LMES 2004
Monza Nurburgring Silverstone Spa
Qualifying times
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Race
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RML Report
Trouble Free Run at Monza
RML's sportscar team continued its Le Mans preparations with a
successful outing in the opening round of the Le Mans Endurace Series yesterday
at Monza. Tommy Erdos, Mike Newton and Miguel Ramos brought the Lola MG
Prototype home in a credible 7th position having run the 5 hour 1000km race
trouble free.
Tommy made a good start from 12th position on the grid and
climbed through the pack to 9th on the first lap. Driving a superb race he
continued to climb the leaderboard running in 4th place before his first pit
stop.
Mike drove the second stint maintaining a consistent 8th
position throughout. His time in the car was extended when he was able to pit
for fresh tyres and fuel during a safety car period.
Miguel, who had not driven the car before Friday's free
practice, lapped competitively throughout the third stint to maintain the teams
overall position.
Tommy took over the car to finish the race and despite rain
forcing him to pit for a late tyre change he managed to gain another place
taking 7th position.
Ray Mallock commented: "The weekend was very encouraging
for the team as all our recent development modifications proved successful. The
drivers recorded very competitive lap times and we were also able to carry out
some further development work with Dunlop".
Tommy Erdos commented: "After a few problems throughout
free practice and qualifying the whole of race day proved very successful. We
had very good fuel economy throughout the race which I believe will give us an
advantage at Le Mans in June".
Thomas Erdos race notes
British-based Brazilian Thomas Erdos came through the first round
of the all-new Le Mans Endurance Series at Monza feeling very positive about
the future. In his first race of the season in the RML MG Lola, Erdos was
buoyant, not only about the pace of the car, but also the fact that the MG went
the full five-hour distance to finish seventh overall. "The car performed
really well," he enthused. "It went the whole 1000 kilometers without
missing a beat, and I think that's the first time that chassis has ever
finished a race! A credit to RML for working at it and getting the car
reliable."
The MG Lola being developed and run by Ray Mallock Limited is
one of the original ex-works cars that made their debut in the Le Mans 24 Hours
in 2001. It is also the only Lola chassis of its type still competing with the
MG AER turbocharged two-litre engine. The task facing RML over the coming
weeks, ahead of the car's return to Le Mans, is to improve reliability, and the
opening round of the LMES proved to be the perfect work-out.
Friday's free practice gave all three drivers a chance to
increase their understanding and appreciation of the nimble MG Lola. Joining
the regular driver pairing of Erdos and Mike Newton came team-colleague Miguel
Ramos, who normally co-drives the #8 RML Saleen S7-R in the FIA GT Championship
with Chris Goodwin. "The important thing for us in practice was to give
Miguel and Mike as much time in the car as we could," explained Erdos.
"Everything went fine, and the car ran well. We had some new compounds to
try from Dunlop, although it was difficult to do a tyre programme with limited
track time." Best time of the day was 1:45.834, set during a dryer morning
session and just missing the top ten.
The RML strategy was much the same on the following day, when
the teams prepared for qualifying. "We decided that I would do just three
laps in first qualifying, so that we'd set a reasonable time early on,"
said Erdos. "I hadn't done much running at all by that point, and couldn't
set much of a pace with just an out lap, one flyer, and then back in again. I handed
the car over to Miguel, who did a good job of getting his times down, and then
Mike went out to finish off." The session ended with the #7 car lying
eleventh overall, based on that single lap from Erdos.
The plan was that Erdos would then go out during the day's
second session and post a quicker time. Unfortunately, that wasn't about to
happen. "Right at the start of my second lap, when I was about to go for a
quick time, I experienced a significant loss of power from the engine,"
explained Erdos, who was seen to coast to a halt out on the circuit. "I
decided to stop the car straight away, before any real damage was done."
It was a sensible move that would safeguard the engine, but it also meant that
Erdos would be unable to set a realistic time and the Jota Zytek would move
ahead. "That left us twelfth from just the one lap that I'd already
done," he said, "but we were then able to investigate the engine
problem and change it for the race." Uppermost in his mind may have been
the class pole he claimed for the MG in last November's 1000 Kilometer race at
Le Mans, and would be unable to repeat at Monza.
The team's engineers and mechanics worked late into Saturday
night fitting a new engine, which ran smoothly through Sunday's warm-up session
for Ramos and Newton, confirming the team's readiness for the race. Erdos took
the rolling start and completed a blistering first lap, picking up three places
along the way by passing the Nasamax Judd (tipped aside by Hiroki Kato in the
Advan Kondo Dome), the #17 Pescarolo Sport, and the Jota Zytek. He then started
to exert increasing pressure on Kato for eighth, but this did not account for
the Dome's retirement on lap nine with suspension failure - more likely a
result of the incident with the Nasamax.
Having moved into eighth, Erdos then began to hunt down Collard
in the Pescarolo Judd, itself gunning for Martin Short's Rollcentre Dallara.
The trio ran closely for fifteen laps before Collard got in front of Short, and
then Erdos did likewise. "That was a good run against Martin," said
Erdos, smiling at the memory. "I eventually overtook him into the Lesmo 2,
but it was pretty close all the way. I just managed to get through on the
inside."
With the arrival of the first refueling pitstops the economy of
the small but hard-working AER engine came into its own. Erdos, able to stay
out almost six laps longer than his rivals, moved up to fourth overall, and was
running in tight formation with the leading Audi R8s. "The car was going
so well," he said with satisfaction. "It was my first chance to run
hard laps in the dry, and the race pace was down into the 41s." This was
five seconds quicker than the car had set in qualifying, hinting at the
potential that lies within the diminutive MG. "When I was running near the
Audis on the track," he continued, "I seemed to be within a second or
so of their times, yet it was a reasonable pace for us." In the closing
stages, when McNish was chasing down Herbert for the lead, Erdos was keeping
pace with the action and able to witness the chase-down from close-quarters,
despite very wet conditions.
At the end of lap 30 Erdos pitted to hand over to Mike Newton,
who came back out on track in eighth place and stuck there for almost his
entire stint. "He kept us in the top ten quite comfortably," observed
Erdos later, who watched his co-driver complete an extra half stint after
coming in under the safety car for fresh tyres and fuel. Then, with the MG
still holding eighth, Newton handed over to Ramos. The Portuguese driver picked
up the baton and ran strongly, only losing out when David Brabham came by in
the works Zytek, recovering from a broken brake pedal. The final stint fell to
Erdos's once again, and saw the MG's only hesitant moment of the entire day;
"There was a slight problem when the engine didn't want to restart, but we
soon had it going again!" Erdos explained. No such uncertainty on the
racetrack, despite the arrival of heavy rain and a change of tyres, with Erdos
moving up to seventh in the final minutes, passing the DBA Zytek.
"That has been a positive experience for all of us,"
said a very satisfied Erdos. "If we can captialise on this with a
successful test day at Snetterton next Tuesday; get more miles on the car and
work even more on reliability, then we'll be in good shape for Le Mans. It has
been a real boost to the entire programme, and finishing seventh was almost
like bonus. I'm especially pleased for the guys who were up until two in the
morning changing the engine. They looked so tired, so it was good to give them
a reward for all their hard work." Ray Mallock was equally encouraged.
"All our recent development modifications proved successful," he
said. "The drivers recorded very competitive lap times and we were also
able to carry out some further development work with Dunlop".
Members of the RML squad have a hectic schedule ahead of them
in the coming weeks. In addition to the Snetterton test they also have another
round of the FIA GT Championship at Hockenheim to look forward to next weekend,
followed by a BTCC meeting at Oulton Park with the Seat touring cars on the
23rd. Round five of the FIA GT at Brno at the end of the month leaves just one
week spare before heading for France and the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Starting Grid
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RML Friday Report
RML's sportscar team set an impressive pace today at the
Nurburgring with the MG Lola EX257 in the first of two qualifying sessions for
tomorrow's Le Mans Endurance Series race. Only the Audi R8s set faster times
than the MG which is driven by Tommy Erdos, Mike Newton and Miguel Ramos, who
all also compete for RML in the FIA GT Championship.
A dry track at the start of qualifying session one quickly
changed when the heavens opened but, fortunately, with Tommy at the wheel of
the car the team was able to record an outstanding lap before the rain began.
Setting a time of 1.50 min, which was 3 seconds quicker than his morning
practice session, Tommy secured provisional 4th place on the grid for
tomorrow's race.
Race
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RML Report
RML's sportscar team enjoyed a strong performance at Nuburgring,
Germany on Saturday for the second 1000km race of the Le Mans Endurance Series.
In appalling weather conditions Tommy Erdos, Mike Newton and Miguel Ramos
achieved a creditable 7th position with the MG Lola EX257.
Changeable weather conditions throughout Friday and Saturday's
two qualifying sessions saw the No 7 MG secure 8th position on the grid. Tommy
took the start of the 6 hour race and soon climbed up to 6th position. Running
competitively the team were able to extend his stint longer than the leading
LMP cars and optimised the first pit stop to change to intermediate tyres as
rain began to fall heavily.
With other teams having to revise their tyre options Tommy took
advantage of the added track time and climbed up to 2nd position. Running strongly
and just 15 seconds behind the leader Tommy was unfortunate enough to receive a
stop/go penalty when he failed to see a yellow flag in the driving rain and
spray from the track. Dropping back down to 3rd he soon climbed back up to 2nd
position and was closing on the leader when more bad luck forced him to pit
with a rear wheel nut problem.
Utilising the stop effectively the team decided to change
drivers and re-fuel whilst correcting the wheel nut problem and Mike took to
the track. Rejoining in 7th position Mike ran strongly, only pitting to change
to slicks as the track dried out but maintaining position before handing over
to Miguel.
Miguel rejoined for the final stint of the race and with
conditions continuing to change he also pitted for a tyre change. Back on track
he managed to maintain 7th position throughout the closing stages of the race
and ran to the flag with no problems.
Mike Newton commented "The MG ran well this weekend and is
fantastic in the wet. Tommy had a stunning drive to run in 2nd position and we
know a podium was within our reach had we not had the wheel nut problem".
Starting Grid
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Race
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RML Report
RML MG Lola EX257 was classified 8th in the 3rd round of
the Le Mans Endurance Series at Silverstone on Saturday after an eventful 5 ½ hours
of running on the Grand Prix Circuit. Tommy Erdos, Mike Newton and Miguel Ramos
all endured a frustrating race with contact from other cars and a loss of power
hampering the teams chances of finishing higher up the order.
Starting the 1000km race from 8th on the grid Tommy's usual
first lap climb through the pack was hampered when the Lister Storm of Justin
Keen made contact with him at the first corner. Caution was exercised in the
following early laps while the team established if any resulting damage had
occurred. Giving Tommy the all clear he began to pick up the pace and managed
to climb to 6th during the first hour before pitting for fuel and fresh tyres.
Back on track and taking a double stint Tommy rejoined in 9th
position and climbed to 6th before handing the car over to Mike Newton. Mike
rejoined in 8th position and a couple of laps into his first stint he began to
experience a loss of power. Resetting the ignition he managed to get the MG
restarted and continued although a misfire was still apparent. He drove to the
scheduled stop however, pitting from 6th position with over 3 hours of the race
complete.
An extended stop saw the team investigate the problems that
Mike had experienced throughout his first hour in the car and a sensor was
replaced. Mikes double stint was further delayed when a starter motor problem
forced the team to push the car into the garage while the component was
replaced. Rejoining in 9th position Mike worked hard to maintain position and
despite being hit by a Porsche he ran almost to his scheduled stop before
pitting for Miguel Ramos to take over.
Miguel rejoined in 10th position and had climbed to 8th before
pitting for fuel. Back on track for the final stint Miguel was still running in
8th when he lost drive on the penultimate lap. A fire in the engine bay forced
him to stop at the nearest marshal's post where he safely evacuated the car.
With enough race distance covered at the chequered flag the team still gained
an 8th position classification for the race.
Tommy commented "The first corner contact I had with the
Lister was totally unnecessary and could have seen us both in the gravel trap.
I battled with understeer after that which didn't give me the confidence to
push really hard. It has been frustrating but I think the team did well to
cover the race distance and get the car classified".
Mike Newton commented "A couple of laps into my first
stint I lost power but managed to restart the car and continue. We still had a
misfire and tried to resolve it during my stints. A Porsche hit me from behind
but luckily it didn't cause too much damage and I continued almost to the
scheduled pit time. It has not been the most enjoyable race but it was
certainly challenging".
Miguel Ramos commented "It was disappointing not to cross
the line but we still managed to get classification which is good as we
experienced problems throughout the race"
Tracsport Report
Tracsport's Le Mans Endurance Series campaign was dealt a cruel
blow at Silverstone on Saturday when a problem with the Lola's starter motor in
hour five of the 1000km race cost the team a comfortable third place in LMP2.
The John Ingram, John Gaw and Rick Pearson-piloted car was
running in a competitive thirteenth position overall and with a twenty-minute
cushion over nearest LMP2 challengers, Palmyr when Gaw pitted for a driver
change with just over half an hour left to run. After buckling in John Ingram
for a last minute race to the flag, the charge was halted when the car refused
to fire up for the final stint. Diagnosing the problem as a starter sensor
failure, the Tracsport mechanics threw themselves at the task and a mammoth
effort saw Ingram rejoin the race less than two minutes before the chequered
flag.
Despite losing the better part of thirty minutes in the pits --
and with it a guaranteed podium position- the Tracsport car finished fifth in
class and twenty-sixth overall.
The third event in the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series, the
Silverstone 1000kms marked the first time in six years that an endurance race
for Le Mans cars has been held at the Northamptonshire venue.
Stint 1: Driver: John Ingram
Londoner John Ingram was first behind the wheel of the No
Fear/Man Financial Group/ DMIPI/Carlube- supported Tracsport Lola B2K/40. As at
the Nurburgring last time out, Ingram drove a faultless first stint,
maintaining position and posting lap times consistently within the 1m52s
target.
Starting from sixth in class and eighteenth place overall,
Ingram's solid start was threatened forty minutes in to the first hour when a
fuel gauge problem indicated that more fuel needed to be taken on board in
order to complete the allotted one-hour session. Knowing that there was
sufficient reserves to finish the stint, Ingram continued but then fell foul of
the large amounts of rubber clogging the circuit just off the racing line.
Ingram, a race winner in British Formula 3, reported that the
rubber was sticking to the tyres and giving the impression of having a
puncture. He rounded out his session with the same problem, before passing over
to Berkshire's John Gaw at the sixty-minute mark.
Stint 2: Driver: John Gaw
Having set the team's fastest lap in Friday qualifying, Gaw
thrilled the 14,000-strong partisan Silverstone crowd with more of the same in
hour two of the 1000km endurance spectacular.
An unscheduled pit stop shortly after taking over from Ingram
cost the 2001 Caterham Academy winner around two minutes. With the rubber
picked up offline affecting the handling of the Lola, the Tracsport squad
changed the rear tyres before sending the number 27 car back out to join the
race.
Gaw was immediately back on the pace despite the resulting
imbalance caused by the combination of old and new tyres. Although the
Tracsport car was losing time to oversteer out of the slower corners such as
Luffield, Gaw was fourth in class as the race approached the two-hour mark.
Shortly before turning the car over to Tracsport team mate Rick
Pearson, Gaw posted a series of trademark 'hot' laps which saw him close the
fourteen second gap to the Favre-piloted Lucchini by a stunning six seconds a
lap.
Stint 3: Rick Pearson
Man Financial Group employee Rick Pearson took over from Gaw
three hours in but was almost immediately called back to the pits by a black
and orange flag, shown for a broken right rear light cluster.
Like Ingram, Pearson concentrated on maintaining track position
for the duration of his stint. With rival LMP2 cars including the K2 Pilbeam
hitting trouble as the race approached the half-way point, the former Clio
driver was able to consolidate the Tracsport Lola's standing in LMP2.
Pearson also radioed the pits during his stint to report
problems caused by excess 'marbles' just off the racing line. After moving over
to let the faster LMP1 cars through, the rubber picked up on the tyres caused
vibrations within the car -- a problem that hampered both Ingram and Gaw during
their time at the wheel.
Stint 4: Driver: John Gaw
Tracsport charger John Gaw followed Pearson's stint and again
posted super-quick lap times to move the number 27 Lola up from eighteenth
overall to thirteenth place.
With fewer cars on the circuit, the earlier problem of
'pick-up' on the tyres was no longer an issue, allowing Gaw to focus on reeling
in LMP2 rivals J-B Bouvet/J-R Fournoux and class leaders Gounon/Frei/Hancock.
Stint 5: Driver: John Ingram
First in the car at the beginning of the 1000km event, Londoner
John Ingram was designated 'finisher' at Silverstone. After being forced to sit
in the pits while the starter sensor was repaired, Ingram powered the Lola out
of the garage with minutes to spare to claim fifth in class.
John Ingram: "A disappointing result from a promising weekend.
We're all devastated with the way things ended after running so strongly for
five and a half hours. Looking on the bright side, we've made a big step
forward in terms of qualifying and race pace which is one of the things we set
out to achieve here at Silverstone."
John Gaw: "I thought my second stint was awful, the
worst time I've had in the car. I didn't realise the lap times were so good
until I came in to the pits! The amount of rubber off the racing line was a
real problem and caused a lot of vibration but as fewer cars were on the
circuit it became less of an issue.
"My second stint was absolutely perfect. The lap times
were good and I had no problems with the car. It's a shame that we didn't
manage to hang on for third after having such a big lead over the next placed
LMP2 but that's racing and we'll have another shot at the podium at Spa in four
weeks time."
Rick Pearson: "A very promising weekend. It's
disheartening that we hit trouble so near to the end of the race but I think we
can take a lot of positives away from round three. We showed a marked
improvement in our qualifying position despite only completing one of the two
qualifying sessions on Friday. We were also running extremely well in the race
without having to push too hard and risk going off in the early stages.
"The bits of rubber off the racing line were a real
problem and caused the car to vibrate so hard my ear pieces actually fell out!
Apart from that, we didn't have any problems until the starter sensor failed.
Roll on Spa!"
Starting Grid
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Race
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RML Report
RML's sportscar team bought the MG Lola EX257 home in 5th
position in class today in the 4th and final round of the Le Mans Endurance
Series at Spa, Belgium. With over 1000km of the challenging circuit complete
Tommy Erdos, Mike Newton and Miguel Ramos all drove strong double stints in an
incident filled race to secure the MG's best result this year.
Saturday's two qualifying sessions were carried out with changeable weather
conditions and several red flags, but each of the teams three drivers improved
their lap times to record the MG's highest grid position this year. In the
closing stages of the second qualifying session Tommy set a time of 2:07:351,
only 1.38 seconds behind the pole sitting Zytek, to secure 5th position on the
grid.
Tommy took the start of the race and a good run off the line saw him
immediately gain 4th position. The bigger capacity of the other LMP1 cars'
engines proved superior on the run up the hill to Les Combes however and the MG
soon dropped back to 6th. Gaining a place during the first safety car period
Tommy ran in 5th position until the dramatic exit of the No. 8 Audi bought the
safety car back out. Pitting slightly early the team gave him fresh tyres as a
precaution as the track was now littered with debris.
The changeable weather continued and with rain now falling heavier Tommy was
forced to pit for a second tyre change. Rejoining in 11th position on wet tyres
he drove a competitive second stint and climbed his way through traffic.
Gaining places consistently he bought the MG in from 4th position for Mike to
take over.
Mike had soon climbed up to 3rd position where he lapped
consistently throughout his first stint. Yet another safety car period enabled
him to pit for fuel where he rejoined retaining 3rd place. He made his way
through the traffic cautiously as there was still debris on the track before he
began to pick up the pace. Running in a very strong 3rd position for 22 laps
Mike maintained a consistent pace before another incident bought the safety car
back out on track, this time enabling the 4th place Zytek to regain a lap and
close up on the MG. Still struggling a little with straight-line speed the MG
couldn't hold off the challenging Zytek and dropped back to 4th.
Pitting from 4th position Mike handed the car over to Miguel with just over 1½
hours of the race remaining. Miguel soon began to gather pace and lapped
competitively in 4th position before a bad vibration forced him to pit with a
suspected puncture. On fresh tyres he rejoined in 5th position before again
climbing up to 4th.
He continued to lap competitively and gained a 28-second lead on his nearest
rival. With his first pit stop falling before the planned race strategy Miguel
began to back off the pace to conserve fuel. It wasn't enough for him to run to
the finish however and with six minutes of the race remaining he was forced to
pit for a 'splash and dash' fuel stop. Without a big enough time advantage
however he lost two places on rejoining and crossed the line in 6th position
overall.
Tommy Erdos "I had a very good start and managed to stay out of trouble
in the opening laps. We were lacking in straight-line speed which was
unfortunate because otherwise we were still in touch with the leaders and the
car was very reliable".
Mike Newton "I had a very enjoyable race and although battling with
traffic after each safety car I was pleased to maintain 3rd place for a full
stint. This circuit is very challenging with all the elevation changes and it's
great to drive the prototype here."
Miguel Ramos "The car felt very good and its disappointing not to
finish in 4th place which we more than deserved. I had problems with radio
contact throughout the race and was unlucky to have to pit so early. I have
really enjoyed driving the MG this year and will hopefully continue with
prototypes next year".
Phil Barker, Team Manager "The safety cars worked for and against
us this weekend. The team worked well with the changing conditions and we had
to continually change our race strategy. The unscheduled stop cost us 4th place
which is disappointing as we were in a good position and the car was running
very strongly".
Tracsport Report
Tracsport claimed a dream result in the fourth and final round
of the inaugural Le Mans Endurance Series at Spa Francorchamps last weekend,
taking fourth in class on track and securing third overall in the LMP2
standings.
The No Fear/ Man Financial Group/ DMIPI/ Carlube-backed Lola started the race
sixth in class and twenty-first overall after two action-packed qualifying
sessions. First qualifying took place on a wet track, creating tricky
conditions for Tracsport drivers John Ingram (London), John Gaw (Berkshire) and
Rick Pearson (Kent). With the 6.9km Spa circuit drying throughout the session,
Ingram was first in the car and elected to go out on wet weather tyres. He was
followed by Gaw who swapped to slicks just as lap times started to fall in the
damp conditions. When a red flag brought a temporary halt to proceedings ten
minutes from the end of the session, the team were forced to swap the cooling
slicks back to wets for the handful of laps remaining.
Second qualifying was dry and sunny throughout. Pearson was first out on slick
tyres, setting the team's quickest lap of the weekend so far at 2:26s. He
handed over to former Caterham Eurocup winner Gaw who then posted a best lap of
2:24s to move the Tracsport Lola fourteen places up the grid, from thirty-fifth
to twenty-first.
As at the Nurburgring and Silverstone, former F3 star Ingram took the rolling
start for Tracsport. With the race starting dry and sunny, the first ten laps
of the 1000km run to the flag were full of drama, accidents and contact up and
down the field. The number 27 Lola B2K/40 dropped from twenty-first to
thirty-third in the opening hour with Ingram's stint punctured by a safety car
period and the first of several rain showers.
Ingram returned to the pits when the rain hit to change from slicks to wet
weather tyres and hand the car over to second Tracsport driver, John Gaw. The
unpredictable Spa weather played its ace card soon after the pit stop, changing
from rain to bright sunshine and drying the track in short order. After a fast
stop to return to slicks, Gaw hustled his way up to twenty-fifth before heavy
rain again soaked the circuit.
Although the quick thinking Tracsport pit crew called Gaw in for a tyre change
under a Safety Car period, the Lola missed out on getting a lap back on the
leaders by just two seconds and was forced to sit at the pit exit while the
Safety Car passed. After pushing hard for the remainder of his stint,
Berkshire-based Gaw had the Tracsport car running comfortably in P22. He handed
over to Rick Pearson as the race approached the two hour mark.
Pearson's run was instantly interrupted by a prolonged Safety Car period for
Rollcentre Racing's Patrick Pearce who suffered a huge accident at Eau Rouge
two hours and ten minutes in to the race. With Pearce safely removed from the
wreckage of his Dallara, Tracsport's Pearson turned in a top-class performance
during a marathon one-hour-forty-minute shift behind the wheel.
The Maidstone-based racer was immediately tuned in to the Tracsport Lola and
lapped consistently quicker than his best qualifying effort. Having saved fuel
during the Safety Car period, Pearson was able to stay on track when it was
deployed for a second time after an accident involving the Nasamax just after
mid-distance. The Tracsport Lola was at the front of the queue at the restart,
giving Pearson a jump on the rest of the field and the lead of the pack going
in to Eau Rouge.
When the Safety Car was scrambled for a third time to attend to an abandoned
Saleen, Pearson pitted from twenty-first place and handed over to Ingram.
Despite never having raced at the notoriously challenging Belgian circuit prior
to round four of the LMES, the Londoner was ultra-quick and set the team's
fastest lap of the weekend by a superb 0.5 seconds. Having seen off the
challenge of the PiR Competition Pilbeam in the mid section of his stint,
Ingram was running fourth in LMP2 and eighteenth overall at the end of his time
in the car.
John Gaw was last out in the Tracsport Lola B2K/40. With seventy minutes of the
six-hour race to go, he had to stay ahead of the Pilbeam and the rapidly
closing Lucchini Engineering entry to safeguard Tracsport's third place
standing in the LMP2 championship table. The three cars traded fast laps for
much of the closing stages and were lapping at qualifying pace before the
Pilbeam and Lucchini were both called to the pits for a final fuel stop.
Tracsport team manager, Dudley Wood had foreseen this possibility -- the
fastest man ever to race at Le Mans, Wood calculated that there was just enough
fuel left in the tank for the number 27 Lola to get to the end of the race
without needing a splash and dash if Gaw was able to conserve the existing fuel
supply in the final stages of the race. With thirty minutes left before the
chequered flag, Gaw began to run at a more conservative pace and reduced gear
changes from 8200 RPM to 7500 RPM. This was further reduced to 6000 RPM when
the fuel dwindled to twenty litres with sixteen minutes left to run.
A nail-biting final quarter of an hour saw Gaw battling to stay ahead of the
2004-spec Lucchini while using full throttle as little as possible, high gears
as often as possible and just 4500 revs in sixth for the entire last lap as the
fuel pressure light came on with less than two minutes to go.
After a superb team effort, the Ingram/ Gaw/ Pearson Tracsport Lola held on for
fourth place in LMP2, giving the Daventry-based team third position overall in
the 2004 team standings.
John Ingram: "I am absolutely delighted to have finished the Le Mans
Endurance Series in third place overall for 2004. Our aim for Tracsport's debut
season in the LMES was simply to finish each of the 1000km six hour races, but
we have exceeded that with three excellent results and very strong points,
which has secured us third place in the overall championship standings.
Whilst we are not pre-seeded for the 2005 Le Mans 24 Hours as we needed to
finish in the top two places, I believe we will have shown the LMES
Organisation and the ACO that we deserve a place on the Le Mans grid next
summer and I believe that we will qualify for the race.
Our aim now is to secure our funding package for 2005 and to find some new
corporate partners. The international marketing platform provided by Le Mans
and the LMES is absolutely fantastic and we have received wonderful TV and
press coverage all year. We are very keen to talk to any potential corporate
partners about opportunities available with us for 2005."
John Gaw: "A brilliant weekend, a great result and a superb call by the
team in the last part of the race. Dudley played a master stroke with the fuel
strategy. We went on to the reserve tank on the slowing down lap and then ran
out entirely as we coasted in to Parc Ferme. There was literally not a drop
left.
On the last lap entering the second to last corner where I knew the team
couldn't see me, I got on the radio to wind them up and tell them we had run
out of fuel and were stopped on the circuit. There was ten seconds of radio
silence and then they saw me come round the last corner onto the final straight
for the chequered flag. They were all hanging off the pit wall and I was
shouting down the radio - what a moment - we had done it P3 in the
championship!
Everyone at Tracsport performed faultlessly this weekend -- Dudley was spot on
in his fuel strategy, the mechanics were awesome in the pit stops and we all
gave it our best shot in the car.
We've improved so much this year and now all that's left to do is get the Le
Mans entry for 2005. Our aim was to finish the races so to have achieved third
overall in our first year in this level of championship without having done all
of the races demonstrates the ability of the team to both pull and learn
together. The pace of that learning has been much steeper and quicker than we
could have anticipated. This has been down to both the experience and 'know
how' we have in the team from Dudley and the boys, and the positive attitude
and willingness to learn and stride forward that everyone has demonstrated -
none more so than team owner, John Ingram Senior. Achieving more than we set
out to achieve because of a superb team effort is very satisfying indeed. Now
we need to keep moving forward and achieve the Le Mans vision."
Rick Pearson: "I was out third as usual but my stint was immediately
interrupted for a Safety Car whilst they removed Patrick Pearce from the
wreckage of the Dallara. It was a sobering start to what turned into a marathon
1h40 stint behind the wheel.
I had a very good run when the safety car pitted, lapping consistently quicker
than I had in qualifying and feeling easy when the Safety Car came out again
after the Nasamax accident. Having worked hard to save fuel during the earlier
Safety Car period, I had no need to pit and was at the front of the queue by
the time the race was restarted. I managed to get the jump on the rest of the
field and led them all into Eau Rouge which was a fabulous feeling! The only
problem I had was with the car's tyres after a long stint and my muscles getting
cold during the extended Safety Car periods. It was a totally reliable run from
the Lola and a perfect performance by the team with no off-circuit excursions.
All in all a fantastic end to Tracsport's first year in the top flight with
three incredibly evenly matched drivers who were able to produce the lap times
demanded of them at absolutely the right moment. John Ingram drove particularly
well and set the fastest lap of the weekend to break the challenge of the #99
car in the middle of his stint despite never having seen Spa before."