Le Mans Series

Satisfying result for Epsilon-Euskadi at Spa

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

Satisfaction among the team after a race fought all the way, the result not as good thanks to teething problems. Joan Villadelprat and Sergio Rinland (respectively Epsilon Chairman and technical Director) “We are happy since we improved on all aspects including car handling, behavior and pit stop team performance. Only a throttle cable issue which costed us 3 laps prevented us to arrive on a place more in line with our car performance, eighth overall and sixth in class”.

Angel Burgueño took the start behind the wheel of the ee1 LMP1 which kept its position during the opening laps. On lap 13 Angel overtook Juan Barazi’s Zytek climbing to 13th place; a few laps later Angel managed the ee1’s fastest race lap in 2.07.972 just before the first pit stop.

Driver change happened only on lap 40 during the second pit stop when Miguel Angel de Castro started a double stint, in the meantime the Epsilon prototype was running 12th after overtaking the RML Lola. A bit later Miguel Angel returned the car to Burgueño on an excellent 9th place.

There were in total five full course cautions due to accidents among which Peugeot 908 nº 8 where Alexander Wurz was making his debut on the LMS. More places were progressively obtained when on lap 93 the last driver change happened and Angel Burgueño returned behind the wheel for a final stint. A few laps later the driver was back on the pitlane telling on the radio that a throttle issue was endangering the car’s control. The mechanics found the problem swiftly but the throttle cable change costed three laps to the team.

During the last moments of the race Angel was informed of the chance of catching two rivals and started lapping faster and faster, finally overtaking the Essex Porsche RS Spyder and the Trading Performance Zytek. With the late retirement of the 17 Pescarolo the car got to the chequered flag as 7th in class.

The team’s next race are the mythical 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s biggest endurance race. The staff will now focus on the improvements that the technician and engineers of Epsilon in Azkoitia have been preparing for this unique race. The 24 Hours start on June 14th at 15.00 to finish at the same time one day later. However, activity at Le Mans starts two weeks earlier with test day on June 1st. A true endurance test for man and machine which makes for an unevened and spectacular event.