Analysis

Planetlemans analyzes the Monza 1000km

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

Looking back it will probably be the race of the year. It had absolutely everything, including some not so nice aspects regarding three big accidents during the weekend, two of those in fact sending drivers to the hospital. The race itself was a cracker in all classes, two of the class results (including overall) being significantly affected by contact on the track and one being defined by the technical scrutineering after the race itself. All ingredients were therefore present to raise the temperature on the road to Le Mans.

Monza is a high speed circuit and this time around the associated danger took unfortunately many of the headlines. It started on Saturday during qualifying when Jamie Campbell-Walter hit the second chicane barriers really hard with the number 14 Creation after getting his wheels on the grass under braking and losing the car. This year there was no gravel trap in the area and the car buried its nose under the barrier getting the driver’s head as well under it and causing him hairline fractures in two of his vertebrae that will keep Campbell-Walter away of the circuits for some time. A very unlucky moment indeed for Jamie and we send him our best wishes for recovery from the Planetlemans crew.

As for the race itself, it started as expected with the two Peugeots rapidly building a gap with the Capello-McNish Audi, the second Ingolstadt car having to start from the pitlane after stalling on its way to the grid. A few laps later Dindo “clipped” the Rollcentre Pescarolo while overtaking and contact was made sending his car on a flying excursion which caused severe damage to the R10 and forced it into the garage. An absolutely amazing recovery by the Audi mechanics had the car back on track after about 15 minutes and a catch-up race was about to begin.

Both Audis playing catch-up the race was now between both Peugeots and the Charouz Lola-Aston which had to go into the pits at the second hour with a misfiring engine and was also sentenced to the same fate as the Audis, trying to grab some points from the back. However, car number 2 was running very well and (in true Audi fashion) developing a very tactical race that would result in less pit stops taking advantage of the yellow flag periods to gain on the leaders. Or, better said, the sole leader as driveshaft failure from Peugeot number 7 took the polesitters to the garage before the second hour already and caused them to lose contact with the top of the field.

The race continued with the Audi behind the number 8 Peugeot until almost one hour before race end disaster stroke as the Oreca number 5 of Stéphane Ortelli had a failure under braking at the first chicane and became airborne landing about 300 meters further after a horrific accident. A broken ankle for Ortelli as only consequence is the testimony to the safety of the tub, which had to endure an enormous amount of damage on its way to the guard rail where the tumbling finally came to a stop. A very important remark here as well is the attitude of Allan McNish whose car was missed by mere inches by the flying Oreca and immediately radioed his team to get the ambulances to the crash site. Hats off to the Scotsman for that swift decision and speed of reaction. Our best wishes for recovery for Stéphane Ortelli as well, the good news late Saturday evening about his state were a big relief for all of us at Monza.

With the safety car out Audi found itself in the lead with Rockenfeller-Prémat, Peugeot number 8 with Lamy-Sarrazin in second close behind. As debris was cleared and racing resumed Lamy initiated a furious chase of Rockenfeller which had him inadvertedly overtake a back marker under yellow as one of the Embassys was being towed by a tractor after retiring. Ignorant of the fact that he had to serve a stop and go penalty since he never saw the yellow flag, Lamy attacked and jumped the first chicane overtaking Rockenfeller so he had to let the Audi retake the lead.

At this point Audi had informed Rockenfeller of his rival’s stop and go but he assumed Lamy would not actually stop as he had let him through already… little did Rockenfeller know that the penalty had been given for another reason so he kept fighting as did Lamy who still had not been radioed the message to stop. As the story goes, both cars kept fighting and collided entering the first chicane causing the Audi a rear left puncture which forced them to do a very slow lap and in fact costed them what seemed an almost secured win. Even after serving the penalty the Peugeot emerged on top and eventually crossed the line in first after 4 hours 59 minutes of racing giving the victory to Lamy-Sarrazin.

Audi were clearly unhappy, in fact very unhappy about the incident but in sportive manner did not file a protest although the “friendly rivalry” between the two diesel squads might have hit a rock bottom point at this stage. With Le Mans a few weeks away it is clear now that tension has risen between both teams so Spa will be the next chance to check the atmosphere on the way to La Sarthe.

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

On the petrol side with the Lola-Aston out of contention early on (despite their very strong pace) it was the return of Pescarolo, this time in a great fight with Creation for third overall. With the lead car from Henri gone after a crash (a very rare incident indeed) Creation seemed to have the winning hand until a last lap daring manoeuvre by Christophe Tinseau at the first chicane got the 17 car ahead of the Blue Rocket and got the good old “Casque Verte” a podium again. Very strong race from both these cars with Creation confirming what the first stint at Barcelona had already insinuated.

A finish also from Rollcentre despite some difficulties (the Dindo clash, Vanina Ickx spinning a few minutes after that) and a good performance by rookie Duncan Tappy and Vanina to get Martin Short’s team an overall 7th behind the two “recovered” numbers 7 (Peugeot) and 1 (Audi) diesels. It looked like a good weekend again for Oreca with good speed during the first stints until mechanical issues first and Ortelli’s accident later ruined their weekend. Finally both cars were not classified. Progress is visible but more hard work (which is their trade mark) is needed for the team of de Chaunac to finalize races and score big points.

As mentioned, Creation had contrasting fortunes with one car virtually destroyed on Saturday and the other missing the overall podium by a whisker. The AIM power plant is doing its job and the Blue Rocket vs Pescarolo duels from days past seem to be back, even when it’s in the shadow of the diesel domination. A final mention for the Epsilon Euskadi which had to retire when they were up in fifth position, the Spanish prototype is progressing in leaps and bounds and it would not be a surprise to see them challenge the top petrol teams before the end of the season. A very commendable job indeed from Villadelprat, Rinland and the whole team constantly improving the beautiful looking black car. It is time for a big (Spanish?) sponsor to really start supporting this effort in the wake of Le Mans, it has all the ingredients of a winner.

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

In LMP2 it was again Porsche, this time with all three RS Spyders on the podium and a first win by Team Essex on the Dunlop tyres as a very happy “Big” John Nielsen remarked after the race pointing to his yellow pet. The Danes did a faultless race with good rhythm and collected a much welcome victory which keeps them as serious title contenders and will be attracting the traditional Danish flocks to Le Mans this year. Second went to the van Merksteijn by Equipe Verschuur team which lost precious minutes to repair the damaged rear bodywork after being hit by one of the Spykers entering the second chicane. Some overheated words about the incident were exchanged in the Dutch press but in the end what will remain is a solid performance by Peter van Merksteijn and two amazingly quick stints by Jos Verstappen which took the Dutch team rightfully back into the podium.

Horag managed also a podium thanks to regularity even when veteran Didier Theys ended briefly on the gravel trap at Lesmo. Another good job for a team we will certainly miss at La Sarthe. Behind these three the battle raged after the Speedy-Sebah Lola was delayed by a long pit stop in the second hour of the race. It was good to see the Barazi Zytek fighting again with the usual speed of Michael Vergers complemented this time by a fantastic prototype debut of Brazilian talent Fernando Rees who was very quick all weekend through.

Unfortunately the dark blue Zytek would not see the finish line but it would be RML to get the first non-Porsche place scoring 4th after a tough race. A good effort as well from the Saulnier LMP2 Pescarolo, running for a good part of the race in the top 5 and showing good pace again. Kruse-Schiller and Quifel ASM followed and collected points clearly showing that the presence of Porsche has left the rest (exception made of the Speedy-Sebah Lola) quite behind, Kai Kruse reaching his bjective of collecting points at a track which has smiled on him for the last two years.

An unfortunate weekend for the Bruichladdich Radical which stopped early on in the race and the Trading Performance Zytek which deserved better after showing evolution from the Barcelona race, will their luck take a turn for the better at Spa? Embassy was heading for a very good finish after a sensational drive by Jonny Kane and Joey Foster when the car stalled after Curva Grande and needed to be towed away to the disappointment of Jonathan France and team. However, it is clear that we’ve seen substantial improvement and, even when challenged by the short period in between races, the hard work of the British team starts paying off in terms of pace. They are on the right track.

A final remark for the Racing Box Lucchini which is clearly not up to par in this class and the WR-Salini which had trouble even keeping up with GT2 pace at times during the weekend. Serious work needs to be done on these two cars to at least mingle with the rest of the class. The Italian team had an impeccable season in 2007 with the GT1 Saleen so it’s frustrating to see them struggling this way, was the Lucchini the right tub choice after all?

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

In GT1 the race was very close for the whole 5 hours, Team Modena managing a well deserved victory after their bitter disappointment at Barcelona. A fantastic fight between the Tomas Enge-Antonio García driven Aston Martin and the Guilaume Moreau-Patrice Goueslard-Olivier Beretta Luc Alphand Corvette showed again that this class is a very competitive one despite the small field. Both cars were constantly exchanging positions during their respective pit stops and the fight in the first half hour was wonderful to watch.A much better performance than in Barcelona by the 73 Luc Alphand Corvette got them a well deserved third ahead of the IPB Lamborghini which, as Peter Kox signalled at Barcelona, still lacks pace to challenge the other cars in class for a win.

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

The GT2 class had a dramatic end beyond the track when a very well deserved and hardly fought victory by the 76 IMSA-Matmut Porsche was cancelled by the technical scrutinizers, the car seemingly not compliant with the rules by having a non functioning data collection device, apparently a disconnect at airbox level. Victory was inherited therefore by the 91 Farnbacher Porsche which also had a solid race and finished in front of their Ferrari-driving team mates in an unusual 1-2 by a team running simultaneously two rival makes.

A very bitter race for Virgo, suffering a left rear puncture before Ascari which damaged the bodywork going back to the pits just at the point that Rob Bell was finishing his stint and was about to hand over to Gianmaria Bruni. The Roman took over the yellow 430GT but the team had failed to clear the debris on the affected area which caused a second puncture on the same wheel right on pitlane exit. This meant another slow lap to get back to the pits and a potential race victory gone, despite the blazing speed with which both drivers tried to get back in contention later on.

Another dramatic ending would unfold for Spyker, an engine chain braking literally at the last corner and due to team-driver miscommunication the number 85 headed from Parabolica into the pits as the winner Peugeot was crossing the finish line. It would have been a fourth place in class after IMSA’s disqualification but it was not to be, a bit of a consolation is that the place was inherited by the 94 Speedy sister car bringing good points into the Dutch team’s tally thanks to Swiss duo Andrea Chiesa-Benjamin Leuenberger.

Good races as well for the JMB Ferraris finishing 3rd and 5th in class, the JWA Porsche on the other side struggled to finish and there was also quite some disappointment for the 77 Felbermayr car with a very long stop early on which basically ruined their race even if they were able to manage the chequered flag.

Summarizing, it was a great race to watch despite the heavy shunts and the bitter taste one gets in those cases. As an appetizer for Spa and Le Mans it could not have been better, this time it is not only the competition and the quality of the cars but emotions also started running high. It is good to see passion associated to commitment and the Audi vs Peugeot duel will be seriously loaded by the time we go to La Sarthe, not just a tactical “I cover my pitbox” kind of duel but it will be also with adrenaline on the track. Isn’t that what racing fans love to see? In the meantime a small piece of advice: if you can make it to Spa go there, watching this duel in one of the most beautiful tracks in Europe will be priceless.