The Audis will start 4th and 5th
Peugeot
Audi
Charouz Aston Martin
Porsche
Van Merksteijn
Click a link to go directly to that story!
Peugeot
The fourth round of the 2008 Le Mans Series has seen Peugeot Sport secure its fourth pole position of the season after an assertive run during the qualifying session for Sunday's Nurburgring 1,000km. Marc Gene narrowly secured top spot on the grid with his 908 HDi FAP by a margin of just two hundredths of a second over his team-mate Pedro Lamy.
Despite the forecasts, the weather has been chiefly sunny at the Nurburgring since Thursday. Once again, however, the Le Mans Series teams were able to see for themselves that this circuit offers very little grip and most of them faced the usual problem of understeer. The Peugeot drivers used the 908 HDi FAP in its 2008 'sprint' set-up for the first time in public, a configuration which is very close to the specification they raced at Le Mans, but with additional downforce. The two crews found a good balance for their respective cars and have proved unbeatable since the second free practice session. Pedro Lamy was the first to go out in qualifying, posting his best lap third time round thanks to a traffic-free run which bagged a 1m 39.515s, slightly slower than the blistering lap he notched up during the morning (1m 39.023s). Marc Gene was next out and, despite being slower than Pedro over the first two sectors, his third sector time took him two-hundredths of a second clear of his team- mate with a 1m 39.492s. Like last year, Marc was the fastest driver in qualifying, but more than two seconds quicker than in 2007! For the third time this season, the front row will be an all-Peugeot Sport affair.
Marc Gene: "We have achieved our goal which was to get both cars onto the front row. Starting from pole is especially important here since the first turn is very tight and it is easier to defend from in front during the early part of the race. As is frequently the case in the Le Mans Series, traffic promises to be a problem. We will need to tread carefully and avoid brushing the slower cars as we pass them, which is what happened to me this morning. The team has once again done a fantastic job and our car is very nicely balanced."
Nicolas Minassian and Stephane Sarrazin will be in the cars for the start of tomorrow's 1,000km race (195 laps) which begins at 12.05pm.
Audi
Ingolstadt/Nurburg -- At the fourth round of the Le Mans Series at the Nurburgring, the Audi youngsters Alexandre Premat (26) and Mike Rockenfeller (25) won the qualifying duel against their more seasoned team-mates Dindo Capello and Allan McNish for the first time. The Frenchman Alexandre Premat was 49 thousandths of a second quicker than the Italian Dindo Capello in the qualifying for the 1000-kilometre race at the Nurburgring.
The two Audi R10 TDI cars of Audi Sport Team Joest will start from positions four and five at 12:05 on Sunday, but were hindered from displaying their full potential in Saturday's qualifying. Premat and Capello were the first drivers to go out on the track. Because a car stopped behind them in the pit lane, causing a traffic jam, they started their timed laps precisely at the time when cars were still leaving the pit lane. Both Audi drivers got stuck in dense traffic and lost about seven tenths of a second behind slower cars. In addition, Capello, while braking, was struggling with locking front wheels on his Audi R10 TDI.
Before the 1000-kilometre race at the Nurburgring, Alexandre Premat and Mike Rockenfeller are heading the standings with the same points score as the Peugeot drivers Marc Gene and Nicolas Minassian. At the first three races of the Le Mans Series they finished in second place each time.
Quotes after qualifying at the Nurburgring
Alexandre Premat (Audi R10 TDI #2): "Unfortunately, I was obstructed by two two slower cars at the beginning of the qualifying. This cost me six, seven tenths. But I'm looking forward to tomorrow: We've got a very good car for the race. From position four we can again make it onto the podium."
Mike Rockenfeller (Audi R10 TDI #2): "I watched the qualifying from the grandstands. It was too bad that a couple of slower cars drove in front of Alex's (Premat) nose. When you leave the pits you've simply got to look into your rear view mirror. Still, we're satisfied. We're on second row and are going to attack. We wanted to be closer to our team-mates here or perhaps even a little in front of them -- and we managed that."
Dindo Capello (Audi R10 TDI #1): "In qualifying I lost seven tenths of a second in the last turn behind a Porsche. That cost us third place on the grid. But the bigger problem is the fact that for two days the front wheels of our car have been locking while braking. We've definitely got to solve this problem before the race."
Allan McNish (Audi R10 TDI #1): "After our fond memories of Le Mans the qualifying result is of course a bit disappointing. We've got difficulties coming up with good balance here. The car doesn't absorb the bumps well enough. We've still got a lot of work to do."
Ralf Juttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): "That the two Peugeots are in front comes as no surprise, and neither does the gap. But that the Aston-Martin-Lola is in front of us as well is a bit of a blemish. But our two cars got stuck in traffic on fresh tyres. When they finally had a free lap the tyres were already less than perfect. In a 1000-kilometre race, grid positions four and five are really not that bad, though. We're going to correct that tomorrow."
The Aston Martin Lola out qualified the Audis
Charouz Aston Martin
Charouz team beat Audis in qualifying and got third
The Charouz Racing System team scored the best qualifying result of the season at Nurburgring. Stefan Mucke today set third time overall and also of the premium LMP1 class. The Czech team closely cooperating with the Aston Martin Racing managed to sneak between four turbodiesels and beat both works Audi. It means second row, for the second time this year, on the starting grid which will see green flag just five minutes after the noon.
The Aston Martin powered prototype was in the second row also in the opening race of the season at Barcelona and Mucke with Jan Charouz were able to capitalise on it with third place under the flag. Stefan starred in front of his home fans also today as he improved the best practice time by almost two seconds.
"I had hoped for a similar result but even I was surprised by the time," said Mucke. "Already this morning I felt that I am more confident with the brand new car. We were waiting till the end of the qualifying before I went out. The first lap was not ideal, other cars slowed me a bit. However, the second lap was perfect and brought third place to us. I am so happy that I managed to get this result in front of my home fans. Now we will all focus on the race where we should have a chance to fight for a podium finish. However, it will be very tough fight."
"I am very happy, Stefan did exceptional lap," said George Howard-Chappel, technical Director Aston Martin Racing. Team Principal Antonin Charouz added: "The whole car including engine is new. Out Tuesday's test at Dijon was marred by bad weather, so we were not sure about the performance of our car but I was confident about its ability and I am happy with Stefan's performance today. We changed strategy a bit and set or time at the very end of the session and our rivals did not have time to react."
Porsche
Stuttgart. At its German debut, the Porsche RS Spyder has tackled the first hurdle with flying colours. In qualifying for the fourth round of the Le Mans Series (LMS) on the Nürburgring they secured first, second and sixth in the LMP2 class. Ex-Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen again underlined his expertise. For the fourth time in succession the Dutchman achieved pole position for his Van Merksteijn Motorsport team (Netherlands). The second quickest time went to the triple Danish Touring Car champion Casper Elgaard (Essex team) in his 476 hp sports prototype from Weissach. The two top placed RS Spyder vehicles take up the 1,000 kilometre race from the fourth row. In the near-standard GT2 class, Porsche pilots also secured good starting positions for the race on the 5.148 kilometre Grand Prix circuit, posting positions two, three and four with their 911 GT3 RSR.
“I’m very pleased and also very optimistic for the race,” said Jos Verstappen. “In the free practice we found an excellent set-up for the race and have already concluded many promising long-runs. It’s huge fun to drive such a well-balanced racer like the RS Spyder on the Nürburgring.” His Van Merksteijn team mate is compatriot Jeroen Bleekemolen. The 26-year-old, who currently holds a clear lead in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup, races for the first time in the LMS season on the Nürburgring. But he knows the RS Spyder well: Together with team owner Peter van Merksteijn and Verstappen he celebrated a class win at the Le Mans 24 hour race in mid-June.
The Danish duo Casper Elgaard and John Nielsen were also full of optimism after qualifying. “Our tyre tests in Estoril mid-July paid off. We are well prepared,” concluded Nielsen. “We regard the fact that Jos was quicker than Casper as a special incentive. The race will for sure be hard. With a distance of 1,000 kilometres and a field of 46 vehicles on this twisty circuit you have to totally concentrate for six hours and you can’t afford to make one mistake.”
Didier Theys was a little disappointed after losing his fourth starting position in the LMP2 class shortly before the end of qualifying. The Belgian who lives in America competes for the Swiss Horag Racing team with ex-Formula 1 driver Jan Lammers (Netherlands) and Fredy Lienhard (Switzerland). “As a race driver you’re at first annoyed to start from sixth instead of fourth,” said Theys, “but in fact the decisive factor is that we have a very good car for the race. We have improved session by session and feel well prepared.”
In the GT2 class three Porsche works drivers take up the race for their teams from positions two, three and four. Germany’s Marc Lieb, who shares driving duties with Australia’s Alex Davison for the Felbermayr-Proton team (Austria), was the quickest in the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. “We were only a tenth of a second shy of the quickest Ferrari. So we are optimistic for the race. By now we’ve shown at all the LMS races that Alex and I are reliable and constant over the race distance. We’re still waiting for our first win this season – it’d be wonderful to do that here at our home race.” Second quickest in a Porsche was the Austrian works driver Richard Lietz, who competes for the French IMSA Performance Matmut team with Raymond Narac (France). Fourth position is occupied by Richard Westbrook from Great Britain. The Porsche Supercup winner competes for the German Farnbacher Racing team together with Allan Simonsen from Australia and Denmark’s Lars Erik Nielsen. The three race for the first time with the new Porsche four-litre six-cylinder engine.
Tomorrow’s race takes off with a flying start at 12.05 hours and receives the flag after 195 laps or a maximum of six hours. “Eurosport 2” broadcasts the race live from 12.00 to 13.00 hours, 14.00 to 15.30 hours and from 17.00 to 18.15 hours.
The Horag Porsche struggled in qualifying
Van Merksteijn
Van Merksteijn Motorsport on pole at the Nurburgring
NURBURGRING - The strong performance by Van Merksteijn Motorsport by Equipe Verschuur with the Porsche RS Spyder is continuing after the long break in the calendar of the Le Mans Series. In qualifying for the fourth season round of the LMS, the Nurburgring 1000 Kilometres, Jos Verstappen set the fastest time in the LMP2 class. The ex-Formula 1 driver lapped the 5.148 kilometres long famous circuit in the Eifel region in a time of 1.43.169 minutes, which made him almost half a second faster than the main opponent in the category. With his lap time, Verstappen qualified seventh overall, beating no less than ten cars from the more powerful LMP1 category.
The 20 minutes' qualifying session for LMP1 and LMP2 prototypes at the Nurburgring went without any incidents to speak of. In his first attempt to set a fast lap time, Jos Verstappen was caught up in traffic on the track and set a time of 1.44.035 minutes, which put him provisionally on second place in class. Soon after, he drove another quick lap and had his time stopped at 1.43.169 minutes. This time remained unbeaten by the other teams in the category, so that the purple-and-white Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche RS Spyder again will be starting from pole position in its class. Thus, the team keep their 100 percent qualifying record in the Le Mans Series, as the Dutch team were also fastest in class in the three previous LMS rounds held this season, just like in qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Of course, Jos Verstappen was very happy with his qualifying result. "We knew beforehand that this circuit wit hits many corners would suit our Porsche very well. Qualifying went well, we didn't have any problems", Verstappen said. Team-mate Jeroen Bleekemolen added: "After the first free practice session yesterday, we made some changes on the car, among others the ride height and the rollbar, which worked out very well. Our long-run yesterday was very good already and qualifying also went well. We are very optimistic for the race!"
Team owner Peter van Merksteijn is competing in the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, the German round of the World Rally Championship, not too far away from the Nurburgring. "Of course, I am following the action at the circuit as well, the team are keeping me informed", he reported from Trier. "I wish Jos and Jeroen very good luck!"
The 195 lap race with a maximum duration of six hours will start tomorrow at 12.05 h. Eurosport 2 will be broadcasting live from 12.00 till 13.00 h, from 14.00 till 15.30 h and from 17.00 till 18.15 h. Motors TV will be broadcasting live from 11.45 till 18.00 h and a full radio report can be heard on www.radiolemans.com.