Test Day Part Deux ( That's French !)

The afternoon started rather quietly mainly because conditions were still difficult. We have now lost track of how many cars have spun in the Dunlop Curves, it must be into double figures! So far the only significant incident was when the #57 Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 Italia went off at Mulsanne in rather a big way. The Guv'nor , Tracy Krohn, was at the wheel and thankfully he walked away from the car.The lurid green Ferrari however didn't and was hoisted onto a low loader and taken back to the pits.

Things then went a bit quiet, even a wee bit boring for a while until the Toyota's began to snap at the heels of Audi and for a while even one of the Rebellion cars, driven by Jani, topped the times ! Anyway as expected Audi finished their coffee and began to concentrate on the matter in hand but still the Toyota's were bang on the pace . The weather was blurring the issue a bit, it wasn't wet and wasn't dry and times kept on chopping and changing but with Toyota still bang on the pace. With about an hour to go Audi began to look like they were getting back into 'steam roller' mode when both Lotterer and Kristensen took over the top spots. Even so Davidson, Buemi and Sarrazin were doing well, and keeping in touch.

Then we had a Red Flag while the marshals swept up the various body parts of the #33 Lotus which had fallen off in a big way attacking the scenery and scattering debris all the way through the Porsche Curves.. Kraihamer, who was at the helm at the time, emerged undamaged.

The last 45 minutes in LM P1 calmed down a bit since there wasn't anything much to prove. But as is often the case there are normally a few last minute fireworks and today was no exception! Right at the last minute ( literally!!) Duval , driving the #2 Audi was fastest, beating last year's pole by 1.2 secs! It was almost as if Audi had decided to enjoy themselves and they went on to take the first three places on the time sheets. This might have depressed Toyota!

So, Toyota seem to have the pace... almost..  and they have a fuel advantage over the Audi's so anything other than yet another Audi success looks mighty unlikely. If Toyota do win then there might be hats to be eaten!

LMP2

As you may recall your scribes do find LMP2 'difficult'... anyway it is even more confusing now with the arrival of names that us old f*rts we know better for 'road' cars... Morgan.. Lotus..Alpine and even an Oreca 03 Judd painted in Caterham colours!

It is certainly a class that gives us great racing but it is always swamped by the big bangers in LMP1 and the high profile manufacturer supported HT's.

As expected the outcome was close #24 OAK Racing Morgan Nissan led the pack followed by the #39 DKR Engineering Lola Judd and then third was #37 the Signatech Alpine. The vast majority of the engines came from Nissan with a smattering of Judd and Honda. By the main event we plan to get a handle on LMP2

LM GTE Pro

We have been talking about the amazing resurgence of Aston Martin and still it goes on with Aston Martin Racing taking the first two places ahead of the #92 Porsche AG Manthey Team  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The car is newer and under development so may well be a threat for the main race.It was great to see not only the Corvettes back and better still that pair of monstrous Vipers. As a fan of GT's we can't wait for the 24 hours of Le Mans.

LM GTE Am

The #95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 took on the 'Pros' and beat for of them! Next up was the #95 Aston and then 3rd was the Proton Porsche. Things really do look very good for Aston at the moment. Curiously the Ferrari 458 Italia's are well off the pace. But it will be good to see how the #50 Larbre Competition Corvette gets on. The Vipers are virtually brand new for Europe and will almost certainly be quicker in a fortnights time.

We will be back for the Main Event .. looking forward to it immensly !!

   Pictures courtesy of "Dottore" ( kristof.vermeulen@gmail.com Raceshots.be )