Le Mans Series, Estoril - Post Race Quotes

Henri Pescarolo "It has been a very good season, we didn't win the teams title but we are pleased to lose to Rebellion by only one point.  The drivers and the pitstops were fantastic, I'm sad for Christophe Tinseau because I wanted to give him the last stint but the position was so close with Rebellion that the time to change the driver meant it was possible to lose the race, so I'm very sorry for him."

Julien Jousse "I lost time at the start because I started with cold tyres but then our time was consistent.  At the end the tyres were not very bad in my second to last stint but as soon as they are used you aren't confident in traffic, it is very difficult to overtake the first time you come behind them, especially at the end of the circuit.  New tyres for the last stint was a good idea, I pushed hard on my first set and maybe worked them too hard but I had a clear track.  I made a mistake in the final corner behind #12 and lost downforce and went into the gravel, only around 2m from the barrier, but it was OK and there was no damage.  I was very confident in the last stint." 

Emmanuel Collard "It was really tough for us, especially when I drove against my friend Jean-Christophe.  You couldn't overtake GT cars on the outside because of all the tyre debris and we both made mistakes trying to do that but in the end the car was perfect and I am really happy."

Jean-Christophe Boullion "I'd like to congratulate Henri and the Pescarolo team because they've done a great job and its been a great fight not just here but all throught the year.  In my last two stints I tried to push as much as I could with the new tyres but when I heard that Jousse had new tyres I knew I couldn't catch him so I had to stay in touch and wait for a mistake, but there wasn't one.  I got a puncture at the end because two P2 cars were fighting and one didn't see me going into the first corner and touched my front."

Jody Firth "I knew we had a chance of a good overall result if we had a clean race and that's what we had.  Other teams did too until around four hours in when they hit problems.  It was very tricky with marbles off-line and the traffic, GT cars were very hard to pass.  We'd been single-stinting too so in my last stint I had to do one and a half, preserving the tyres and bringing it home.  It was a shame to see what happened to Boutsen at the end and I hope he is OK because it didn't look like a nice one."

Mathias Beche "We weren't the fastest this weekend, we had a tough fight with Dunlop who could double stint their tyres and we couldn't, even on hard Michelins.  At the end the result was there. The mechanics did great pitstops and we had no problems."

Rob Bell "From the word go it was typical GT racing, different manufacturers and tyre brands and it was really tight.  Dunlop did a great job with tyres that lasted, we won by one tenth of a second after six hours so we were pretty comfortable and always had it in the bag!  Richard Lietz was quicker than me at the end and trying to push me into mistakes.  I think Porsche pulled rank, Pilet made it very hard for me to pass him for lap after lap, that is what cost me all that time, 25 seconds or so in all I would guess.  We made contact around two or three times in the last lap, he nerfed me once and I had no traction and we were side by side through the next two corners.  It was always going to happen of course, he was bound to try it.  Its good that the one against two came out the winner."

James Walker "Ricard was the deep end and I was learning to drive a GT car in the race, this has shown how strong Rob and I are and the team.  It is good to get out there and race with the Porsche guys, it was quite emotional to race with them and win.  I did Lieb twice into the first corner but had to come from so far back to do it that I ran wide both times again and he passed me again.  The intial pace on the tyres was very good, then we balanced out against the Porsche."

Nicolas Armindo "For me I had to finish the race, but when I was behind Cioci it was a tough job.  I had to save tyres and save fuel and it was very hard to be behind him the whole stint.  It is my first year in LMS and to win the championship is fantastic.  I won the Porsche Carrera Cup in Germany last year so to win again this year with this fantastic team is great."

PS