/Bruni AF Corse Ferrari 458, followed closely by the sister car; Melo/Vilander in the #71. Topping the charts in GTE-Am was the #57 Krohn Racing ferrari, four-tenths ahead of the #67 AF Corse Ferrari 430.

Second Free Practice
It was all-change for the late-afternoon session. For one thing, the weather had undergone a total character swap. By mid-afternoon, the heaven's had opened, and torrential rain had bathed Imola. This wasn't a light drizzle, it was a serious deluge, leaving rivers of water cascading through some of the hillier sections of the circuit, vast puddles, and effectively ending all the scheduled track activity. The Classic Endurance Series qualifying session was one casualty - better that than the cars - and the next consequence was that the ILMC/LMS session was delayed, initially by a few minutes, and then half an hour.

The air and track temperatures had plummeted, and humidity had risen to well over 90%, but when the pitlane finally opened at five o'clock, it had at least stopped raining. Notification came through that the duration would be cut to just one hour.

Just nine cars took to the track, and a very strange picture they created on the timing screens. With fifteen minutes gone, two of the fastest cars on track were the TDS Racing Oreca, with Jody Firth posting a best of two minutes dead, and Phil Keen in the Neil Garner Motorsport FLM. They were third and fourth quickest behind Jani (Rebellion Lola #12) and Davidson in the #7 Peugeot.

With twenty minutes gone a dry line started to appear, mainly down the straights, and as news of this filtered through to the various garages, a few more cars emerged from the dry. The effect on the times was by no means immediate, and the #45 Oreca moved third quickest, and Tommy was through to 7th on his first flyer. Demonstrating just how rain can upset the accepted order, Patrick Pilet moved seventh fastest in the #76 GTE-Pro Porsche.

Tommy's second was an improvement, moving him ahead of Pilet on a 2:02.228. Davidson, quickest on the half-hour at 1:55.454 had Beche in the #46 LMP2 Oreca just half a second behind. A 2:02.115 from Tommy was a fractional improvement, but Beche eclipsed that with a 1:55.438 to move fastest overall' Only 19 cars had by then set flying laps, with the Norma third-fastest in LMP2.

Tommy handed over to Ben after 40 minutes, by which time Bourdais was into the #7, and Sarrazin was gaining pace in the #8 to move second, ahead of Thiriet in the #46 - but only briefly, as Thiriet clocked 1:54.457 to move to within a second of Davidson's chart topper. Ayari had found 1:59.776 to move ahead of Tommy's best, but GT cars still dominated the low teens.

Ten minutes to go and the rain started to return, with heavy showers at Tosa and Villeneuve, in the south-eastern section of the track. The total number of cars with a time posted rose to 28. Ben was not quite matching Tommy's pace, with a best of a low 2:04, but this was his first run in the HPD. Meanwhile the Orecas were coming into their own, the top four places in LMP2 being occupied by either the Nissan or Judd powered variants.

With less than five minutes remaining, Bourdais upped the game on behalf of Peugeot,with a 1:52.553 - still 18 seconds shy of the First Practice best, but perhaps suggestive of a performance edge here for Peugeot. On the final lap, Russo went second-quickest in P2, nosing the #39 Pecon Racing Lola into second with a time of 1:58.062. No appearance from the Strakka HPD, and only 29 cars took part.

Second Session - LMP2 Times

	#	o/a	Team	Car	Drivers	Session 2
2	46	3	TDS Racing	Oreca 03 Nissan	Beche, Thiret, Firth	02:00.407
3	39	5	Pecon Racing	Lola B11/40 Judd	Companc, Russo, Kaffer	02:02.347
1	45	8	Boutsen Energy	Oreca 03 Nissan	Kraihamer, de Crem	02:03.049
7	26	9	Signatech	Oreca 03 Nissan	Mailleux, Ordoñez, Ayari	02:06.032
9	40	12	Race Performance	Oreca 03 Judd	Frey, Meichtry, Rostan	02:06.913
12	36	13	RML AD Group	HPD ARX -01d	Erdos, Newton, Collins	02:02.115
11	39	15	Extreme Limite	Norma Judd	Rosier, Basso	02:02.537
1	92	24	Neil Garner M'sport	Oreca FLM	Keen, Keating, Hartshorne	02:03.246
10	43	19	Team RLR	MG Lola EX-265	Garofall, Phillips, Gates	02:04.897
2	95	29	Pegasus Racing	Oreca FLM	Schultis, Simon, Schell	02:06.569
13	35	26	Oak Racing	Oak Pescarolo Judd	Barlesi, Da Rocha, Lafargue	02:08.182
4	41	-	Greaves Motorsport	Zytek 09S	Ojjeh, Lombard, Kimber-Smith	No Time
6	42	-	Strakka Racing	HPD ARX -01d	Leventis, Watts, Kane	No Time
5	49	-	Oak Racing	Oak Pescarolo Judd	Nicolet, Prémat	No Time
3	93	-	Genoa Racing	Oreca FLM	Petersen, Julian, Zugel	No Time
4	99	-	JMB Racing	Oreca FLM	Ducote, Marcelli, Marroc	No Time
5	91	-	Hope Racing	Oreca FLM	Moro, Graves, Zhang	No Time

"Well, I've been around and seen the track, so that's a start!" said Ben Collins, struggling to get out of a sodden race suit. "It was really greasy and horrible out there, but a useful exercise, since we've never driven the car in full-wet conditions before. I've never been to Imola before either, and the surface changes through every corner, but at least I know my Tosa from my Villeneuve now." Conditions were changing throughout the hour, so times are fairly irrelevant, but Ben was pleased to get within six-tenths of Tommy. "We'll throw everything out of the window again tomorrow," he suggested, "if it turns dry again, but I'm really looking forward to wringing the car's neck a bit if it does."

"The session was fairly frustrating, but we felt it was fairly important to get out there in the wet and see what it's all about," said Phil Barker, Team manager at RML. "It was also a chance for Ben to get a chance to learn the track.".

Radio & On-line: Full coverage of all the weekend's events and happening's will be provided live by Radio Le Mans, beginning with Free Practice. Articles and features about the Le Mans Series and June's Le Mans 24 Hours are also available to listen to, or download, and the RLM website also carries season previews and interviews. Click the button below for access.

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