Le Mans Series – Barcelona – Saturday Morning
A Mucke Surprise

Comments Before The Session
Jos Verstappen: “The lap yesterday was always in the car and there was a bit of fuel in it when we did it. The car is quick but should really be no more difficult to drive than other similar cars. Peter (van Merksteijn) will need to work to find some of the gap.

“I really like this Championship and the atmosphere is good too. I really enjoy the challenge of keeping your pace up in traffic, that was part of what was missing in F1, you could drive for 20 minutes and never see another car. You can’t do that here and that’s great, you have to be fully aware of everything, all of the time.”

Stefan Mucke: “We’re finding time in the car and working hard on set-up for the race. There is really very little difference from the driver’s perspective from last year’s car, there are some minor things like the driving position but the car feels very much the same in its responses.”

Mucke, Sarrazin and Rockenfeller were the quick men early in the Saturday morning session, with the air cool - and the sun still not making its presence fully felt.

Mucke was immediately into the mid 1:34s with Sarrazin still picking up pace. The Peugeot was first into the 1:33s today but as it pitted the Charouz car was finally finding a clear lap, fastest of all in the first sector and quicker than his own previous best in the second, a mighty 1:33.187 was the net result as the Aston Martin powered Lola crossed the line, the quickest petrol-powered time of the meeting, 1.6 seconds faster than anything else in the regular LMP1 category – and for now, fastest overall too!

There was more good news for Lola fans too as the Speedy/Sebah LMP2 car was making huge progress, into the 1:35s for Andrea Belicchi to lead the class order early on, 5th fastest overall with Jan Lammers his nearest rival in the Horag Porsche.

It wasn’t all good news for the coupes though, the Epsilon, de Castro at the wheel, suffering a spin into the gravel before finally being recovered to pit.

The next three in the P2 order were all Lolas too after 15 minutes, Olivier Pla 9th overall in the Quifel ASM car with Thomas Erdos putting a troubled day yesterday behind the RML MG Lola squad and Hideki Noda right up there too in the Kruse Schiller, Mazda engined car.

Back up at the sharp end of LMP1 though and the Peugeot and Audi squads were both making progress, Mike Rockenfeller the quickest R10 man in the first third of the session, third fastest and splitting the Peugeots. Stephane Sarrazin meanwhile was making typically spectacular progress and posted an almost stealthy 1:32.797, fastest of all at 20 minutes in.

The Barazi Epsilon Zytek was also in fine form after overnight repairs, Vergers getting in amongst the Lolas early on.

Worth noting at this point that the top 28 positions in the order were all filled by prototypes, the only stragglers being the #30 Racing Box Lucchini (30th and the troubled WR Zytek, 47th).

In the GT classes, Goueslard led the GT1 order as the session reached the halfway mark, a 1:45.109 the fastest GT1 time of the meeting so far. Next up was Antonio Garcia, a second back but looking comfortable in the Team Modena Aston.

GT2 was an extraordinary scene at the halfway mark, Gimi Bruni was fastest in the Virgo Ferrari with a 1:47.891, but his time was matched, down to the thousandth by, guess who, 2007 Virgo man Allan Simonsen in the #91 Farnbacher Porsche 997. Next man back was once again Alex Davison in the #77 Felmayr-Proton Porsche

Burgueno was by now back out on track in the Epsilon and came storming up the order, well into the top ten with 20 minutes to go, just as Marc Gene demoted the leading Audi to 4th in the order, the Charouz Lola now the jam in a Peugeot sandwich.

Now the Porsche P2s made progress, first Casper Elgaard celebrated his 30th birthday in style, 7th fastest overall, second in LMP2 and then almost immediately, Jos Verstappen blitzed the P2 field again, 5th overall, into the 1:34s again and almost a second quicker than the Lola Coupe. He stayed on it next time around too, a 1:34.125 still a little shy of his best Friday time but still faster than either Audi today, the Dutch Porsche 4th fastest.

The Embassy WF01s meanwhile were making steady progress, the team working their way through new car niggles and learning more and more about their handsome new charges.

Garcia was improving steadily as the session moved on, three hundredths shy now of the leading Vette’s best time. One GT1 car well off the pace though was the Larbre Saleen, just three laps under the wheels this morning after a troubled day yesterday, reasons undisclosed at present. Peter Kox meanwhile made it three GT1s into the 1:45s in the IPB Spartak Lamborghini, just as Guillaume Moreau put the #72 Corvette into the 1:44s.

With yellows at Turn one for debris on the track, Allan McNish lifted the #1 Audi up the order from a lowly 11th to fifth, just shy of Verstappen’s time and a couple of tenths ahead of the #2 R10’s best.

There’s plenty there to leave this afternoon’s qualifying session as a mouth-watering prospect, fast men and fast cars getting seemingly faster by the minute.
GG