LMS Bugatti Test - David Blumlein Reports

The Bugatti circuit was first used in 1965 and was designed by Charles Deutsch whom enthusiasts will know as the “D” of D.B. and C.D., those aerodynamic little French cars  which dominated the coveted Index of Performance in the Fifties and  early Sixties.

The circuit is no stranger to prototypes and GT cars and  the Coupe d’ Automne races of 1995-98 even furnished the local press with such headlines as “ Courage and WR win at Le Mans” ! More recently the Le Mans Series was given a shakedown with the Le Mans 1,000km race in November 2003 on the circuit, one reason for this being the need to allot guaranteed places for the following year’s 24-Hour race in accordance with the agreed practice.

No such consideration pertains to this weekend’s test, however, as the list of accepted entries has of course  already been published, but with the cancellation of this year’s Official Test Weekend the Le Mans Series has provided two days of  testing on this convenient facility which precludes the necessity of closing down  those  sections of public highway which constitute so much of the full Circuit des Vingt-Quatre Heures.
                 
Eleven Le Mans Series cars appeared on the Saturday morning: in LMP1 two Pescarolo-Judds, the Signature   Oreca-Judd and the Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola-Aston Martin B08/60 Coupe that ran last year; this team also had the Judd-powered LMP2 B08/80 Coupe competing with the Essex Porsche RS Spyder  and G.A.C. Racing Team’s Zytek 07S in the second LMP2 category.

The GT cars included two newcomers to Europe, the Team Seattle  Advanced  Engineering Ferrari F430 GT and the Endurance China Team Porsche 997 GT3 RSR both anxious to familiarise themselves with every aspect  of the world of Le Mans prior to getting ready for the 24 Hours. Team Farnbacher had their Ferrari F430 GT, running on Hankook tyres, and  Paul Drayson had brought his Aston Martin Vantage GT2.

Saturday notes:

No sign of the Luc Alphand Corvette

Team Essex devoted much of their time giving newcomer Kristian Poulsen track time with the Porsche Spyder RS . They had made no changes to the car since the Paul Ricard test.

The Endurance China Team were unhappy with the fact that their Porsche was an old car and felt that it was not providing the preparation they needed for the 24 Hour race-they therefore packed up and went home, their best time of 1:41 being three and a half seconds slower than the class leading time of Simonsen/Farnbacher in the Ferrari F430 GT.

Team Seattle was working closely with A F Corse who supplied the mechanics and other support . Joe Foster had earlier tested the car in Italy. Their two drivers present, Patrick Dempsey and Don Kinch, were both new to Le Mans and in need of track mileage. Dempsey had an “ off “ at the Dunlop chicane in the morning and a harmless spin at the “ Virage des “ S “ bleus” in the afternoon

The G.A.C. Racing Team Zytek 07S had a shunt in the afternoon session but was repairable for the Sunday.

All teams were running on Michelin except the China Team ( Dunlops) and the Hankook Ferrari which was naturally on the Korean rubber. They were well satisfied with their progress and remained elated with their  podium in Barcelona.

The day finished like Barcelona: a Lola Aston Martin on top ahead of a Pescarolo!

In LMP2 the Speedy Lola Judd just squeezed out the  Essex Porsche and among the GT  cars the Hankook Ferrari led home  the Drayson Aston Martin Vantage

Le Mans Series times after Free Practice 2:

1.) #13 Lola Aston Martin (Bellichi / N.Prost / Neel )  1:23.770
2.) #16 Pescarolo Judd  ( Boullion / Tinseau )  1:23.996
3.) #12 Oreca Judd  ( Ragues / Mailleux / Didier )  1:25.872
4.) #17 Pescarolo Judd  (Jouanny / Barbosa )  1:27.438
5.) #33 Lola Judd  ( Kane /  Leuenberger / Pompidou )  11:28.072
6.) #31 Porsche Spyder RS  ( Elgaard / Poulsen / Collard )  1:30.584
7.) #41 Zytek  07S  ( Ojjeh / Gosselin / Peter )  1:30.730
8.) #89 Ferrari F430 GT  ( Simonsen / Farnbacher )  1:37.936
9.) #87 Aston Martin Vantage  ( Drayson / Cocker / Franchitti )  1:38.296
10.)  #75 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR  ( O’Young / Hesnault )  1:41.468
11.)  #78 Ferrari F430 GT  ( Kinch /  Dempsey )  1:41.952

Sunday notes:

Team Seattle had only Don Kinch driving.

At 10.50 a.m. Jonny Kane lost control of the Speedy Sebah  Lola Judd at the Dunlop Chicane, badly damaging the car but fortunately not himself. On being returned to the pits, the wrecked car was immediately stripped down to be sent back to Lola. In the meantime the team’s development programme was completed with the Lola Aston Martin and, rather than risk this car further, it was decided to pack up after the morning session.

The two Pescarolos were thus able to top the time sheets for the rest of the Test and stamped their authority by slipping in the overall fastest time of the weekend just a few moments before the final chequered flag at 6.0 p.m., Tinseau posting 1:23.676.

He was in chassis no. 08; the new car, no. 17, being chassis no. 01.

Final Le Mans Series times :

1.) #16  1:23.676
2.) #17  1:25.650
3.) #12  1:26.534
4.) #31  1:29.426
5.) #41  1:29.974
6.) #89  1:37.162
7.) #87  1:38.194
8.) #78  1:44.832

David Blumlein