LMS Test, Paul Ricard – Night Notes

Very Cold, Very Dark

The reason for Team Oreca’s amazing pace has been revealed – they are running the 2008 wings on both cars; as, indeed, is the Signature car - reason still to be established.

With two hours of the session elapsed, six of the eight cars that had elected to take part had taken to the track. The missing two were the Reiter Lambo, which almost certainly wouldn’t be taking part, and the Strakka Ginetta-Zytek, which joined in soon afterwards.

The Strakka delay was caused by two issues. The first was the installation of a new exhaust manifold, which is quite an intricate job apparently, and the second was the discomfort experienced by Nick Leventis and Danny Watts earlier in the day due to their seats. Both drivers were having the necessary adjustments made and the intention was that both would be comfortable in the car by the time it joined in.

The three Courage-Oreca LC70s continued to set the pace - #11 – 1:41.799, #10 – 1:43.204; #12 – 1:43.387 – leaving the only 2009-spec LMP1 with something to aim at. By nine o’clock, the Strakka car had completed six laps, with a best of 1:44.670.

Apart from a spin early in the session, Quifel ASM’s session was going smoothly, with a best of 1:48.713 after two hours.

Drayson Racing, meanwhile, had decided to call it a night after completing 26 laps. “We’ve had a really good run and accomplished everything that we wanted to do today, so that’s us done,” said Paul Drayson. “And it’s cold!”

“We’ll now focus on getting ready for Sebring,” added Jonny Cocker.

With very little happening on track as the session enters its final two hours, it’s time for DSC to call it a day. Two more sessions tomorrow.