Le Mans Series
By Sam Tickell
Pescarolo made up for their Le Mans disappointment by winning the Le Mans Series title
Courtesy of the American Le Mans Series
There was overwhelming joy and gutting disappointment today at the 1000km of Donington.
The race got underway in sunny but breezy whether and, amazingly for English whether, it stayed that way throughout the entire race.
The race was led away by the Courage Competition entry of Jean-Marc Gounon. The first corner was tight as the Zytek entry of Hideki Noda made a fast start.
All got through the first corner safely. There were two cars missing, the Lucchini did not start after an engine drama after qualifying was unable to be fixed and the Farnbacher Porsche did not start after a recurrent injury to Marco Seefried in the number 80 entry, struck again ensuring he could not drive.
All was good until the Melbourne hairpin nearing the end of the lap when the Chamberlin-Synergy Lola AER driven by Gareth Evans spun. He soon got under way again.
It was not long before more drama happened. The Lister Storm appeared on pit road after a clash with the Ferrari. There was light damage but the car was able to continue.
It was going to be a long day for the Bruichladdich Radical team. Coolant problems early on, ensured they lost time early. These problems would continue throughout the race seeing them finish 57 laps behind the winning car.
The first retirement of the day goes to the unfortunate Spyker car of Tom Coronel and Peter Dumbreck. The Spyker was hit from behind, breaking the car’s suspension. The car was stuck out on the circuit, unable to get back to the pits – day done.
The other Spyker was also running strongly until mid distance when suspected engine problems ended their day. A disappointing end to what could have been a great day for the Dutch squad.
There was also frustration for some of the more fancied runners too as stop and go penalties were handed down to the Team Oreca for jumping the start and to the Pescarolo for cutting a corner.
Both came to serve their penalties but the Pescarolo did so in the wrong spot, so their original penalty still stood, and they had to re-pit immediately to avoid disqualification. There were much wild gestures from the Pescarolo pit wall, but they did serve their penalty and got on with it.
Swiss Spirit had a disappointing weekend at Donington, retiring after just 79 laps
Courtesy of Harold Primat
This did seem to serve Pescarolo’s lead driver, Jean-Christophe Boullion into a higher gear, as he flew round the track, taking chucks of time out of their rivals. They fought back from over a lap down to take the lead by lap 37.
Pescarolo, however, would not race into the distance at this point, however. The Zytek, driven by Stefan Johansson was brutally fast, backed solidly by Noda, they would battle with Pescarolo until the final hour.
Back at the start of the race, LMP2 front runners, RML had to pit early, suspecting a deflating tire, they changed the tires, only to find a few laps later that it was faulty electronics in the steering wheel. Another pitstop later and the problem was fixed.
This problem for RML meant that they lost time to Binnie Motorsports and Rollcentre Racing. At least one of these problems was solved early on as Binnie made one of many visits to the sand.
In fact it was Binnie that brought out the only safety car after a tire deflated pitching the car in the sand. Fortunately they could be towed out and the pitted and continued on.
After one hour of racing, the Pescarolo led LMP1 from Swiss Spirit and Jamie Campbell-Walter Creation. Pole sitters, Courage Competition of Gounon went backwards, unable to keep pace with the leaders.
Leading LMP2 was Rollcentre Racing, with Luc Alphand Adventures leading GT1 and Team LNT leading the GT2 category.
As the race continued the battle for victory was close with three seconds separating the Zytek and the two Creation cars.
The race had hit its rhythm. There was close racing and a little misfortune. But there was still hours to go.
As the race wore on there were more penalties for the Creation of Campbell-Walter/Otriz/Gabbiani, the Rollcentre and the Paul Belmondo Racing car who all got penalties for passing under a yellow flag.
As the race hit the half distance mark, the battle at the top was intense. The Zytek was being driven faster than it should have been capable of, the Pescarolo was on a fightback and the Creations were racing hard.
This was shown up when Johansson pitted in his Zytek. When he got out of his car in the after his double stint, he was welcomed by applause from the Zytek mechanics – indeed a job well done.
Around the same time there was a bit of hard luck for Dan Eagling in the Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430GT as he was punted into the gravel twice in one lap. Both times he lost vital seconds to the cars ahead..
Enduring a difficult weekend was the Oreca team with their Saleen. After a crash and brake fire on Saturday, they had a loose rear diffuser during the race. This had to be removed but the car did not last much longer. Engine damage possibly related to the earlier problem had been terminal.
There was much excitement in GT1 at this time as the leader, Luc Alphand had a puncture, and lost a lot of time. This would prove to be crucial later in the race.
But at the front the fight was now between the Zytek and Pescarolo. The battle was hard and risky as the two cars lapped a slower competitor by sweeping either side, Noda in the Zytek holding off Collard in the Pescarolo to retain the lead.
But the Zytek dream was soon to end as when they pitted a stuck left rear wheel meant they lost over two laps on the Pescarolo. They rejoined third but this would not last either as the clutch exploded, spewing oil onto the pitlane.
This left Pescarolo with a huge lead. All they had to do was drive sensibly and they would have their fourth win out of four races and a championship.
Someone forgot to tell the drivers as they continued to set fastest lap times. But they did get home and the did win their championship.
They finished ahead of the two Creation cars, with Nic Minissian and Kevin McGarrity leading home Campbell-Walter, Ortiz and Gabbini.
The Creation team were happy with the result especially since they were running two cars for the first time, but they feel they could have won it if they were using the same sized tires as the Pescarolo. Creation run smaller tires, meaning they could not double stint the rubber. This could have made all the difference.
But if the fate of Zytek was unfortunate, then the fate of the leading LMP2 runner, Rollcentre was down right cruel.
RML took a fortunate win in LMP2
Courtesy of RML Ray Mallock
Coming in for a slash and dash at the end of the race, they had the win sown up. They had three laps lead over the RML squad. As they went to pull away, however, the car would not start under its own power, a requirement under Le Mans Series rules.
An element in the starter motor had broken, too complex to fix before the end of the race. The cruel part was that the Rollcentre Racing team only failed to complete six laps less than the RML car but if you don’t take the flag in this series, you are not classified a finisher. So the weekend came to nothing for the British squad.
Team owner, Martin Short was unusually short of words as he muttered “Talk about having the race in the bag. Bloody hell.”
Second in LMP2 was the Pilbeam of Pierre Bruneau, racing without trouble, ahead of the troubled but recovered Binnie Motorsports entry.
Although nowhere near as cruel, but still harsh was the plight of Luc Alphand Adventures (Corvette C5R) in the GT1 race. A suspected loss of power within the final laps saw the Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 close down a 30+second lead to take over the GT1 lead with just two laps left.
Luc Alphand Adventures able to hold onto second ahead of the Convers Menx Team Ferrari 550 Maranello, proving consistency is key in endurance races, especially with ageing machinery.
Team Modena with their Aston Martin took a hard fought win in GT1
Courtesy of Team Modena
There was also a bitter pill to swallow for the GPC Sport Ferrari F430 of Andera Montermini/Gabrio Rosa and Luca Drudi. Montermini was driving the car in the latter stages when he we hit by the Protran LMP1 racer. This lost the team vital minutes and turned their lead into a third place.
“We are the winners” joked Montermini on the podium as he stepped onto the top step of the podium on the way to his own.
But whenever there are hard luck stories, there are happy stories too. Benefiting from the Ferrari’s bad luck was Team LNT and their Panoz Esperante LM. The Warren Hughes/Tim Sudgen car won from the recovered Autorlando Sport Porsche 996 GT3RSR of Marc Lieb and Joel Camathias.
The race came to a close as did everyone else’s chances of winning the LMP1 title. The Pescarolo Sport team of Emmanuel Collard and Jean-Christophe Boullion was joined by Didier Andre for this race but that could only strengthen this back to back championship squad.
Also Joel Camathias won the GT2 title with this second place. Changing co-drivers during the year meant that the Swiss driver will hold this title alone. With three second places and a win, he now holds an unassailable lead in the GT2 title fight.
The 1000km of Donington was hard fought, with heartbreak and joy along the way. There is only one round of the Le Mans Series left. The teams will head off to Jarama at the end of September. Join a href="http://feedmesportscars.com">FeedMeSportscars as we bring you all the action from that race.
The full results from the 1000km of Donington are as follows:
Position/Number/Class/Tire/Team/Driver/Time/Laps/Gap/Speed/Fastest lap
1 17 LMP1 M Pescarolo Sport COLLARD Emmanuel/BOULLION Jean-Christophe/AND Pescarolo C60 Judd 5:59:26.921 249 167,211 1:21.946
2 10 LMP1 M Creation Autosportif MINASSIAN Nicolas/McGARRITY Kevin Creation CA06/H Judd 5:59:27.871 247 2 L 165,860 1:22.250
3 9 LMP1 M Creation Autosportif CAMPBELL WALTER Jamie/ORTIZ Felipe/GABBIANI Be Creation CA06/H Judd 5:59:27.960 245 4 L 164,517 1:21.527
4 25 LMP2 M RML NEWTON Mike/ERDOS Tommy MG Lola EX 264 5:59:34.707 239 10 L 160,437 1:22.953
5 12 LMP1 Y Courage Competition GOUNON Jean-Marc/FISKEN Gregor/FREI Alexander Courage LC70 Mugen 6:00:00.664 238 11 L 159,574 1:21.933
6 63 LMGT1 M Team Modena GARCIA Antonio/HARDMAN Peter Aston Martin DBR9 6:00:24.636 233 16 L 156,049 1:28.220
7 72 LMGT1 M Alphand Aventures POLICAND Jerome/GOUESLARD Patrice/ALPHAND LucCorvette C5-R 6:00:40.097 233 0:15.461 155,937 1:28.933
8 67 LMGT1 M Convers Menx Team KOX Peter/PERGL Robert/VASILIEV Alexei Ferrari 550 Maranello 6:00:54.914 231 18 L 154,493 1:28.783
9 70 LMGT1 D PSI Experience KUISMANEN Pertti/MENTEN Jos/PALTTALA Markus Corvette C6-R 6:00:52.050 228 21 L 152,507 1:28.658
10 20 LMP2 M Pierre Bruneau ROSTAN Marc/BRUNEAU Pierre Pilbeam Judd 6:00:41.039 227 22 L 151,915 1:26.631
11 81 LMGT2 P Team LNT HUGHES Warren/BELL Robert Panoz Esperante GTLM 6:00:03.250 224 25 L 150,169 1:33.043
12 76 LMGT2 P Autorlando Sport LIEB Marc/CAMATHIAS Joel Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 5:59:50.785 223 26 L 149,585 1:32.981
13 24 LMP2 M Binnie Motorsports BINNIE Bill/TIMPANY Allen/HANCOCK Sam Lola 05/42 Zytek 5:59:44.925 221 28 L 148,284 1:23.838
14 97 LMGT2 P GPC SPORT DRUDI Luca/ROSA Gabrio/MONTERMINI Andrea Ferrari 430 GT 6:01:00.078 221 1:15.153 147,769 1:31.724
15 90 LMGT2 Y Farnbacher Racing EHRET Pierre/FARNBACHER Dominik/SEEFRIED MarcoPorsche 996 GT3 RSR 5:59:58.410 219 30 L 146,850 1:33.650
16 92 LMGT2 D IMSA Perf. Matmut BOUCHUT Christophe/NARAC Raymond Porsche 996 RSR 6:00:04.191 209 40 L 140,107 1:32.814
17 99 LMGT2 D Virgo Motorsport EAGLING Dan/SUGDEN Tim Ferrari 430 GT 5:59:41.441 206 43 L 138,242 1:32.562
18 75 LMGT2 D Thierry Perrier SMITH Nigel/HESNAULT Philippe/BELTOISE Anthony Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 6:00:49.543 202 47 L 135,131 1:33.820
19 32 LMP2 M Barazi Epsilon VERGERS Michael/BARAZI Juan/VALSECCHI Davide Courage C65 AER 6:00:22.328 201 48 L 134,631 1:25.957
20 50 LMGT1 M Aston Martin Larbre LAMY Pedro/GARDEL Gabrielle/VOSSE Vincent Aston Martin DBR9 6:00:42.996 195 54 L 130,488 1:28.420
21 19 LMP1 D Chamberlain Synergy BERRIDGE Bob/EVANS Gareth/OWEN Peter Lola B06/10 AER 6:01:06.261 195 0:23.265 130,348 1:23.254
22 44 LMP2 K Kruse Motorsport LUEDERS Jan Dirk/PETERSEN Jens/BURGESS Tony Courage C65 Judd 5:59:29.332 181 68 L 121,533 1:27.110
23 13 LMP1 Y Courage Competition NAKANO Shinji/KUROSAWA Haruki Courage LC70 Mugen 6:00:51.023 172 77 L 115,054 1:21.734
24 22 LMP2 D Rollcentre Racing SHORT Martin/BARBOSA Joao/BARFF Rob Radical SR9 Judd 5:43:48.046 233 16 L 163,588 1:23.481
25 36 LMP2 P Paul Belmondo Racing GOSSELIN Claude-Yves/OJJEH Karim/RAGUES Pierre Courage C65 Ford 5:15:07.964 202 47 L 154,725 1:26.242
26 15 LMP1 D Pro Tran Competition BENNETT Phil/COPE Paul Protran RS06/H 4:50:24.289 188 61 L 156,263 1:25.959
27 2 LMP1 M Zytek Motorsport JOHANSSON Stefan/NODA Hideki Zytek 06S 4:28:48.162 183 66 L 164,331 1:21.803
28 21 LMP2 D Bruichladdich Radical GREAVES Tim/MOSELEY Stuart/DEVLIN Ben Radical SR9 AER 4:05:31.611 151 98 L 148,450 1:24.461
29 55 LMGT1 M Team Oreca ORTELLI Stephane/AYARI Soheil Saleen S7R 2:57:00.050 111 138 L 151,373 1:28.151
30 78 LMGT2 P Autorlando Sport KRISTENSEN Gunnar/SIMONSEN Allan Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 2:35:30.347 94 155 L 145,909 1:33.698
31 83 LMGT2 P GPC SPORT ZONCA Stefano/BELICCHI Andrea/CIOCI Marco Ferrari 430 GT 2:29:51.724 89 160 L 143,351 1:33.537
32 85 LMGT2 D Spyker Squadron BLEEKEMOLEN Jeroen/KANE Jonny Spyker C8 Spyder GT2R 2:40:36.250 81 168 L 121,739 1:33.896
33 5 LMP1 M Swiss Spirit PRIMAT Harold/FASSLER Marcel Courage LC 70 Judd 1:56:33.812 79 170 L 163,593 1:22.467
34 95 LMGT2 D Racesport Peninsula DOCKERILL Iain/HARTSHORNE John TVR Tuscan T400R 2:36:21.693 76 173 L 117,323 1:37.654
35 40 LMP2 D ASM Racing Portugal AMARAL Miguel/DE CASTRO Miguel Angel/BURGUENOLola B05/40 AER 1:36:05.533 66 183 L 165,789 1:24.006
36 6 LMP1 D Lister Storm Racing MOLLER Jens/KEEN Justin Lister Storm Hybrid 2:05:37.564 56 193 L 107,599 1:26.886
37 82 LMGT2 P Team LNT TOMLINSON Lawrence/DEAN Richard/HYNES Marc Panoz Esperante GTLM 1:29:26.500 55 194 L 148,431 1:33.902
38 96 LMGT2 D James Watt Automotive DANIELS Paul/MC CORMICK Bo/POMPIDOU Xavier Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 3:43:42.501 38 211 L 041,002 1:35.477
39 86 LMGT2 D Spyker Squadron CORONEL Tom/DUMBRECK Peter Spyker C8 Spyder GT2R 0:31:52.849 20 229 L 151,426 1:34.052