LMS - Valencia - Sunday Morning

The weather is the same – that is to say, clear skies, already warm by 08.30, and it’s going to be a hot race. No sign of the crowds flocking in yet, despite the fact that entry is free.

Bill Binnie is promising to go “hammer and tongs” in this one, which is rather different from the normal Binnie policy. “At Monza we were faster through Ascari than the Peugeots, but we don’t have the top end speed. The turbo P2s had the advantage on us in qualifying, but we get the finishes. We’ve had six podium finishes in the last seven races. We’ve got everything except top end speed, so we’re going to make the most of what we have through the twisty stuff.”

It was a good Saturday for the Binnie trio, Bill Binnie and Chris Buncombe winning the CER race in Bill’s Lola T212, ahead of Allen Timpany in his Chevron B19. “I don’t think there was more than a few seconds between us throughout the whole race.”

Bill Binnie has made the point before that he would appreciate more track time than the three hours of practice that is a feature of the Le Mans Series races. Other teams would endorse the fact that with three drivers, each has only something like 15 minutes in the car in each session, if they all drive. But at least Bill and friends have enjoyed their extra track time in the CER race.

As the 20-minute warm-up session begins, the Horag Lola was at the front of the line at the pit exit, but Didier Theys was passed by Nicolas Minassian’s Peugeot before they headed up the hill to the far northwest corner of the circuit.

One bit of a correction from yesterday, Liz Halliday is not the only American here, although she is the only woman in the field. Tom Milner also carries the Stars and Stripes badge, as does Bill Binnie. However, the latter is just as comfortable wearing the blue and white of his native Scotland on other occasions. Halliday is noted for her skills in equestrian events and today we celebrate another connection between hoofed and motor sports. The Kentucky Derby was won by Street Sense, owned by the father of Jim Tafel, the ALMS and Grand-Am competitor.

Warm-up session times should never be taken too seriously, but it is worth noting that during the first ten minutes the top three cars were clicking off times worthy of a qualifying effort and that only one was Peugeot. Sarrazin was fastest at 1:26.024 but he was trailed by 8 tenths by the Chamberlain Lola of Bob Berridge. Romain Dumas was next in the No. 16 Pescarolo. The Pescarolo team has been having a very up-and-down-and-up weekend. The Dome-Mader continues to struggle at the tail of the field. Ietoshi Kaneko reports that the engine has continually been cutting out above 6000 rpm, victim of some hard to diagnose electrical malady.

The second Peugeot of Minassian slotted back into the second spot during the closing minutes of the session. The best LM P2 car was down in fifth overall, Angel de Castro with the No. 40 AS Lola-AER. He has about 1.5 seconds in hand over the RML version.

The Oreca Saleen heads GT1, as it has done at most other intervals during the practice sessions. There was a bit of a scare when one of the yellow Alphand Corvettes was followed by a cloud of smoke, but with 50 or so meters it dissipated into a harmless wisp. Such agony is the last thing that team needs. Allan Simonsen’s Virgo Motorsport Ferrari (below) leads GT2, the first time that this particular F430 has been quickest.

The only incident of note during the session came right at the very end. Alessandro Bonetti spun the No. 97 GPC Sport Ferrari in the short chute between Turns 4 and 5, an area that is confusingly also known by the number of the marshalling stations, Posts 8 and 9.

As a bit of a guide, here is my own take on the relationship between turns and marshals’ posts along this 4005 meter course:

section post numbers
front straight 1, 2, 3
Turn 1, 90º left, Curva Aspar 4
uphill straight 5
Turn 2, acute left, Curva Doohan 6
Turn 3, downhill left kink 7
Turn 4, 90-100º left 8
Turn 5, sweeping uphill right 9
Turn 6, quick right kink none
Turn 7, decreasing radius left at top of hill 10
Turn 8, kink at end of back straight 11
Turn 9-10 complex (80º left off chute past the kink, followed by long sweep into the infield) 12
Turn 11, kind of a double left kink, pointing slightly uphill 13
Turn 12, right S-“ish” bend 14
Turn 13, tight but increasing radius 15
mid-sized downhill straight (actually diagonal relative to the course layout) 16
Turn 14, fast right sweeper 17
Turn 15, Curva Adrian Campos, very long broad sweeping downhill left—could also be considered as a 2-turn complex 18-21
post at beginning of front straight 22

Post warm-up, we discover that three or four teams are much happier today than they were yesterday.

Bob Berridge: “We got it wrong on tyre choice in qualifying, but we’re back where we should be today. I set a 1:26.8 this morning, with 50 or 60 litres of fuel on board.” That was fourth fastest, behind you know what plus the ASM Lola.

Eric van de Poele was similarly happier today. “Today we’re back in our place. Didier qualified on soft tyres and maybe that was the wrong choice. For the race we must be patient. It’s narrow but I like narrow tracks – but it’s slippery. We must have no spins and no touch in the race.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen: “The car is better than yesterday: the handling is much better. David (Hart) went really well this morning.”

Martin Short: “We had a good set-up on the first day, but then we went too stiff. You have to go soft, even if it doesn’t feel fast. We’re working to make sure we have a good car at the end of each stint: we had too much oversteer in qualifying. It may not show on the timesheets, but I timed Joao on his in lap (from the last corner to the last corner) and it was a 26.8, which would have been fourth quickest. We’ve got better traction this morning, on a harder tyre from Dunlop. I may or may not drive in the race – I’ll do what’s best for the team. These two (Barbosa and Hall) are really good racers, while I’m more of a set-up man. I can help them improve the chassis by driving the car.”

Odd things are happening at LNT – to one car at least. Richard Dean: “The other car has been fine, but we’ve been losing power on the engine in my car – and we had to do the engine change before qualifying, so I was late out. I crossed the line with two seconds to spare to start my best lap – having had to do an installation lap with the new engine.”

The TK-S / Watts car was sixth quickest in the warm up. Second fastest, behind Virgo, was Johnny Mowlem (below). "We've fundamentally changed the car since yesterday. I was going to be 13th on the grid, but we're going to start from the back on new tyres. The team has done a fantastic job: they've rebuilt the car overnight, and I was a second quicker in the warm up than in qualifying - and going faster on every lap."

Last story from Racing for Holland, care of Deborah Dudley. Pieter van der Veer has just been appointed Commercial Manager at Racing for Holland, and the story behind Pieter’s appointment is indeed the stuff of which every race fan’s dreams are made.

Pieter, the 40-year old Dutch owner of an on and off-line entertainment business and life-long petrolhead, has been in media sales for the last 16 years. About a year ago, he and a friend decided to launch “United Race Fans” which Pieter describes as a social network for race fans - an internet site aimed at bringing enthusiasts together, so that they can meet at various races and circuits throughout the season and also share their thoughts, ideas and pictures on line.

In developing URF, Pieter decided to approach Jan Lammers to discuss ways in which they could become involved with the site, and provide direct links between the team and the fans. A meeting was arranged and a conversation which was planned to last just an hour, soon extended to three whilst the two men discussed their plans for the future. Says Pieter, “Some time during that conversation, Jan said – ‘how about being my commercial manager?’” We then both decided to go away and think about it.

Then, barely one week later, the phone call came which changed Pieter’s life. Jan Lammers did indeed ring, and offered him the newly-created post. “It is my ultimate dream job,” says Pieter. “ I still cannot quite believe what has happened.”

About his plans for RfH’s future: “ For a small racing team it’s pretty hard to get the sponsors in. That’s why we have to focus on adding more value and a visible return on investment. I’m a fan myself so I think I know a little bit about what fans like and what sponsors could provide. We are still in the very early stages of formulating what this could mean for both fans and sponsors alike, but we both think there is a lot to be gained in terms of brand sympathy and on and off line fan interaction.”

Has Pieter come down to earth yet? “There’s a lot of real hard work to be done so I need to get my feet on the ground and I’m already beginning to put the plans into action. But no, I still cannot really believe that this has happened to me. A month ago I was just a fan, now I’m really involved at the heart of a truly competitive team. It can’t get any better than this.”
Jan Lammers comments that “it’s a five year plan, and at the moment we’re working on the implementation. The sooner we can start the better, but it’s realistic in terms of what we can expect from ourselves.”

The Dutchman now has a BMW project, as well as the Dome prototype, plus A1GP (which has just finished for 2006-6). He’s as busy as ever – but the first job is to start the Valencia 1000 Kms. It’s going to be an eventful race, of that we can be sure. Janos Wimpffen will be handling the hourly reports.