Le Mans Series

LMS Barcelona 2009 – GT Qualifying Report

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

Yann Clairay and Gianmaria Bruni will start from GT1 and GT2 pole positions in tomorrow’s 1000km of Catalunya. In an uneventful qualifying session the Corvette took second place, but when the Reiter Lamborghini was found to be non-compliant the Corvette moved up one spot.

The first twenty minutes on Saturday afternoon were reserved for the GT cars. Unfortunately for the fans out on the stands only a handful of cars went out in the first minutes of the session and by the halfway point only six cars had set a fast lap, the Lamborghini Murcielago of Peter Kox fastest in 1:44.446.

By the time Kox had come into the pit again the other GT1 cars went out but none of the other drivers went quick enough to capture Kox’ time. Yann Clairay put the Corvette C6.R in second place, with Sebastien Dumez (Larbre Saleen) clinching third just before the end of the session.

Peter Kox praised the team and the tyres for his pole position. “I think the team did a good job, they prepared the car very well”, said Kox. “The biggest gain we had is the Michelin tyre. Because at the end of the day my nearest competitors are on a different tyre manufacturer and that is what made the difference. So I have to say thank you very much to Michelin as they made for me the biggest difference in the lap time.”

Unfortunately for Kox and the Reiter team the Lamborghini did not pass post-qualifying scrutineering and as a result the Lamborghini will now start from the back of the grid. The Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R has been promoted to GT1 pole position.

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

In GT2 no serious times were posted in the first part of the session, but when the big guns went for it. Gianmaria Bruni was the first to set a decent time in his JMW Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT2, but it was soon beaten by the IMSA Matmut Porsche of Patrick Pilet. Gianmaria Bruni wanted pole however and was able to beat Pilet’s time before ending his qualifying run.

Antonio Garcia joined the GT2 pole battle very late but was almost successful. After clocking a fast lap that put him in second place, a time that was beaten moments later by Richard Lietz, the Spaniard did one ultimate lap to the checkered flag. Unfortunately for Team Modena the lap was just not fast enough and Garcia had to put up with second place, 0.060 the gap between the two Ferrari’s.

GT2 pole man Bruni was mainly concerned about the LMP cars in tomorrow’s race. “We made some small adjustments for qualifying (…) I went into qualifying a little bit blind but I just tried my best and it was the right direction. I think we look good for the race. Tomorrow is obviously going to be a very long race, like all the Le Mans Series races.”, said Bruni “I think we’re all very close, Ferrari and Porsche, and the biggest problem will be the traffic and the not experienced drivers in LMP1 and 2. I will put money on that there will be a safety car after turn 1, but I hope to be not involved in that safety car. I think some drivers came in without experience and they don’t know how to pass.”