The Peugeot 908 was the fastest in qualifying
Peugeot
Porsche
Chraouz Aston Martin
Zytek
Michelin
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Peugeot
After monopolising both pole-position and the front row throughout 2007, Peugeot kicked off its 2008 LMS campaign in perfect fashion today by securing the top two times in qualifying for Sunday's 1,000km de Catalyuna with its two Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs. Stephane Sarrazin was the fastest driver round the Spanish track this afternoon, beating team-mate Marc Gene by almost six tenths of a second. The Peugeot pair's closest rival was McNish (Audi) who was 1.375s off the pole time.
Local star Marc Gene went out soon after the start of the session but had to bide his time for two full laps because of traffic and a series of yellow flag incidents before at last being able to attempt his first flying lap. His time of 1m 32.454s immediately handed him provisional pole. Just after the session's midpoint, qualifying practice was interrupted when the red flag came out for a few minutes and the other Peugeot, with Stephane Sarrazin at the wheel, was first in the queue waiting for the green light to be sure of having a clear lap. The Frenchman had been pleased with his car after the morning's free practice run and went on to post two best sector times from three on his first flying lap to clock a 1m 31.875s.
Stephane Sarrazin: "I'm obviously very pleased. My car was nicely balanced and very easy to drive. We have been quicker than the Audis all weekend and we succeeded in beating them again in qualifying. It's important to have a car here that is as balanced through the fast corners as it is through the tighter turns and the new chicane. I now hope we will have a reliable run in the race, but I feel confident because the team has done a great job since the start of the year."
Marc Gene: "The fact that I had to cover two laps before my first flying lap meant I didn't get to profit from the best of my tyres. That's of no importance, though, because the two Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs will both start tomorrow's race from the front row, and that's the main thing."
Michel Barge, Peugeot Sport Director: "Our race at Sebring was a first class way for the team to prepare for the new season. We were always on the pace during free practice and, despite facing considerably stiffer competition compared with last year, 2008's first qualifying session enabled us to keep up our excellent habit of qualifying both cars on the front row."
The 1,000km de Catalunya starts at 11.35am local time on Sunday, April 6, 2008
Porsche
Stuttgart. A good start for the Porsche RS Spyder in Europe: During
qualifying for the first round of the Le Mans Series in Barcelona (Spain)
the three RS Spyder post positions one, three and four in the LMP2 class.
Quickest amongst the 476 hp sports prototype RS Spyder, with 1.34.422
minutes, was the ex-Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen (Netherlands) driving
for the Van Merksteijn team. With this, Verstappen takes up the race from
fifth on the grid. “Our car is good, quick, well balanced and reliable. We
hope to keep up a good pace in the race, and most of all to get through the
first corner without mishap. Once we have managed this we have the security
of competing with a very good car.” For the season-opener, Verstappen is
joined by team owner Peter van Merksteijn.
In the near-standard GT2 class, as well, Porsche pilots qualified second,
third and fourth, thus securing a good starting position for the 1,000
kilometre race on the 4.655 kilometre Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona.
“All our expectations were totally met at the qualifying,” says a satisfied
Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport. “All the foundations for an
exciting race have been laid – both with the RS Spyder in the LMP2 class
and the Porsche GT3 RSR in the GT2 class. Above all, Jos Verstappen did a
super job. The qualifying also underlined that the three Spyder teams have
become well acquainted with the new sports prototype.”
Didier Theys qualified his RS Spyder run by the Swiss Horag Racing team
third. The 51-year-old Belgian, whose sports car successes include victory
at the Daytona 24 Hours, said: “It’s a complete lottery to get a free run
when you have about 30 competitors and just a 20-minute qualifying. I had a
bit of bad luck. To be honest qualifying well is important but it’s the
race that counts. And it will be very long and, with a lot of traffic,
it’ll be demanding.” Didier Theys starts the race for Horag Racing
tomorrow. His team mates are Fredy Lienhard (Switzerland) and Jan Lammers
(Netherlands).
Casper Elgaard qualified the Spyder fielded by the Danish Essex team. The
triple Danish Touring Car Champion is also the start driver for Essex. “We
are happy with fourth,” said Elgaard. “Both times when I went out with
fresh tyres, my flying laps were ruined by another car skidding. But we
have found a good set-up and I’m feeling confident for the race.” Team mate
John Nielsen, who also doubles as team manager, is already nervous about
the pit stops. “We have only ever driven in touring cars, so pit stops are
new territory for us. That’s why we practised like mad in the last months,”
said the 1990 Le Mans winner.
In the GT2 class for near standard vehicles, Porsche works drivers Marc
Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Richard Westbrook (Great
Britain) secured good starting positions for the race with second, third
and fourth. “I’m pleased to be at least the fastest Porsche man,” said
27-year-old Lieb, who competes for the Felbermayr-Proton team. “We have
chosen a fairly conservative set-up and should be well prepared for the
race. Of course I’m annoyed that Ferrari was quicker!” Asserted Lieb’s team
mate Alex Davison from Australia.
Factory driver colleague Richard Lietz (IMSA Performance Matmut) said: “I
pulled out all stops and drove an immaculate lap. It will be hard to do
this during the race. With almost 50 cars on this short circuit you have to
keep a good watch in the rear view mirror in a GT2 car. The prototypes push
really hard. Whatever happens, it will be a tough fight.” Teaming up with
the 24-year-old is Frenchman Raymond Narac. The Porsche trio, Richard
Westbrook, Lars Erik Nielsen (Denmark) and Allan Simonsen (Australia) from
the Farnbacher Racing team secured fourth in the GT2 class.
The race runs over 215 laps and takes off tomorrow at 11.35 hrs. Eurosport
broadcasts the race live from 11.15 to 12.00 hours; highlights will be
shown from 23.00 hrs.
Chraouz Aston Martin
Charouz Racing System team has enjoyed an excellent qualifying debut. The team will start tomorrow's race from the second row after German Stefan Mucke set the fourth fastest time in qualifying. The Berliner shares the brand new Aston Martin powered prototype with Czech Jan Charouz. The pair was also the fastest among of the petrol cars and moreover out-qualified of the Audi diesels.
The closed prototype prepared by Aston Martin Racing showed a great pace on Saturday after the first day was used for testing different settings. The team was second in this morning's practice session and second overall based on the amalgamated practice session times.
This afternoon's qualifying was just 20 minutes long and Stefan Mucke put in a fabulous performance to earn a place in the second row of the Barcelona 1000 km. The result even more impressive because the German was unable to finish his first flying lap because the session was red flagged. Hist fastest time from this morning's practice would have been good enough to take the third spot on the grid.
Mucke and Charouz are not the only Aston Martin Racing works drivers who are happy with today's qualifying result. Tomas Enge is equally delighted that tha Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9, which he shares with Antonio Garcia, will start as the lead car in the LMGT1 class, thanks to an excellent performance by the Spaniard.
Jan Charouz: "I am excited like everybody in the team and congratulations to Stefan for a great qualifying. Everything went very well both today and yesterday. I am really looking forward to the race. Stefan should start. I must say that I am surprised by our speed. I did not believe that we would be that close to the more powerful diesel cars. If we manage to keep development of the car, which is still very young, we could be close even to Peugeots that are fastest at the moment. At least in the qualifying."
Stefan Mucke: "We did not have a lot of luck in the qualifying. I was doing my first flying lap on new tyres when they put out red flag. I had the same set of tyres for the second run and I felt that their peak is gone. Anyway, I am really happy with the position I was able to get. It is the debut of the car and we are in the second row in a sandwich of factory Audi diesels. It is not that bad."
Antonin Charouz, Team principal: "I am overjoyed. I had hoped that we would be the fastest car with a petrol engine but we managed to get even more -- we beat one works Audi. Of course, it is only qualifying and tomorrow's race will be very long but we have already shown that our pace is really good. We showed it not only in the qualifying but also in the morning's practice."
George Howard-Chappell, Aston Martin Racing Technical director: "Stefan drove a very good lap and was lucky to get a clear lap with so many prototype cars. Overall we are a little surprised to be in this position, but also very pleased with the speed of the car and the performance of our Aston Martin engine. That said, the programme is still very new and our first 1000 km race will be a big challenge."
Zytek
The promise of yesterday's second practice session, when the Zytek 07S of Michael Vergers was fastest in class despite a broken damper, was unfulfilled during qualifying for the 1,000km of Catalunya Le Mans Series race. "We're now suffering from lots of oversteer," said Michael, lead driver for the Barazi-Epsilon team. "We've got to get back to where we are."
Michael achieved his fastest time of 1m 37.516s on his first flying lap only to run off into the gravel at Turn 3 on his second. The Dutchman then held second place in the LMP2 class for much of the session before falling back to sixth towards the end. Now the team must work anew on the set up of its 07S if it is to regain Friday afternoon's competitiveness when it was not only fastest in class but also eighth over all with a time of 1m 36.367s
Qualifying a second Zytek 07S for the new Trading Performance team was 21-year old Julien Schroyen. The young Belgian is on a steep curve this weekend, it being the first time that he has competitively driven a Le Mans prototype. Tomorrow sees his endurance race debut.
Three other Zytek ZG348-engined cars took part in qualifying for the race with the Embassy WF01s making their debut, while electrical problems limited the number of laps the equally new WR, driven by Patrice Roussel, was able to carry out.
"It was always going to be a tough weekend," said Warren Hughes, fastest of the Embassy drivers with a 1m 38.100s. "This is this the first serious outing for the WF01." However, the cars have proved reliable over the past couple of days enabling Embassy Racing to, as Warren remarks, "get through a lot of work." Warren's time was good enough for seventh in a packed LMP2 class, one place behind the fastest Zytek.
Both Warren and his team mate Jonny Kane sang the praises of the WF01's Zytek engine. It was the first time that they had experienced one of the Repton-built power units in a sportscar. "It's a good strong engine with power throughout the range," said Warren. "It's very flexible,' added Jonny.
Michelin
Peugeot and Michelin profited from the first qualifying session of the 2008 Le Mans Series to claim pole position in Barcelona, Spain, today. It was Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin who set the fastest lap close to the end of the session, just ahead of the time posted by his Peugeot-Michelin team-mate Marc Gene. Third was the N1 Audi Sport-Michelin. The LMP2 category was won by Merksteijn/Verstappen's Porsche RS Spyder, while mere tenths of a second split the Team Modena car and the Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette in the GT1 class.
Matthieu Bonardel, Michelin Director of Four-wheel Competition
"We profited from today's track temperatures of more than 35C to evaluate the performance of our LMP1 tyres in hot conditions. The teams tested both soft and medium tyres, and some even ran different compounds left and right, since the left-hand tyres tend to suffer more here at Barcelona. We were pleased to see the competitiveness of both the diesel and petrol cars in this category. Unusually, we saw some petrol cars lapping in times that weren't far off those of the diesel-powered machines.
"Although the weather for qualifying was hotter than that forecast for tomorrow's race, we are confident with the tyre choices. Different teams have gone for different strategies and they will fine-tune them as the race progresses. The first part of the race promises to be the toughest on the tyres.
"We used the free practice sessions and long runs to check the performance and consistency of our products over one stint. That has left us feeling even more confident than we were last year concerning the possibility of double-stinting in tomorrow's race and, indeed, over the full season.
"In the LMP2 category, we tried different combinations of soft and medium compounds, running different rubber either front and rear or left and right. The teams also profited from practice to find the best balance to ensure lasting performance from the left-hand tyres which take the brunt at this circuit. It's a case of trying to find the ideal compromise, that is to say a solution that will cover two stints without detracting from performance. There's a chance that certain LMP2s will mix it with the LMP1s which shows that the new cars in the category are competitive on Michelin tyres.
"Our range of tyres for the GT1 category is known territory. There are some very competitive cars. And while this track is hard on the prototypes, it is even tougher for the GT runners.
"We face a fairly difficult challenge in GT2 since our partners in this category use commercially available, customer competition tyres. There was little chance of threatening the cars equipped with the development tyres of our rivals in qualifying today, so we are notably counting on the consistency of our products. We hope that the different teams and cars that have chosen to race on our customer competition tyres will benefit from good performance over a single stint tomorrow, that is to say around 40 laps."
Stephane Sarrazin, Peugeot:
"It's been a real pleasure running at this circuit ever since we arrived here in Barcelona. We made some small changes to the set-up to improve the balance a little and the result is very encouraging for the race. Michelin has worked hard since the start of our programme together. Last year's tyres were good, but the tyres we have here are fantastic. Along with the other teams, we took part in Michelin's tests at Jerez this winter to help them look at new products. Since then they have progressed even further and they turned up with incredible tyres this weekend. The different solutions work well and they hardly fade at all; we can push without losing grip. Michelin has a very methodical approach which clearly pays!"