Peugeot are again on Pole
Peugeot
Audi
Charouz
Van Merksteijn
Quifel ASM
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Peugeot
The two 908 HDi FAP cars will start from the front row at the Silverstone 1000km, locking out the top two spots for the fourth time this season, and rounding off the season in the same style that has seen them take pole position at every round of the Le Mans Series. Stephane Sarrazin came out on top of a hard-fought qualifying session, just 0.011s ahead of Nicolas Minassian, and 0.7s ahead of Allan McNish's Audi.
Stephane Sarrazin was first out on track in qualifying to complete an installation lap, following Pedro Lamy's accident in the final free practice session. Running slick tyres on a still-damp circuit, Pedro was caught out on the straight and spun into the tyre wall before Abbey. After being expertly repaired by the mechanics, the No.8 908 HDi FAP immediately went top of the timesheets with Sarrazin at the wheel, setting a lap of 1m 30.474s in spite of heavy traffic on the circuit.
Nicolas Minassian was next out at the wheel of the No.7 908 HDi FAP but he was hit in the rear by an LMP2 car on his timed lap, and was forced back to the pits to change the rear crash box. He went back out with six minutes remaining in the session, and bettered Sarrazin's time with a lap of 1m 30.370s.
Completing a third timed lap, Sarrazin reclaimed pole with a lap of 1m 30.359s. For the fourth time this season in the Le Mans Series, the front row of the grid has been locked out by the two 908 HDi FAP cars.
Stephane Sarrazin: "There was a lot of traffic during qualifying - easily the worst I've experienced this year. The car was well-balanced, and I'm feeling very confident for the race. I'm delighted for the team, who did a brilliant job once again. Our main objective now is to win the race, hopefully with a one-two, and to help Peugeot win the title."
Nicolas Minassian: "Our goal now is to win the race. We will attack as much as possible. We have the best car and I'm feeling confident."
Audi
Ingolstadt/Silverstone -- The two Audi R10 TDI cars of Audi Sport Team Joest will start to the finale of the European Le Mans Series at Silverstone (Great Britain) from the second row.
Straight at the start of the 20-minute qualifying session Allan McNish set a time of 1m 31.020s (203.336 kph), which remained unrivalled for a long time. Just shortly before the end of the session the Audi driver was bumped to third place by the two Peugeot 908s to third on the grid. Alexandre Premat in the "sister car" set the fourth-best time.
The qualifying took place on a dry track after it had been raining in the second free practice on Friday afternoon and the third free practice on Saturday morning had been held in wet conditions as well. As at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, the changing conditions suited the Audi R10 TDI cars particularly well. On Friday afternoon Allan McNish was the quickest, on Saturday morning Alexandre Premat. The two set the first two best times for Audi since the brand entered the Le Mans Series with a manufacturer's commitment.
Since there will be no warm-up at Silverstone on Sunday, Allan McNish used the last few minutes of qualifying for a few laps with full tanks to gather important information for the race that will start at 11:20 a.m. (local time), running over a distance of 1,000 kilometres and a maximum of six hours. Eurosport will broadcast the starting phase live from 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. (German time) and air highlights of the race from 10 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
In the overall standings, Alexandre Premat and Mike Rockenfeller are ranking two points behind Peugeot drivers Marc Gene and Nicolas Minassian, thus still having sound chances for the title.
Quotes after qualifying at Silverstone
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "Qualifying really went well. We've never had such small gaps to our rivals in qualifying in the LMS. I think that's a good base for tomorrow."
Dindo Capello (Audi R10 TDI #1): "After Allan's (McNish) great performance in qualifying I'm now looking forward to the race. We didn't know how good our car would be because, like all the others, we didn't have much time to work on the set-up due to the changing weather conditions. Allan is satisfied with the car. We just need to do some fine-tuning and then we'll have a really good racing car. We've never come this close to Peugeot. That's really promising for the race."
Allan McNish (Audi R10 TDI #1): "It was difficult for everyone because we hardly got to drive in dry conditions. Our engineers did an outstanding job. I knew I'd only have two laps to get the maximum out of the tyres. I managed two pretty good laps. My third lap was even a bit faster until I hit traffic. But I think everyone had to struggle with that. We're only six tenths behind Peugeot, so we're closer to them than ever. I'm sure that makes them a bit nervous because our race pace is very good."
Alexandre Premat (Audi R10 TDI #2): "Qualifying was anything but easy because we weren't able to drive in the dry before. We're on the second row, that's good. We're still shooting for the championship. That means we've got to clinch as many points as possible. We're looking forward to the race because the car's got good balance. For the fast corners, we still need to fine-tune the front suspension a bit, after that everything should be right."
Mike Rockenfeller (Audi R10 TDI #2): "As expected, the weather has been mixed so far. The qualifying was dry, but we also had the chance to drive in rain and to prepare ourselves. I wouldn't mind changing weather conditions in the race either. That would probably suit us well. The track is really great fun to drive and the car has been running perfectly so far."
Ralf Juttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): "We shouldn't ignore the fact that Peugeot had a few problems in qualifying and that they ran out of time. Still, we're not too far apart from them with both cars, which is good. In the wet practice sessions we saw that we've got an advantage in wet conditions. That's why we're sort of hoping for changing weather conditions tomorrow. That could make for a really interesting race. In any event, both cars are prepared very well."
Charouz
SILVERSTONE Van Merksteijn Motorsport by Equipe Verschuur, the already-crowned champions in the LMP2 category of the 2008 Le Mans Series, held up its 100 percent record in qualifying for the fifth and final round of the season, the "Autosport 1000 Kilometres of Silverstone" at the famous Northamptonshire Grand Prix circuit. A lap time of 1.34.212 minutes for Jos Verstappen at the 5.141 km long circuit secured the team its fifth pole position from as many LMS events this season. Of course, the team's Porsche RS Spyder had also been on pole position in its class for this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. "I am delighted that we have been able to keep our 100 percent qualifying record upright", said Verstappen after qualifying at Silverstone on Saturday afternoon. "Our Porsche RS Spyder was perfect around this track." As the fastest car in the LMP2 category, the Dutch Porsche RS Spyder will be starting from eighth place on the grid.
Early in the 20 minutes' qualifying session for LMP1 and LMP2 cars at Silverstone, Jos Verstappen already posted the fastest lap time in class with 1.34.417 minutes, but later on improved his own best lap time to 1.34.212 minutes, which was enough to claim pole position in class for the fifth time this season. "Obviously, you need a little bit of luck to find some clear laps as well, but we were that lucky and I had two really good laps", said Verstappen.
Putting the car on pole position again was Verstappen's way to thank the team members for their efforts, putting the car back in shape again after an accident in free practice on the day before. "I hit a wet patch and the car started aquaplaning, there was nothing for me to do", said Verstappen. "When I went out again for free practice this morning, I immediately felt that the car was good. Finding the right set-up for qualifying was a bit of a gamble as we hadn't had that much track time, especially because the circuit was still damp this morning, but it was all right."
Team owner Peter van Merksteijn commented: "Jos has shown why he has already won the drivers' title in this series. His performance was great and we are confident for the race tomorrow!"
The 195 lap race with a maximum duration of six hours will start tomorrow at 11.20 h local time (12.20 CET). Eurosport will be broadcasting live from 12.15 till 12.45 h CET and showing a summary of the race from 22.15 till 22.45 h CET. Motors TV will be broadcasting live from 12.00 till 14.00 and from 16.00 till 18.30 h. A full radio report can be heard on www.radiolemans.com.
Van Merksteijn
Fifth position just behind the turbodiesels enjoying power advantage is the result of the Charouz Racing System team in the qualifying for the last race of the Le Mans Series 2008 in Silverstone. Stefan Mucke, who shares the the Aston Martin powered LMP1 prototype with Jan Charouz, set the time. The German driver said back in the pits that he could have been quicker if he had not lost one second in traffic. The whole team is still happy as the car is again best placed petrol engine.
The Charouz Racing System is determined to keep the position of the best petrol car like it was the case during the majority of the season. The team solved all technical problems in time for qualifying, so the team is well prepared for the race.
Jan Charouz: "I have no done a lot of running so far here. Bad weather and technical issues played their part and Stefan did the qualifying. The important thing is that we managed to solve all problems in time and that we are the fastest petrol car again i am looking forward to the race itslelf where we will try to at least keep fifth position in the championship."
Stefan Mucke: "Of course, it is nice that we are again the fastest petrol car but we could have done better. I lost some time in my best lap due traffic, I would say it cost one second. We could have been fourth. Anyway, the race will be long as always and we will fight."
Antonin Charouz, Team Principal: "We had technical problems in practices with traction control. Our drivers therefore did few laps. We managed to repair it just before the end of the last practice. Stefan could have been a bit quicker in the qualifying but we are happy anyway - we confirmed that we are the fastest petrol car."
Quifel ASM
Fourth place on starting grid at Silverstone
The Quifel-ASM Team has won fourth place on the starting grid for the 1,000km race at Silverstone. Olivier Pla managed to take the "little old" Lola B05/40 AER from the LMP2 class into the second line of the starting grid, beating more competitive cars such as some Porsches and falling short of third place by less than one tenth of a second.
Qualification took place at the end of the morning on a dry track and in very competitive conditions, which left the Quifel-ASM justly proud of its result.
After the free training session in the rain and in which Miguel Pais do Amaral and Olivier raced discretely looking only to tune the car to its best, the team had a very fast qualification session, finishing with Olivier Pla's excellent time of 1:35.998.
The team's attention is no focused on the race podium, which seems to be closer following this result. The last race in the Le Mans Series championship is scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday on the legendary English track, at 11.20 am.
The Silverstone 1000 Km will be broadcast live on Eurosport, with direct coverage of the race.