LMS Test - Paul Ricard - Monday Morning Notes

Monday started in similar fashion to Sunday, but with the absence of spectators and with the addition of a cold, strong wind. It would at least stay dry for the remainder of the day’s activities.

The crashed #007 Aston Martin is beyond immediate repair and so six LMP1 cars remain; just two of which - #009 Lola Aston Martin and #23 Strakka Ginetta-Zytek - are running in full 2009 spec.

The Pegasus Courage-Oreca LC75 was only scheduled to test on the first day, but was pounding round the track quite happily in the first session and setting its best time of the meeting in the process.

The reason for Signature Plus’ decision to run with the 2008 wing at the HTTT is simple enough; “We bought the car off Oreca in ’08 spec, but haven’t yet received the 2009 aero package,” explained Technical Director Eric Mommey. “We’ll have it fitted and tested before we get to Barcelona, but it isn’t important for this test because we have so much to learn about the car anyway.

“Franck (Mailleux) has come from F3 and although Pierre (Ragues) was in a prototype last year, it was a different one – everyone has much to learn about the car and this type of racing. In fact, we’ve only got one mechanic with previous Le Mans experience.”

Despite this lack of experience, the car was producing very good pace and the team was happy with progress so far. No third driver has yet been nominated for Le Mans.

Over in the Aston Martin garages, Miguel Ramos was also on a steep learning curve with his new racing car, ”It’s difficult, but I’m getting used to it,” he said of the #009 Lola Aston. “I did about 20 laps yesterday and about 10 so far today and it’s a progressive process of getting used to it.

“It’s very different from a GT1. Braking, cornering, weight, speed; all need a lot of getting used to – its speed in the middle of a corner is incredible. The car is fantastic.

“I’m going to need to work hard to get the best out of it. I’m not used to the engine throttle behaviour, which we had a small problem with earlier, but the team will fix that and also change the balance before I go out again to take some of the oversteer out.”

Tomas Enge, battered, bruised and very sheepish indeed after his big accident in the #007 Lola Aston Martin yesterday, confirming the incident was a result of driver error Tomas explained how it happened over dinner:

“I came around the right hander after the main (Signes) straight and got on the kerbs but stayed there too long.  I was already fighting the car at that point and eventually spun through 360 degrees.  At that point I was probably doing maybe 285 kmh.  As the car came out of the spin I was still fighting for control, still with a lot of speed and I went straight out of the spin into the barrier – a very big impact.”

It was heartening to see that, as Tomas left the restaurant, Alain Prost rose from his table to offer commiserations and quickly check that the rapid Czech was OK.

Neel Jani – after setting what was at the time the fastest time of the session in the #13 Speedy Sebah Lola Aston Martin, a 1:42.260:

“I’m amazed at the downforce from these cars.  The power and the speed were not so much of a surprise from such a big and powerful car but the downforce was a big surprise.

“It does though need a very different driving style from the single seaters that I am more used to.  I need to use more of the downforce and less of the mechanical grip.

“The other thing which is very difficult to adapt to quickly is driving a racing car with a roof – That takes away a lot of your reference points on speed and it makes it more difficult at first to analyse and explain why one lap is half a second slower and the next half a second faster.

“I’m very impressed with the team and with the effort they are putting in here.  I won’t be putting in more than Le Mans at the moment – my primary focus is still on single seaters – but the level the teams are operating at here is a very pleasant surprise.”

Nicolas Prost:

“I have a long season ahead of me but that’s a good thing – A1GP and Le Mans Series will be a nice mix.  The team here are very good, very professional and very calm – that’s important if I am going to do well and learn.

“I really like the A1GP Series but I always wanted to find something else for the season as well.  This package, particularly with Le Mans, is a very good bet.

And how do you find adapting between the A1GP car and the Lola?

“You can really feel the weight, perhaps not so much the size.  It (the Lola) has a great engine and, I think, compares very well with the Courage Oreca (Prost had a test for the Oreca team).

Down at JMW Motorsport Gianmaria Bruni had arrived this morning to join full season driving partner Rob Bell and Tim Sugden (now confirmed as driving for the team at Le Mans.

The talk in GT2 has all been about the relative effects of the new aero regulations on the Ferraris and Porsches.  Rob Bell :

“We have definitely lost a lot more in straight line speed than the Porsche’s have.  The timing screens show that clearly.”

Indeed they did, the quickest 997s hitting 280 km/h on Signes, 7-8 km/h faster than the quickest Ferraris.

“They come past you on the straight like a GT1 car!” observed Sugden.

“In truth though we are still finding out how the car works best with the new package. How best to balance the car with the new (5mm higher) ride height, extra weight and   the Gurney.

“The quick Porsches are half a second quicker than us but then they were half a second quicker here last year as well!

“A bit of pressure in defence of the title is a good thing though – We need to do some hard graft to claw the time back and take the fight to them in the races.  It’s all good though, we want a scrap for it.”

The team, together with several others were waiting to see if the stiff breeze that was keeping track temperatures down, would ease but it looks set for the day.

Team Owner Jim McWhirter was enjoying the test so far and was happy to confirm the reasons for the choice of Tim Sugden for Le Mans:

“He’s quick, he’s steady and reliable at night, he was outstanding in the night session last year for us and he doesn’t hurt the car.  He’s a team player too, no ego, that’s very important if we are going to pull together and have a good crack at it.

JMW are at the pit exit end of the pitlane with the other British-run Ferrari present, Team Modena, at pit-in.

Hans Muehlbauer was happy to report: “No problems, none at all.  We have worked our way through some programmed work including some aero, tyre wear and fuel consumption testing. We are very happy.  Leo is going well, his stints are improving every time he gets in the car as are his peaks.  It’s particularly difficult here (where Mansell is running for the first time) as it’s visually different to anywhere else, fewer opportunities to mentally map the circuit.”

Leo Mansell was waiting for the opportunity to climb back aboard the #84 430 to continue to climb his learning curve:

“It’s actually been harder to adapt to the Ferrari than it was to adapt to the LMP1 cars I tested.  That’s mainly down to a very much reduced level of downforce to what I’m used to from single seaters, the extra roll you get with a higher, heavier car and big aero differences.

“Beyond that though things are coming along reasonably well – The basics are the same: You brake as late as you can, you carry as much speed through the corners as you can and you get back on the power as soon as you can.  It’s just a matter of learning the parameters for this car.

“I’ve had 2 days with the car at Jerez before this test and we’ll maybe get just another shakedown before Barcelona.”

So why the move to sportscars Leo?

“This Series is very dynamic with lots of very good teams with very good drivers – In fact the same is true on both sides of the Atlantic.

“I want to race and I want to have a career doing it.  In the current climate if you can have a career racing anywhere you are doing pretty well! The aim for me is to keep learning, keep improving and start winning.”

Marcel Fassler was another Speedy Sebah man enjoying the weekend.  “After this I go to Detroit for a Corvette seat fitting and then straight down to Orlando for Sebring week – I am not testing with the team before race week.”

Peter Kox:

“I’m very pleased to be back in the Lamborghini for LMS.  The team have done a really good job to be in a much better starting point for the season than for last year.

“The car is also better than it was at the end of last season, the team have been working on a few things to see whether we can’t have fewer ups and downs than last season.  If we can do that then we’ll be right in the ball park.

Pierre Kaffer looks set to dovetail his just announced Risi Competizione deal in ALMS with a part LMS season:

“I’m really pleased that I can race in both series but there are two clashes, Barcelona and Le Mans itself – In both these cases I will race for risi rather than farnbacher.

A dsc source suggests that there may be a mix and match approach taken at Farnbacher in their lead car (of a possible two or even three) Dominic Schwager and Allan Simonsen might well form part of those plans.

Back to Kaffer though:

“I really enjoy endurance racing, it is where my heart is.  I much prefer races where I can run for a long time in the car rather than sprint racing, my move back to the Carrera Cup when plans fell through in 2007 was possibly a mistake for me.

“I have to thank Horst (Farnbacher) for giving me the chance to race last season and  I’m delighted that with Pierre (Ehret) last year we could race competitively both in LMS (3^rd in the Championship and at Le Mans (3^rd in GT2).

One race where we are likely to see Kaffer add to his already hectic schedule is the Nurburgring 24 hours – No decision yet on who he will drive for but suffice to say that his performance last year no doubt turned a few heads, his contributions meaning that both of the cars he was entered in ran in the top three almost throughout.

Martin Birrane and Robin Brundle were chatting happily in the Speedy Sebah garage for part of the morning session, the Lola top brass clearly delighted with the market’s response to their Coupe project.

“Of course having 8 cars at Le Mans is fabulous,” said Birrane, “And there’s still plenty of interest from potential new buyers.

“In current market conditions I’m making no real predictions but I think we have every chance of selling up to four additional cars before the start of the 2010 season.”

Guy Smith was happy meanwhile with his first daylight laps in the Quifel ASM Zytek, a stunning time which eclipsed the best LMP2 time of the 2008 pre-season test was enough to relight the broad grin that is never far from the surface of the 2003 Le Mans Winner.

“When I went out last night I suddenly ralised just how different the layout of the car was, I went to adjust the brake bias and it was on the opposite side of the cockpit than I expected and when I left the pitlane I couldn’t find the button to cancel the pitlane speed limiter – Well it was dark!”

There’s also some friendly rivalry underway with Guy leg pulling his Dyson Racing boss Chris Dyson, out for the first time this morning in the RML Lola Mazda, some minor ergonomical issues are being addressed before the car rejoins the track for the afternoon session.

A couple of red flag incidents punctuated the morning session – a mechanical issue for the #75 IMSA Performance Porsche and a more serious incident for the #31 Team Essex Porsche, the car seemingly losing control out of Turn 2 and striking the barrier backwards on the outside of the circuit, the car is being brought back on a flatbed with rear end damage, the rear wing completely detached and panel damage to the rear deck.  Casper Elgaard was aboard at the time and was still in the car on the back of  the recovery truck so is therefore presumably unhurt.

That’s now confirmed, the Dane perplexed as to how the accident happened: “It’s not a place I would have expected to have an accident, the car just got away from me and snapped left.”