TESTING PART TWO Sunday 4th June.

TESTING PART TWO Sunday 4th June.

This second session really began to hot up during the final hour. It is all down to the fact that both Audi and Pescarolo seem hell bent of getting this ‘nominal’ morale-boosting ‘pole’. It means very little in many ways but at least it makes the teams feel better. Traditionally Audi seem to keep their powder dry until the last minute and then put a quick driver with fresh tyres into the car and send him out to “see to it”!

In LM P2 the No.25 RML Lola has stayed at the top of the sheets all day. The dark horse has become the No.22 Rollcentre Radical Judd. Forget all about plastic tubs with motorbike engines in the back, rapid they may be but this beast is serious!
It has a strong team of drivers in the shape of Barbosa/Moseley/Short and a car that has closed the gap to the RML Lola to less than two seconds. Just behind them is the No.33 Intersport Lola. LM P2 cars seem to be traditionally rather fragile but if today’s performances carry over to the race it could well get a bit lively.

In LM GT1 the two factory Aston Martins have the edge over the Corvettes at the moment. On notional pole is the No.007 car with Enge/Piccini/Turner; Thomas Enge put in the quick laps to achieve this. The 009 Aston Martin DBR9 with Lamy/Ortelli/Sarrazin is only a second behind them. They in turn currently have the edge on the leading Corvette No.64 driven by Gavin/Beretta/Magnussen.

LM GT2 has been dominated by the sole Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430GT No.87. it has a strong driver line up with Mullen/Kirkaldy/Niarchos. Behind them are all the Porsches! The fastest Porsche is the American based Flying Lizard car driven by van Overbeek/Neiman/Lieb. Incidentally it remains a complete mystery and closely guarded secret why the team is called ‘Flying Lizard’. There are, as usual, a couple of Dutch Spyker C8 Spykers… yes.. that seems to be the correct description! They have moved on a fair step from the early years when they got a reputation for being an unreliable mass of rivets and tin flying in (usually) close formation. They are running 5th and 7th in class ahead of some serious German machinery. A class win maybe a distant dream but you have to give them credit for persistence.

So, a brief summary? Audi and Pescarolo are at it again… can the local French team break that Audi stranglehold? Will the possibly fragile Audis make it to the chequered flag? They showed a chink of vulnerability at Sebring. In LM P2 can ‘Shorty’ knock Erdos and Newton off their well earned perch? We think they can. Don’t discount the Field/Halliday combo, they are used to visiting podiums.

The Aston Martin .v. Corvette battle looks nicely poised. GM runs a very well organised, well polished team. Aston Martin do less racing but have quick cars and drivers. Can the lone, rapid Ferrari 430 GT from the successful and well funded Scuderia Ecosse , fend off hoards of marauding Porsches?

See you in a couple of weeks and we will find out.

Now it is time wind all this up and head back to UK, just in time to turn round and come back again!.