Le Mans Series

The race, rain, rain and more rain

An hour before the race it was apparent that flat spots would not be a problem, it was very wet and now the decision was go wet or retain the dry set up. Gavin had spoken to the local airports after qualification and the prediction of rain had been correct, they also predicted the race to start to dry at 1720 hours. Changing from wet to dry settings could cost the team three laps; it was decided to stick with dry set up.

1500, the engine fired up for final checks now no less than three lap tops monitored various elements of performance, the rear cover was also off and a visual check was carried out on suspension and particularly plumbing for any leaks, the weather appeared to be brightening.

1525 Haruki got ready to go out, Sam taped the leads of his radio ear plugs to his cheeks as they exchanged final words, after a last call of nature Haruki called for some water and paper towel, he apparently always dampens his gloves before he starts a race. Conditions suggested he would be more than damp in very little time.

1532 full wets came out, it was raining again as he left for his first exploratory lap, inters were brought to the front of the garage.

1538 Haruki came back form his exploratory lap and the fuel was topped up, the inters were taken to the grid but it was expected they would start on wets. Just before the start a selection of tyres were brought back from the grid. It appeared most would start on wets.

1600 The safety car lead the field away on a first warm up lap, it was raining harder and looked very wet at the back of the circuit, at the end of the second warm up lap the field was let loose with the Pescarolo leading away from Creation, Audi works Zytek & Haruki. On the first lap Chilton spun the Zytek taking out a fast starting Dome and by the end a frantic first lap Haruki was second behind Minassian.

Lap two was equally frantic with Haruki back to fourth but on lap four Boullion spun off into the wall at Maggots, he even had another spin on the way back to the pits for a lengthy repair to the rear. Pompidou was flying in the old nail to lead GT2 and Erdos in the leading LMP2 was beginning to make life difficult for Haruki.

Regular trips to the sand continued throughout the field but by lap eight Haruki was in second with Erdos 16 seconds back, the remarkable Pompidou was ninth but on lap nine McNish in the Audi passed Haruki. Over the next few laps the gaps between McNish, Haruki and Erdos varied as they negotiated traffic, Minassian seemed in control at the front. Pompidou had reached eighth and Kaufmann in the A Level Porsche lead GT1 another remarkable performance.

At around 15 laps the rain seemed to be easing and we began to see several fastest laps, Haruki set a 2.03.814 on lap 17, Pompidou was now seventh and Kaufmann ninth but on lap 20 Pompidou had An off and dropped to ninth behind Kaufmann. Barbosa was beginning to show after early paddle shift problems and the Lister after an early stop was in sixteenth.

On lap 23 finally Erdos passed Haruki but Haruki regained the place on lap 26 as the rain began to fall in earnest again, he was lapping fastest of all at this stage in a car set up for low downforce.

On lap 29 Haruki stopped and was refuelled and also the suspension was reset for the wet conditions losing the team 2 laps. But on lap 32 the car was back in the pits, Haruki was ill and John suddenly found himself in the car earlier than he expected. They had lost another lap and were down in twenty first.

With the first round of stops coming we suddenly had Rockenfeller up to fourth in the Autorlando Porsche and the track had gone red.

On lap 41 Minassian had nearly a lap lead on McNish. Keen in the Lister was third LMP1 in seventh Barbosa tenth, Cochet nineteenth and John was now twentieth. The rain was forecast to ease in about an hour at 1900hrs.

Over the next 30 laps the safety car came out, went in and out again so many times that one lost count. It was complete chaos as never once did it pick up the leader and not once was there a wave bye until it picked up the leader. To make matters worse cars that pitted under the red then had to run the gauntlet of the lights at the end of the pit lane. Some were held when the track was perfectly clear and the safety car was out at the back of the circuit and not even released until the train had passed twice, some were released into the queue as it passed, it was a lottery and it soon became very apparent that the organisers need a trip to the USA to learn from the ALMS. Spectators in the stand opposite the pressroom began to leave in their droves thoroughly confused. A team managers meeting was called before 1900 hrs to discuss an early end but by now the rain was easing and even blue sky could be seen, the decision was for the race to continue through till 2200hrs.

Finally on lap 75 the safety car came in closely followed by John, the Dallara and the Audi. Minassian came in 2 laps later and handed over to JCW who would take the DBA to the end of the race Now began a long chase for McNish as he attempted to close on the DBA ahead, the Lister reached as high as fourth, Tiemann now in the A Level Porsche was continuing Kaufman’s earlier good work, more problems for the Pescarolo as the driver had to push it in out of fuel.

By lap 85 John was up to thirteenth and Lieb now in the old nail lead GT2 in sixth and on his next stop was the first to go out on inters but his next few laps times suggested it was still a little early.

John brought the Jota Zytek back up to thirteenth when he came in to hand over to Sam on lap 97. Sam went out on harder wet pattern tyres and was now fourteenth.

By lap 106 Sam was thirteenth and closing on Bennett in the Kruse Courage ahead. Vanina Ickx was now third for Rollcentre and lapping as fast as McNish and JCW ahead.

On Lap 107 we again had a safety car, again it did not pick up the leader, Moller in the Lister was in the gravel at Woodcote, it went green on lap 112 then a lap later JCW stopped for fuel only.

Sam took Bouchut to claim eleventh still chasing Bennett in front but that gap was now only four seconds which he closed and at last arrived back in the top ten on lap 118. By lap 130 he was up to eighth with the old nail in sisth in front one of the next targets.

On lap 133 Sam passed Lieb for seventh and McNish passed JCW and on the next lap Sam passed Lienhard for sixth before making his final fuel stop on lap 137.

When Sam emerged he was down in eleventh again but many in front still had a stop to make, on lap 138 JCW made his final fuel stop then two laps later it was the turn of the Audi and Ortelli took over from McNish for the dash to the flag, Sam was back up to eighth. JCW is flying and closes right up to Ortelli’s tail and by lap 144 Sam was up to sixth.

From then until the finish on Lap 151 the Audi, DBA and the Jota Zytek were the fastest cars on the track. JCW had the worst of the back markers and his lights were less good than those of the Audi leaving him 6.5 seconds behind at the end. Sam set his fastest lap on lap 151 a 1.57.533, fourth LMP1 and still very much in with a chance for the championship.

This was a race of what ifs; What if they had gone for wet settings from the start, what if they had not had the extra stop at the beginning when Haruki was ill and the biggest of all what if the safety car and pit exit had been handled with the professionalism that teams racing at this level deserve.