The Pescarolos were strong in qualifying but could not match the diesels
Pescarolo
Larbre
Quifel-ASM
Harold Primat
Click a link to go directly to that story!
Pescarolo
Pescarolo Sport still in the lead of the "petrol engines" but a big crash for car No.16
The job was done for the Pescarolo Sport team leading the "petrol engines" category all through the official practice session. Some drivers still had to qualify for the night stint when the session was red-flagged. No alarm coming from the radio com but as the cars came back, two were reported missing : one Aston Martin and Romain Dumas' Pescarolo N 16 conduite. Fortunately, no injuries for Romain - he came back to the pits walking along the circuit but the initial report about the car condition was worrying.
We remembered how bad was Gene's Peugeot after its crash in the Porsche Esses and that's just where car N16 crashed at a speed over 250 km/h. As Romain later reported, he was following the Aston Martin when its engine broke. No time for the marshalls to wave the flag, and by night impossible to do anything! This is when big teams show how strong they are. After we got confirmation about Romain's health, a quick analysis by the engineers confirmed the monocoque was not damaged.
Rebuilding work could start and by 04.00 am, the car was almost rebuilt. The Pescarolo N16 will be in perfect shape for tonight session.
On Pescarolo N17, an incident occured just as Romain Dumas lost the car. With Benoit Treluyer exiting the pit lane, a jack was activated and the mechanics had to push the car back into the pit. The rest of the session was a troubleless exercise for the drivers.
7th : Pescarolo-Judd N16 : fastest lap 3:28:533
10th : Pescarolo-Judd N17 : fastest lap 3:30:618
Larbre
Larbre third after Wednesday qualifying
Larbre Competition's Saleen S7R set the third fastest GT1 time in Wednesday's first qualifying session for the Le Mans 24 Hours.
However, the team missed the chance to defeat the factory Corvettes and take provisional pole position after a gear selector problem lost them time in the pits during the fastest section of the session and then red flags spoiled Christophe Bouchut's later flying laps.
Bouchut, who took pole position for the team in the race last year, set a best time time of 3:50.920, just a few tenths off the pace of the second placed works Corvette and a whole 1.3 seconds faster than the leading works Aston Martin.
He was immediately quick during the session and topped the GT1 timesheets after the first two hours, before the #63 Corvette took provisional pole position in the second part of qualifying while Larbre's Saleen was in the pits. Patrick Bornhauser also showed good consistent pace during his short stint, but David Hallyday was unfortunate to only manage a single lap at the wheel before the session was ended by a red flag.
Team Principal Jack Leconte said: "We showed we were competitive during the Test Day and we proved it again at the end of the first part of the qualifying session by holding the quickest time. Unfortunately a problem with the gear selector lost us time and saw both Corvettes set quicker laps. After that we had non-stop disruptions due to red flags and oil on the track which prevented us going quicker.
"We still have two sets of qualifying tyres left and have a plan to beat the Corvettes on Thursday, but we'll wait and see what the track conditions are like first. What's certain is we've made a step forward from last year as our Saleen is ahead of all of the Aston Martins, which we ran in 2007."
Christophe Bouchut was philosophical about missing provisional pole: "It's one of those things that you really want to achieve, but at Le Mans, if it doesn't happen, it's better to just forget about it and prepare for the race. Third fastest isn't bad for a privateer team and although we'll try to improve tomorrow, it will be much harder as the forecast is for rain."
Patrick Bornhauser explained the team's strategy during Wednesday's session: "The idea was to dedicate most of Wednesday to Christophe so he could set a quick qualifying time while David and I planned to do four or five laps in each two hour session. I was happy with my times because they were all within the same second, and that consistency is crucial for the race."
David Hallyday was unfortunate to miss out on any significant track time due to an incident packed second session. "Well I managed a single warm up lap, and the car felt fine, but apart from that there isn't much for me to say! Thursday should see me have much more time in the car and so I'm looking forward to that."
Quifel-ASM
QUIFEL-ASM Team in third provisional line in LMP2 class
The QUIFEL-ASM Team yesterday ensured its place in the provisional line of the LMP2 class, in sixth place, despite having some problems in the first test qualification practice session for the Le Mans 24 Hour race.
The Lola B05/40 AER entered the race track with Guy Smith in the driving seat with the aim of achieving the best aerodynamic tuning for adapting the car to the track.
The experienced British driver, a former winner of the tough French race, was thus able to contribute to the team and qualification.
Miguel Pais do Amaral was the next to take the wheel of the Lola B05/40 AER until nightfall when he handed the car over to Olivier Pla for his debut under the artificial lights of the French track.
The afternoon session was interrupted on several occasions due to accidents, which left some cars in a very bad state.
The team did not drive with its qualification tyres, but tested out a softer composition for use in the high humidity levels for which the Le Mans night time is known.
In the second qualification session, to be held today at 7 pm, the team expects to run for a short time merely for final checks and tuning to the rainy conditions forecast.
On Friday the team is due to take part in the traditional parade in Le Mans city centre.
Harold Primat
enth overall in first qualifying session for Primat, Tinseau and Treluyer
The #17 Pescarolo 01-Judd of Harold Primat, Christophe Tinseau and Benoit Treluyer set the tenth fastest overall time and the fourth quickest of the petrol-powered cars during Wednesday's first qualifying session at Le Mans.
The car's best time of 3:30.618 was 3.3 seconds faster than its best at the recent Official Test Day, and within touching distance of the leading petrol-fuelled LMP1 cars.
Primat started the session and set competitive times as he worked on the car's race set up during his short seven lap stint. Tinseau then took over and continued the set up work before concentrating on setting a qualifying time at the end of the first part of the session. A time of 3:30.914 was set on soft compound tyres and was bettered by three tenths of a second on qualifying rubber.
In the night time session all three drivers got behind the wheel, but Primat's time in the car was cut short by a session-ending red flag caused by a huge accident for the LMP2 Kruse Schiller Motorsport Lola Mazda.
Harold explained: "Unfortunately I didn't manage to complete my three compulsory night time laps due to the red flag, so I'll have to get those done on Thursday, but apart from that we're looking ok. We've got good straight line speed and our time is closer to the Audis than we expected. The important thing is to have a car which is reliable, as well as comfortable for all three drivers, and I think we've managed that. It's a case of so far so good."
Tinseau admitted that he was slightly frustrated with his qualifying run and hopes to go quicker on Thursday. "I already had a good time in the bank on the soft tyres, but I was a little disappointed not to be faster on the qualifying rubber. I drove a steady out lap, but didn't have enough temperature in the tyres as I started pushing through Terte Rouge. That spoiled my flying lap, but I have two sets of qualifying tyres left and I think we can go up to two seconds faster on Thursday, depending on the weather."
Benoit said: "I drove in slightly strange conditions because I used a very hard tyre for the cold track conditions. It was important to do that though as it was part of our work with the dampers. We still have some slight adjustments to make to the overall set up, but generally the car feels very comfortable to drive."
Henri Pescarolo: "The three drivers all seem pleased with the car and we had no problems at all throughout the session. We got through some important work on the race set up, and the grid position is good, so overall we're happy."
The second qualifying session begins at 19:00 local time on Thursday.