Analysis

Planetlemans analyzes the Nürburgring 1000 km

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

Peugeot continued their series of LMS victories at the Nürburgring this weekend scoring a clear 1-2 which reminded many people of their same result in 2007 at the Eifel circuit. The French diesels were solid, faster than the rest and had very good fuel economy which meant in fact that nobody (not even Audi) could get close to them at any point in the race.

It is clear that Peugeot has had a leap forward in all aspects and that on the side of their main rivals the R10 is nearing its retirement. Audi could not respond to Peugeot on their home race and even the expected longer period between refuelling was not there. This weekend’s announcement of Peugeot taking part at Petit Le Mans surely has Dr. not made Ullrich and his men any happier. True enough, nothing will compensate for the Le Mans win in the case of the Lion but they are certainly determined to defeat Audi wherever else they can this season.

For the first time since the coming of the diesels to the LMS a petrol car was able to get much closer to the leaders pace, especially in qualifying. A faultless race from the Charouz Lola-Aston Martin saw them finish 5th showing tremendous progress since the Le Mans 24 Hours; a very auspicious improvement which could be a sign of things to come in 2009.

The rest of the petrol swarm was a bit further back, Oreca and Pescarolo fighting it behind the Czech car, the Pescas hitting trouble as well as the number 6 Oreca which was anyway racing conditionally after Olivier Panis backed up at pitlane exit during Saturday’s qualifying. Lots of progress for Epsilon Euskadi however the Spanish team could not translate this into results at the finish line; both cars finished the race though (one not classified) which is also somehow rewarding.

Creation showed once more that the Blue Rocket has known better days, the persistence and work of their team got them a finish but just that, the car is not at the level we were used to just 2 years ago and this should be food for thought for the future. Another non-classified finisher was Lavaggi, in the best performance ever the Monegasque team completed 110 laps and saw the chequered flag. A best time of 1.49.804 during the race was not bad considering the little testing the car has and the fact that they were running on the same tyres they had used during practice.

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

In LMP2 it was almost a monologue by the van Merksetijn team. Except for a brief tyre issue which was solved by changing compounds the Verstappen-Bleekemolen combination was demolishing and only briefly threatened by a very quick Casper Elgaard on the Essex Porsche. But there was a non-Porsche star on second and it was the Pierre Ragues-Mathieu Lahaye Saulnier Pescarolo. They had impressed before already getting a Le Mans podium in their debut at La Sarthe, but this time they managed to beat two Porsches (both Essex and Horag hit mechanical issues) and go on to a great result.

Very good race also from Essex, pushing to recover the minutes lost at the pits and getting a final 3rd position which nevertheless has enabled the van Merksteijn team and Jos Perstappen to become anticipated LMP2 LMS champions for 2008. Significant progress was shown by both Embassy and the Zyteks; the Darren Manning- Joey Foster duo getting Jonathan France his best result to date as a constructor and finally rewarding the etam with good points. The Jonny Kane-Warren Hughes car was delayed by mechanical issues but was putting also a very good show on the track.
On the Zytek camp an early spin by Juan Barazi prevented them to be closer to the top of the field but the gap with the Porsches starts to become smaller, Michael Vergers less than a second shy of Verstappen’s best lap time. It was a troubled day for the Lolas, Speedy-Sebah again with excellent speed but poor reliability while Olivier Pla shined during the first period on the Quifel ASM Lola. Regular race from RML but the team is clearly out of contention for wins this year as the bar has been risen substantially in this class.

A final word for Horag, they had a very good race and Jan Lammers had managed to get the car up to second in class after good stints from Theys and Lienhard but a late oil reservoir problem robbed them of a good result.

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

In GT1 the race was a Modena monologue from start to finish, Tomas Enge and Antonio García were simply on a league of their own and won a brilliant race. The Luc Alphand Corvettes got hit in traffic and had to work hard to get one of them (the 72 lead car) out and classified even if it meant using parts of the 73 to do so. An important achievement as the IPB Lamborghini did not manage to finish (they were running a good race in second when the car simply stopped) and this meant a hard-earned second spot for the French team.

Virgo demonstrated they are the class of the field at GT2. Starting from the back after a fuel fire almost eliminated them on Friday the drivers paid back the team efforts with a victory based on speed and solid driving. Before a third of the race was elapsed Gianmaria Bruni had already put the yellow car in the lead and Rob Bell just took where the Italian left it to go quicker and quicker not giving their rivals any chance.

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

The Porsches were handicapped by tyre performance and both the lead Felbermayr and IMSA cars completed the podium but were 2 laps behind the Virgo car. A very good performance from Stéphane Daoudi and Ben Aucott also on the JMB Ferrari, Daoudi pretty quick when he had to defend from a challenge from the 85 Spyker and Peter Dumbreck past mid-race point.

The Spyker could have gone further than 5th but a touch from behind courtesy of Casper Elgaard had Ralk Kelleners lose quite some time even if the car was unharmed. Good performance from the Dutch team with their new engines, even when the 94 Speedy car had to retire in the latest stages of the race.

It was not a race with a lot of lead changes but there were very few retirements and quite some action in all classes. After the German race the LMS will be at Silverstone next month for the last race of the season. The LMP1 championship is still wide open with the number 7 Peugeot only 2 points ahead of the number 2 Audi. LMP2 is already decided as described before but both GT1 and GT2 are undecided as well and that promises quite some battling on the track when we get to England.