ALMS, Petit Le Mans - Thursday Quotes from the Paddock

Romain Dumas, Muscle Milk HPD #6, “I’m having so much fun; I love to race in America.  This (the ALMS) is the best paddock of anywhere we race. I’m anxious to get in the car again.  I got some time in on Monday, and then just a few laps on Wednesday.  It’s unfortunate that there are only a few cars in the P1class.  But, they are all very good teams and it should be a hard fought battle.  Dyson and Muscle Milk have been fighting all year and I know from the WEC that Rebellion is good and will push very hard.”

Bruno Junqueira, RSR Racing LMPC #9 , “I think it will be a very difficult race. It’s a fast track with not so many passing points. You have to be quick, but patient to last the whole race. There are a lot more P2 cars than we normally have and they all are very quick.”

Joe Foster, Dempsey Racing Lola #27, “We’re learning and getting better with the P2 car every weekend, every race. I’m really excited about the race; I love it here.  My last Petit was in 2004, but this is my home track as I instructed here with the Panoz Racing School for eleven years. It’s a good group of teams in the P2 class, so it should be a good race.”

The other point of view from the now infamous Delta Wing tumble. Peter LeSaffre, Green Hornet Porsche #34, “He hit me. At that part of the track; the crest of the hill approaching the bridge, I have to turn right.  After the bridge the track veers to the right for the approach in to turn 11.  If I don’t turn right, and go straight, then I’m off track into the embankment of the overpass. He knows that.  He had no business being there.  That car is impossible to see.  It’s so low and the front is so narrow.  And with the flat black paint you just can’t see the thing. It was a tiny hit. It didn’t even mark our car but it sent him flying.  We broke front left ball joint during this session.  I’m sure it was damaged from the hit with the Delta Wing.”

Martin Plowman, Conquest Endurance Morgan Nissan #37, “The car is good, although we are having a downshift issue. We can see the problem on the data, but we’re not sure yet if it’s electrical or mechanical.  But we are on pace with the others, and it’s a great car to drive.  Hopefully we can get this sorted out and be problem free for the race. I welcome the extra competition in the P2 class.  I’m looking forward to it. The European teams are good, but we’ve shown we can compete with a team as good as Level 5, so I’m confident we can compete with them. The biggest problem I had transitioning from open wheel to sportscars was dealing with the traffic.  But since Sebring I’ve learned a lot and I think I’m a much better driver now.”

Richard Westbrook, Corvette Racing #4, “That session was okay.  It was a little ugly out there at times. The traffic is really tough.  But it’s the same for everyone so I’m not complaining.  You have to be patient.  From turn 3 through 6, you just can’t make a pass. My first year with Corvette Racing it was a little tough to get comfortable and up to speed after not racing in the car for so long.  But I can get up to speed much more quickly now.  I think the DP program has helped in that respect as its a pretty easy transition from the DP to the Corvette.”

Chris McMurray, Dyson Racing Lola #20, “The track I’m very familiar with, the car I’m not. But so far I am totally impressed with this Dyson Lola.  It’s a very easy car to drive; it handles so well.  You can make a little mistake, and it’ so forgiving you can just carry on without missing a beat. We lost an oil pump yesterday just after my 2nd lap.  But at least I was able to get little familiar with it so today I felt very comfortable.  This is my first time driving a coupe’ Lola, after several years in the open top. We have a combined 165 years experience within the driving squad in the #20 car.  That must be some kind of record? I think we have a really good shot at great finish.  The car can easily run 1:14’s, so we just need to be smooth and stay out of trouble.  It’s great to run with a team like Dyson and their depth of knowledge.”

Dario Franchitti, Level5 HPD, “The #95 car is better.  The #055 is not quite right.  It’s something in the suspension or setup.  But overall both cars are pretty good, and fast.  There is a lot of traffic that I’m not use too.  In some areas, like the esses, if you haven’t made you pass you just have to follow the slower cars through.  There’s nothing you can do.  But this is a great race track and a great event, and it should be a really good battle in P2.”  Dario got most of the work today as Marino had the benefit of three days of testing prior to the event.

Bill Auberlene, Team RLL BMW E92 M3 #55, “We finished the session P1, so we can’t complain too much.  But it’ so close in the GT class, you’re only talking about tenth’s, hundredth’s, of a second separating the top cars.  You can gain or lose that is just one corner with the traffic around here.  We tried some harder compound tires yesterday and we dropped back a few spots.  We are using more of an intermediate toady and this is probably what we will race on.”

RW