It will take a great run from another P2 car to beat the Van Merksteijn Porsche
Van Merksteijn
QUIFEL-ASM
Spyker Squadron
Michelin
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Van Merksteijn
Van Merksteijn Motorsport comes to Nurburgring with Porsche RS Spyder as points leader
NURBURG - After the long break around the Le Mans 24 Hours, action in the Le Mans Series resumes this weekend with the Nurburgring 1000 km race. Dutch team Van Merksteijn Motorsport by Equipe Verschuur is leading in the points' standings before the race at the famous circuit in the Eifel, where Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen will be driving the Porsche RS Spyder. The 476 hp strong German sports car, that won its class in all three LMS rounds held so far this season and with Van Merksteijn Motorsport by Equipe Verschuur also claimed victory in the LMP2 class in the Le Mans 24 Hours, will be racing in its home country for the first time. The race at the 5.148 kilometres long circuit will start on Sunday at 12.05 h. The first two hours and the final hour of the race can be watched live on Eurosport 2. The entire race will be broadcast live on Motors TV, while there is also live coverage of qualifying and the race via www.radiolemans.com.
With victories at Barcelona and Spa-Francorchamps and a second place after a great recovery at Monza, Van Merksteijn Motorsport had a very successful start of the season in the Le Mans Series. This was crowned with victory in the LMP2 class in the Le Mans 24 Hours with Jeroen Bleekemolen, Peter van Merksteijn and Jos Verstappen in the Porsche RS Spyder. Now, the next goal is the title in the LMP2 class of the Le Mans series, where there are still two races to go: this weekend at the Nurburgring and in four weeks' time at Silverstone.
At the Nurburgring, the Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche RS SPyder will be raced by Jeroen Bleekemolen and Jos Verstappen. Peter van Merksteijn is competing in the German round of the World Rally Championship on the same weekend. "The rally is based in Trier, only one hour away from the Nurburgring. We briefly considered letting Peter take part in both events, but that turned out to be impossible", says team principal Gerard Grouve. "With Jeroen and Jos, we have a strong line-up, so it will be all right!" Bleekemolen raced at the Nurburgring only last weekend, taking part in two rounds of the German MINI Challenge. "It will be my first LMS race with the Porsche, I am really looking forward to it", says the driver, who can already claim the title in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup only one week later in Valencia. Jos Verstappen is also looking forward to the upcoming race. "I have never raced at the Nurburgring since the lay-out changed in 2002, but the changes involved only the first few corners. The rest of the circuit I know well and I am sure that the track suits our Porsche, which does particularly well in corners."
On Friday, August 15th, there will be two free practice sessions at the Nurburgring from 12.15 till 13.15 and from 17.00 till 18.00 h. On Saturday, August 16th, there is another free practice session from 9.05 till 10.05 h, followed by qualifying for the LMP1 and LMP2 prototypes from 14.10 till 14.30 h. Warm-up is on Sunday, August 17th, from 8.40 till 9.00 h, the race with a distance of 195 laps (1003.860 kilometres) will start at 12.05 h with a maximum duration of six hours.
QUIFEL-ASM
QUIFEL-ASM Team hoping for a good result in the 1,000km at Nurburgring
Training sessions begin on 15th August for the fourth Le Mans Series race, this time at the German circuit at Nurburgring. QUIFEL-ASM Team sets out with high hopes and renewed vigour, after a good result in the Le Mans 24 hours, where it managed to take the Lola B05/40 AER across the finish line in fourth place in the LMP2 class.
In previous years the Portuguese team has got on well at the German circuit, gaining a victory in 2006, and third place in last year's race. This year Miguel Pais do Amaral and Olivier Pla will be looking for an even better result.
While awaiting the race on the German circuit, QUIFEL-ASM Team has been involved in two days of tests on the Estoril Race Track as the development team for Dunlop tyres. Different types of tyres were tested, with the team getting good results both in terms of performance and durability, which bodes well for the remaining races in the Le Mans Series Championship. The team used the time to iron out a few problems with the gearbox control that have affected some races.
Training sessions for this fourth and penultimate circuit race will start on 15th August with two sessions of free practice at 13:15 and 18:00 (Lisbon time). On Saturday, after a further morning session of free practice, the qualification round will take place to decide positions on the starting grid for the race due to take place on the Sunday at 11:00.
The 1,000km race in Nurburgring will have extensive television coverage, with Eurosport 2 channel covering events live from 11:00 on Sunday, for a total transmission time of 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Spyker have a number of updates for this event
Spyker Squadron
Zeewolde - After a short break racing resumes this weekend for SNORAS Spyker Squadron. The fourth round of the Le Mans Series; the 1000 km of the Nuerburgring is the team's second last race this year.
After their overall victory of the Omnitel 1000 km last month it is back to business for the majority of the team after having enjoyed a short vacation. Immediately after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, held mid-June, the Squadron engineers and mechanics continued to further develop the car. Both cars will appear at the start this weekend with the engines that have the new flat plane crankshaft layout as tested in an earlier Le Mans Series race at Spa. A number of small improvements have been made to improve the engine reliability. The cars also have aerodynamic improvements and will be fitted with a new rear wing and front splitter.
Peter Dumbreck, Ralf Kelleners and Alexei Vasilliev will drive the number 85 Spyker Squadron C8 Laviolette GT2R and behind the wheel of the Speedy Racing car we can also find familiar faces: Andrea Chiesa and Benjamin Leuenberger will be driving the Swiss car.
Peter van Erp, managing director Spyker Squadron: "The Nuerburgring, with its low grip levels, is always a tough track for us. Although we have been on the podium here in the past, it was always a challenge to quickly find a good setup. This year it will be the first time that we will race the Michelin tires here so I am curious if our quest for a good setup has changed in our favor".
He continues: "I hope that in this race, but also in the last race at Silverstone, luck is on our side and we can finish in top-5 - that is absolutely the level we are aiming at. If we can work-out a good setup in the free practice session and grip levels permit, we will try to push in the race and drive progressively".
Two free practices sessions are in the agenda this Friday followed by the third one-hour session on Saturday. Saturday afternoon there is the regular 20 minute GT qualifying session. The 1000 km or six-hour race will start this Sunday at 12:05.
Michelin
NEW PRODUCTS AT THE NURBURGRING!
Following the break in the calendar that came after June's Le Mans 24 Hours and Michelin's 11th straight win on the event in association with Audi Sport, Le Mans Series action resumes this weekend with the fourth round of the calendar at the legendary Nurburgring in Germany. Michelin is ready for this new challenge and looking forward to defending its unbroken winning LMS record.
This year marks the LMS's sixth visit to the modern Nurburgring which is situated close to the infamous Nordschleife that twists its way through the Eifel Mountains between Trier and Cologne. The drivers face almost 190 laps of this extremely demanding 5.148km track, while the difficulty for Michelin consists in determining the ideal combination of front and rear tyres to help the cars find the best balance possible.
The circuit
Length: 5.148km
Matthieu Bonardel (Director of Four-wheel Competition, Michelin):
"The Nurburgring has always been a challenge for Michelin because of its cocktail of extremely tight turns and relatively slow average speeds; approximately 170kph. It doesn't really pose any specific problems, but it is quite tough on rear tyres because of the numerous places where drivers accelerate hard out of slow corners. On the other hand, it is far easier on the front tyres. That said, the track surface doesn't give much grip, so getting heat into the fronts can be difficult. This leads to understeer, which in turn can produce wear as a result of the car sliding.
"Basically, the soft compounds have a tendency to wear very quickly, whereas the harder options don't deliver sufficient grip."
"Meanwhile, the amount of grip that is available can evolve in the course of the race, leading to differences in lap times of up to maybe three seconds! Not to mention the fact, of course, that the temperature can fluctuate from one extreme to the other here in the Eifel Mountains, even in the middle of August. All these parameters only serve to complicate the job we face."
The tyres
Matthieu Bonardel (Director of Four-wheel Competition, Michelin):
"We will most probably use a combination of soft and medium tyres, with the latter likely to hold for two stints.
"To optimise the balance of their cars, drivers may run different compounds front and rear. For example, to combat understeer, they might be tempted to run soft tyres at the front and mediums at the rear. This technique can effectively help front-end grip without producing excessive wear at the rear. "Tyre options could well alter in the course of the race, too. The cars traditionally tend to qualify using softer rubber which they also run for the start, before switching to medium tyres as more and more rubber gets laid down onto the track surface. They then tend to swap back to the soft compound for the race's closing stages.
"We have seen in the past that the Nurburgring can become particularly slippery in the wet. Unlike S pa, Monza and Le Mans, this is a relatively short track and it dries quite quickly, so we need to have a full range of wet weather products on hand ranging from very soft tyres to others aimed more specifically at drying conditions in order to be able to offer the best compromise should the weather be showery.
"In an ideal world, the teams wouldn't have to modify their set -up too much so as to be able to switch easily from dry to damp conditions."
New
A certain number of new products will be on hand at the Nurburgring because of Michelin's ongoing bid to take its range forward with a view to being able to respond to the different needs of its partners.
Matthieu Bonardel (Director of Four-wheel Competition, Michelin):
"For the LMP2 cars, we will have an extra-soft compound which has already run in America. Following its positive results there, we have decided to make it available for the European races, too.
"There will also be new products for the GT1 category. Compared with the initial range, we will have a softer and a harder compound. These 'extreme' choices have enabled us to broaden our spectrum of uses in order to have just the right product as the temperature varies and as a function of the different amounts of rubber deposited on the track'ssurface.
"Finally, in GT2, which we contest with commercially available tyres, our different teams will be able to profit some new developments which will be available for the first time at the Nurburgring."
The Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge
The Nurburgring sees the 2008 Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge continue. This challenge is based on the fuel consumption of the cars as a function of their average speed. The winning crew of each race will be invited on the LMS podium to receive the Michelin Energy trophy. The "Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge" championship leader is easily identifiable by the number "1" decal visible on his car.
New in 2008, the chassis which totals the highest number of points of the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge championship will win an official entry to the 2009 Le Mans 24Hours. After the first three rounds, the provisional classification is:
POS CAT NO TEAM Catalunya Monza Spa TOTAL 1 "LM"P2 27 Horag Racing 37 38 40 115 2 "LM"P2 34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport 39 40 34 113 3 "LM"P1 2 Audi Sport Team Joest 31 31 33 95