More points for RML at the Nurburgring
Spyker
Lola
Zytek
QUIFEL-ASM
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Spyker
Nuerburgring - After a long break in the Le Mans Series calendar, the last race was at Spa in May, the championship continued this weekend with the Nuerburgring 1000 km. In the hard-fought race, the #85 SNORAS Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R finished in fifth place.
Just before noon the Spyker Laviolette's left their pit box to be positioned on the grid. The race started just after twelve o'clock with the traditional Le Mans rolling start. The by Andrea Chiesa and Benjamin Leuenberger driven #94 Spyker C8 of Swiss Speedy Racing team started from a 9th position on the grid and the second Spyker on the grid today, the #85 SNORAS Spyker Squadron car, driven by Peter Dumbreck, Ralf Kelleners and Alexei Vasiliev qualified 1.7 seconds from the class leader and started from a 7th place.
Peter Dumbreck started the race this afternoon and gradually won a few positions. After his first stint he handed the car over to Ralf Kelleners. Ralf improved the quickest lap time at the end of his 1 hour stint and proved that the Michelin rubber did its work well. At twelve minutes past two o'clock, after almost two hours of racing, he returned the car in P4. Alexei took over and rejoined the field with fresh tires and a full tank of fuel. After this trouble-free stint he returned to the pit running in a sixth position.
Peter rejoined in a seventh position, just behind the #94 sister car, and immediately improved the car's quickest time twice in a row. After 40 minutes he warned the team that he was hit by one of the Audi prototypes. Although the right mirror was lost in the incident the car was fortunately not further damaged. In the next stint, when Ralf Kelleners took over from Peter Dumbreck, the right mirror would have been handy to see an approaching Porsche prototype. The Porsche LMP tried to overtake the Spyker at the end of the straight on the right whilst there was no room at all. The LMP hit the Spyker on the side and as a result the Spyker spun. Ralf quickly rejoined but lost valuable seconds.
In the last stages of the race Peter Dumbreck pushed the car to its limit but it was difficult to close the gap to the car in front. After almost six hours of racing the car finished in fifth position.
"We are much more competitive than in the past" said Ralf Kelleners just after the race. "The first two cars are of a different world but the gap to the quicker cars is quite a bit smaller now. By the speed on the straight you can tell that the engine is a lot better. After our finish in the Omnitel 1000 km, and a good position here, I can only say we are going in the right direction".
In the other car, the #94 Speedy Racing Team car, Benjamin Leuenberger started the race. The pace of Andrea Chiesa and Benjamin Leuenberger was good and they hovered around a seventh position in the competitive GT2 field. A pit stop of Spyker's neighbor LMP team caused the Speedy Racing Spyker a lot of time: the LMP entered the pit lane just before Benjamin did and drove half speed to the box. The Swiss team already lost 10 seconds there and the LMP driver also parked the prototype in such way that it took the Spyker crew valuable seconds to maneuver the Spyker C8 to the right position to refuel. 30 minutes before the end of the race their race came to a stop when Benjamin returned to the pit box with an Engine problem.
Andrea Chiesa: "It is always frustrating when you will not see the checkered flag. Apparently today it was not our day - we struggled a bit with the setup. The guys in the #85 managed to get a much better setup and produced better and more consistent lap times in the race. Then also we also had problems with one of the pit stops and lost a lot of time. I was quite surprised that the engine broke; I was happy with the power output of the new engine configuration. Peter and the team did a very good job on the engine; compared to the other cars we are not loosing time and it is a big step forward for us. We now have to continue to work to further improve reliability to be able to score points".
Peter van Erp, managing director Spyker Squadron: "We did well in all free practice sessions and our performance in the race was also good. I have not seen such competitive times in the Le Mans Series GT2 class: the Virgo car is of a different world and Porsche did well with their new ultra economic 4.0 liter engines. We are competing in the top-5 and the drivers of both cars were very happy with the performance. For podiums though, we need to further improve our pace. Unfortunately the Speedy car did not reach the finish".
Lola
Lola sportscars were in action at the weekend's Nurburgring 1000kms race (17 August 2008) in Germany, with five Huntingdon built Le Mans Prototype cars across the LMP1 and LMP2 classes battling their rivals. Once again the new Lola B08/60 LMP1 Coupe of Charouz Racing System proved to be the quickest privateer car taking 5th place overall and finishing as the best placed non-diesel entry. The Aston Martin powered Lola had taken qualifying by storm with an excellent performance that ensured a best ever 3rd place for the team on the starting grid, ahead of both the Audi R10 entries. Stefan Mucke, racing at his home circuit, set the qualifying time and was highly delighted with the Lola Coupe, which featured a new tub for this weekend.
"Already this morning I felt that I am more confident with the brand new car," concluded the German. "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."
The race started well for the Charouz Lola with Mucke holding 3rd place in the early running. After the first pit stops Mucke settled in a comfortable 5th place overall until he was hit by another LMP car, necessitating an unscheduled pit stop to replace some of the rear legalising panels. Later on in the race when Mucke's team mate, Jan Charouz took over, the Lola proved itself to be as strong as it is quick when it survived further contact from a GT2 car. A quick spin later in his stint lost the Czech driver minimal time and he set some quick race laps, bringing the Lola home fifth to score more points. The similar Lola coupe run in LMP2 by Speedy Racing Team Sebah suffered a frustrating weekend with persistent electrical problems. Despite this, Andrea Belicchi qualified in third position in class, just behind the Porsche LMP2 Spyders. The Italian began the race and held his 3rd place until some debris in rear wheel arch damaged the tail of the Lola and the team quickly changed the rear bodywork of the car. From there Belichhi drove superbly and was quickly up in to 2nd place in class and looking comfortable in matching the Lola- Judd's debut runners-up place at Barcelona in April. Sadly however this progress was halted when electrical problems intervened in the third hour causing long pit stops and ensuring that the Lola-Judd fell down the order.
Belichhi's team mates Xavier Pompidou and Steve Zacchia completed the race and the Judd powered Lola finished in 9th place in LMP2, frustratingly just out of the points. But the team can once again say that they were the only true challengers on pace to the Porsche LMP2 cars again this weekend. Finishing 5th and 6th respectively in LMP2 was the Quifel-ASM and the RML teams. Despite some impressive lap times in practice and qualifying, both teams had more than their fair share of problems during the 1000kms.
The Portuguese Quifel-ASM squad were on a high after completing their first Le Mans 24 Hours race in June and arrived at the Nurburgring believing a podium was achievable. Their race was looking good in the early running as Olivier Pla held a solid 4th place just behind Belicchi's Lola. That soon became 3rd place in the second hour with the Frenchman showing some very impressive pace in the AER powered Lola B05/40. The third hour signalled trouble for Pla's team mate, when Migiel Amaral spun and lost time before the Portuguese driver was hit from behind by the GT2 Spyker. This caused damage to the rear legalising panels and several stops were needed to effect repairs. RML started the weekend off well with Tommy Erdos showing promising pace in the free practice sessions. Difficulties in getting a clear lap in qualifying saw them in an unaccustomed 9th place on the grid. A relatively trouble free run to 6th position in the race gathered more points for the Wellinborugh based team and they now look forward to Silverstone in September which promises to be a very special home race for the reigning LMP2 champions. Kruse Schiller Motorsport had a difficult home event with the Mazda powered Lola LMP2 car coming home 10th in class after being delayed throughout with clutch problems. Hideki Noda and Jean De Pourtales had shown encouraging signs during the weekend but an early pit stop confirmed the mechanical issues and despite some excellent work by the team they persisted throughout the race. This made it extremely difficult for the drivers to pull away after a pit stop.
Lola now looks forward to their home race at Silverstone on September 14 when at least five entries will provide more spectacular action in the Autosport 1000kms.
The Trading Performance Zytek had a good run
Zytek
Lola sportscars were in action at the weekend's Nurburgring 1000kms race (17 August 2008) in Germany, with five Huntingdon built Le Mans Prototype cars across the LMP1 and LMP2 classes battling their rivals. Once again the new Lola B08/60 LMP1 Coupe of Charouz Racing System proved to be the quickest privateer car taking 5th place overall and finishing as the best placed non-diesel entry. The Aston Martin powered Lola had taken qualifying by storm with an excellent performance that ensured a best ever 3rd place for the team on the starting grid, ahead of both the Audi R10 entries. Stefan Mucke, racing at his home circuit, set the qualifying time and was highly delighted with the Lola Coupe, which featured a new tub for this weekend.
"Already this morning I felt that I am more confident with the brand new car," concluded the German. "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."
The race started well for the Charouz Lola with Mucke holding 3rd place in the early running. After the first pit stops Mucke settled in a comfortable 5th place overall until he was hit by another LMP car, necessitating an unscheduled pit stop to replace some of the rear legalising panels. Later on in the race when Mucke's team mate, Jan Charouz took over, the Lola proved itself to be as strong as it is quick when it survived further contact from a GT2 car. A quick spin later in his stint lost the Czech driver minimal time and he set some quick race laps, bringing the Lola home fifth to score more points. The similar Lola coupe run in LMP2 by Speedy Racing Team Sebah suffered a frustrating weekend with persistent electrical problems. Despite this, Andrea Belicchi qualified in third position in class, just behind the Porsche LMP2 Spyders. The Italian began the race and held his 3rd place until some debris in rear wheel arch damaged the tail of the Lola and the team quickly changed the rear bodywork of the car. From there Belichhi drove superbly and was quickly up in to 2nd place in class and looking comfortable in matching the Lola- Judd's debut runners-up place at Barcelona in April. Sadly however this progress was halted when electrical problems intervened in the third hour causing long pit stops and ensuring that the Lola-Judd fell down the order.
Belichhi's team mates Xavier Pompidou and Steve Zacchia completed the race and the Judd powered Lola finished in 9th place in LMP2, frustratingly just out of the points. But the team can once again say that they were the only true challengers on pace to the Porsche LMP2 cars again this weekend. Finishing 5th and 6th respectively in LMP2 was the Quifel-ASM and the RML teams. Despite some impressive lap times in practice and qualifying, both teams had more than their fair share of problems during the 1000kms.
The Portuguese Quifel-ASM squad were on a high after completing their first Le Mans 24 Hours race in June and arrived at the Nurburgring believing a podium was achievable. Their race was looking good in the early running as Olivier Pla held a solid 4th place just behind Belicchi's Lola. That soon became 3rd place in the second hour with the Frenchman showing some very impressive pace in the AER powered Lola B05/40. The third hour signalled trouble for Pla's team mate, when Migiel Amaral spun and lost time before the Portuguese driver was hit from behind by the GT2 Spyker. This caused damage to the rear legalising panels and several stops were needed to effect repairs. RML started the weekend off well with Tommy Erdos showing promising pace in the free practice sessions. Difficulties in getting a clear lap in qualifying saw them in an unaccustomed 9th place on the grid. A relatively trouble free run to 6th position in the race gathered more points for the Wellinborugh based team and they now look forward to Silverstone in September which promises to be a very special home race for the reigning LMP2 champions. Kruse Schiller Motorsport had a difficult home event with the Mazda powered Lola LMP2 car coming home 10th in class after being delayed throughout with clutch problems. Hideki Noda and Jean De Pourtales had shown encouraging signs during the weekend but an early pit stop confirmed the mechanical issues and despite some excellent work by the team they persisted throughout the race. This made it extremely difficult for the drivers to pull away after a pit stop.
Lola now looks forward to their home race at Silverstone on September 14 when at least five entries will provide more spectacular action in the Autosport 1000kms. ENDS To download copyright free photographs of Lola
QUIFEL-ASM
QUIFEL-ASM Team misses out on podium places at Nurburgring
The end of the 1,000km race at Nurburgring leaves a bitter taste for the QUIFEL-ASM Team, which took the Lola B05/40 AER to third place in the LMP2 class, but watched victory slip away after knocks from trailing drivers.
Olivier Pla was the first to go round and went up from fifth to third position. Then Miguel Pais do Amaral managed to take the Lola B05/40 AER to second position, however two knocks from trailing drivers forced the car into the pits and down the leader board.
The last part of the race was taken at blazing pace, with Olivier Pla being consistently the fastest on the circuit in the LMP2 class, but this was not enough to lift them from the fifth position in which they finished.
The QUIFEL-ASM Team and the Lola B05/40 AER clearly showed that the gearbox problems of previous races have been overcome and that they are ready for good results, especially with the arrival of a new car next year.
The Silverstone race, which closes the Le Mans Series calendar, could still bring the hoped for good result to the only Portuguese team in the championship.