Le Mans Series

LMS Paul Ricard Test Days - Final session report

© Planetlemans.com - Marcel ten Caat // The Charouz Aston Martin Racing Lola

The Le Mans Series test came to an end at 17:00 local time, with Audi coming out on top with both the R10s. As expected the cars were much quicker than the other LMP1s. Today the other teams managed to close the gap to the fastest lap time a bit, but with Audi already on their way back to Germany today it is not possible to compare lap times. The Charouz Aston was quickest today.

Andrea Chiesa, who was onboard the Spyker today when it caught fire, was lucky to escape without injuries. His helmet showed heat damage and even his communication cable looked like it was about to melt. The team told us that an oil line had burst and that caused the car to catch fire. When the oil hit the tyres the car spun and because of the strong winds there was an almost instant inferno as the flames were blown over the car. Chiesa did not have the time to activate the onboard fire extinguisher as he tried to get out. Not really necessary to say that this car is a write-off.

With the 24 hour simulation ending at 13:00 it was time for a fresh start and so the timing screens started blank at 14:00. The Charouz Lola Aston Martin was pretty impressive this session as it clocked the fastest lap of the day. Apart from the Spyker fire that caused a 30-minute red flag period and a 4-minute red flag period towards the end of the session (caused by an Alphand Corvette) only a few small incidents happen this session.

The Racing Box Lucchini finally made it to the track in the final session, while the Epsilon-Euskadi team further improved its times. Remember this is only their first test session, apart from an airport shakedown, and it already beat most LMP2 cars and several LMP1s.

Here are the final times of the Monday session between 14:00 and 18:00

10 Charouz Racing System - 1:42.105
6 Team Oreca Matmut - 1:43.632
5 Team Oreca Matmut - 1:43.763
34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport - 1:43.829
31 Team Essex - 1:43.956
14 Creation Autosportif - 1:44.304
40 Quifel - ASM Team - 1:44.456
16 Pescarolo Sport - 1:44.742
20 Epsilon-Euskadi - 1:45.351
12 Charouz Racing System - Cytosport - 1:45.900
26 Team Bruichladdich Radical - 1:46.043
18 Rollcentre Racing - 1:46.092
4 Saulnier Racing - 1:49.698
55 IPB Spartak Racing - 1:53.668
72 Luc Alphand Aventures - 1:54.014
007 Aston Martin Racing - 1:54.574
61 Strakka Racing - 1:54.995
73 Luc Alphand Aventures - 1:55.114
50 Larbre Competition - 1:56.119
76 IMSA Performance Matmut - 1:58.746
96 Virgo Motorsport - 1:59.982
99 JMB Racing - 2:00.731
94 Speedy Racing Team - 2:02.187
75 IMSA Performance Matmut - 2:02.373
77 Team Felbermayr Proton - 2:02.713
93 Aston Martin Racing - 2:03.921
30 Racing Box - 2:03.997
98 JMB Racing - 2:08.895

The GT2 Aston Martin was not yet impressive. We should keep in mind that this is just a test mule. As most teams packed up the Gigawave Motorsport truck was seen just outside the paddock, waiting to get the clearance to drive into the paddock area. The team will test at Paul Ricard from tomorrow on.

Find the full entry list for the Paul Ricard Test Days here.