LMS – Round 5 – Silverstone – Sunday – Warm Up

Bright conditions broke through again just as the cars were released for 15 minutes of warm-up.  Conditions for the race are likely to be very similar to those experienced over the last couple of days so there shouldn’t be any set-up surprises in store.

All cars took to the track within the first minute or so and all set representative times.

The Pescarolo was up to speed straight away,  J-CB back at the helm and ruing the loss of yesterday’s qualifying session but quickly into the 1:35s. 

“It was a real shame yesterday.  There was nothing wrong with the car.  We left the pit a little bit too late and I had a lot of pressure to do a quick lap in just one lap.  I overtook a P2 car just before Becketts and because of that I was not on the right line and I came into Becketts too quick.  I hit the kerb on the right and spun.  I think we had the performace for the front row, maybe not pole but at least the front row.  We had made a few changes for qualifying and of course we had no idea about them so I wanted a clear lap this morning to see that they were right.  The car was quite good but starting from the back will be difficult, but a lot of fun!”

Lieb and Bruni traded places as per usual in GT2, irrespective of the championship being at stake, the battle between these two should be one of the highlights.  Advantage Porsche again, but only by 6/100ths.  Lieb set out his thoughts for the race:

“If we can pull away at the front we will but if not then we will let the leaders go and stay out of trouble.  All we have to do is follow [and score a point] and that is the aim, to get to the finish.  We have the pace and the car is great, so it is a very different race to Germany, where the car was not that good but we really had to push.”

The Alphand Corvette was quickest in GT1 for the first time of the weekend, but it was noted that some of their equipment was being packed away shortly after warm-up.  Drivers were still on autograph duties though, so maybe it was just a bit of a Gallic spring clean.  Gigawave’s Ryan Sharp was happy with the DBR9: “We’re getting a lot more pace out of the car now, we have been struggling for setup and balance, the car not having had any running for nearly two years, but we expect the pace to be there for the race.”

The first of two cars in trouble by the end was the GT2 Aston Martin, which Jonny Cocker explained “suffered a total loss of drive with Paul at the wheel.  The team are investigating now but the last I heard they think it is the gearbox, certainly something in the drivetrain.  It is better it happened now rather than in the first ten minutes of the race.”

The second was a smoky WR Zytek in the hands of Stephane Salini.  A smiling Tristan Gommendy was relieved to confirm “it is nothing huge, just a little mistake with a connection to the oil pump not being very tight.  We lost a lot of oil but it has not caused a problem for the engine.  For the moment the team is trying to clean the whole car for the race. 

“I’ve been working with the team for a year now and the development in the last 8 months has been fantastic, especially when our budget is only 700,000 to 750,000 and Lola’s is more like 1,500,000 to 2,000,000.  Last year we were seven or eight seconds [down], too far from the front, now I am confident in the car and whilst we need a lot more downforce, mechanically the balance of the car is pretty good.  Now we are only 3/10ths from the WFR and 7/10ths from Lola.  It is incredible and we can be very happy with it.  Salini will for sure try to do the Le Mans 24 hours next year and if it is OK for that, then the LMS too.”

Better news at Strakka where Nick Leventis explained “the problem in qualifying was a tricky technical one, something to do with a slipping clutch causing problems that completely prevented us starting it up.  We tried three batteries but absolutely nothing.  It’s all sorted now though.”

PS