By Sam Tickell
There was no denying the pace and reliability of the Van Merksteijn Porsche
The LMP2 class is usually one that rewards they team that simply makes it to the end. This is something that was, again, expected in 2008. But it was something we did not get.
It would be fair to say that most pundits expected the Porsche RS Spyder to be the fastest car.
It would also be fair to say that no one really expected it to last 24 hours. But it did – twice.
The Van Merksteijn squad is evidently the best funded team in P2. The driver lineup is two-thirds magical with Jos Verstappen and Jereon Bleekemolen and one third passionate with the owner - Van Merksteijn completing the driving team. Van Merksteijn is no slouch and so this makes for an impossibly good team for LMP2.
And this pace and commitment showed throughout the race. Leading for the majority, the team only came across minor issues which were quickly sorted.
In fact the only team that could match their pace was the Essex Porsche. Again a team of professionals (Maassen – Porshce factory driver, Neilson – former winner and Elgaard – a three time Danish Touring Car Champions), this team was the only one to be on the same pace as the other RS Spyder. If it weren’t for some mechanical issues, they really could have challenged for victory.
Third in class was a great result for the Saulnier Pescarolo
Third, though was one of the more heart warming results of the race. Saulnier Racing in their Pescarolo put in a massive effort to achieve such a result, beating the more fancied Lola and Zytek runners.
But what makes this result so good Le Mans rookie and the first Chinese driver to race at the 24 Hours – Frankie Cheng was so nervous and excited about the race and running with co-drivers. He didn’t want to ruin the race for his teammates, and so, when he finished third, he was so excited – a fantastic thing to see.
We should also mention that this car finished ahead of the P1 car entered by Saulnier – and was only 0.3 of a second behind in qualifying.
But the passion and spirit of Le Mans was not solely confined to the Saulnier pits. In fact the award for Spirit and sheer hard work should go to the Kruse Schiller Lola.
After Hideki Noda rolled the car eight times in qualifying, no one thought they could get the car on the grid. But amazingly they did.
Through the help of Lola – Martin Birrane made sure they had all the recourses they needed, and through the help of long, sleepless nights, the team were able to reassemble the car that was so comprehensively destroyed.
The car made it to the race – and lasted quite a distance too. This car also saw a late change with the rapid Allan Simonsen came on board. Simonsen who had all kinds of trouble getting on the grid after two other confirmed rides didn’t race, almost saw this ride disappear too as he did not complete the required night running. But a special dispensation from the ACO ensured that he was able to run.
In all there were six finishers in LMP2 – massively improveing from the two that took the chequered flag in 2007.
Quifel-ASM, Barazi Epsilon and Bruichladdich Radical made up the other finishers.
Teams like RML had their fair share of bad luck.
Embassy were running strong before they crashed out of the race. In a car that is so fresh and an in-house job, their effort is to be applauded.
The Radical lasted but was not quick. The Porsche was both. The Lola Coupe was fast but luck eluded them
As is that of the Speedy-Sebah Lola coupe. This car ran third in class for much of the race but suffered accident damage after being hit up the bum by a Corvette, while entering pit lane.
This accident would damage the car, putting them out of contention and eventually, out of the race.
The only other LMP2 runner was the Trading Performance Zytek, which was the innocent victim of an early crash, when an out of control P1 car, hit the Zytek 07S, leaving it stranded out on track.
The bar was certainly raised in LMP2 this year and we can expect it to be done so again next year.
But one thing is for certain – LMP2 is no longer just a test of making to the end…you have to be fast too.