Le Mans Series

Paul Ricard Test Days – Monday afternoon report

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

At 14:00 the final session of the Le Mans Series Official Test Days at the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track got underway. One of the first cars out on the track was the #008 Signature Plus Lola Aston Martin, setting its fastest time on the first lap.

45 minutes into the session the Lola Aston Martin LMP1s were first and second, but the works car still unable to beat the customer car, chassis B09/60 HU03S (DBR1 – 2/3) for the sportscar purists. The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP had not been out on the track yet at that point.

After a brief red flag period (at 15:20) the track went green again and the Melo/Bruni AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT and Oreca 01 AIM of Ayari/Meyrick/André were the first cars to go out, almost as soon as the light went green again.

In the following minutes the fastest lap time was improved twice. First by the #13 Rebellion Racing Lola, improving it to 1:44.264 and almost instantly by the #6 Oreca 01 AIM again to 1:44.171.

While the cars were still out on the track news broke that Darren Turner had signed with JMW Motorsport for the full Le Mans Series season. Out on the track times were slowly improving, but mainly in the GT category.

At the front the Oreca 01 AIM kept lapping until 16:25 when the red flag came out again after the Matech Competition Ford GT came to a halt on the track; its undertray separated from the car. A few minutes later the stranded car was pulled onto a flatbed transporter and moved to safety.

As the track reopened lots of cars went out again, including the Oreca Peugeot. On one of its first flying laps the 908 HDi FAP already moved into fifth place, but after 10 laps it Nicolas Lapierre stopped the car. It was towed back to the paddock after the session.

The other Oreca car set the fastest lap time of the weekend on its 66th lap of the session. A 1:42.963 was enough to secure the top position of the test weekend.

Just after 17:00 the session ended…and all teams started to pack. Next stop: Paul Ricard again in one month for the opening round of the series.

(Special thanks to Jeff Carter for bringing Beechdean Farmhouse Dairy Ice Cream into the media centre towards the end of the session. Despite the chilly temperatures outside it was a welcome snack in the media centre)

#6 – AIM Team Oreca – Oreca 01 AIM– 1:42.963
#12 – Rebellion Racing – Lola B10/60 Rebellion – 1:44.025
#13 – Rebellion Racing – Lola B10/60 Rebellion – 1:44.264
#008 – Signature Plus – Lola Aston Martin – 1:44.502
#4 – Team Oreca Matmut – Peugeot 908 HDi FAP – 1:44.594
#009 – Aston Martin Racing – Lola Aston Martin – 1:45.342
#40 – Quifel-ASM Team – Ginetta-Zytek 09S – 1:46.584
#42 – Strakka Racing – HPD Acura ARX01c – 1:47.239
#25 – RML – Lola B08/80 HPD – 1:47.313
#30 – Racing Box – Lola B09/80 Judd – 1:49.063
#29 – Racing Box – Lola B09/80 Judd – 1:49.335
#35 – OAK Racing – Pescarolo 01 Judd – 1:49.769
#24 – OAK Racing – Pescarolo 01 Judd – 1:50.233
#41 – Team Bruichladdich – Ginetta-Zytek 09S – 1:50.403
#5 – Beechdean Mansell Motorsport – Ginetta-Zytek 09S – 1:51.431
#39 – KSM – Lola B08/47 Judd – 1:52.198
#48 – Hope Polevision Racing – FLM09 – 1:54.253
#44 – DAMS – FLM09 – 1:55.085
#49 – Applewood Seven – FLM09 – 1:55.643
#41 – Team Bruichladdich – Ginetta-Zytek – 1:56.075
#46 – JMB Racing – FLM09 – 1:56.578
#47 – Hope Polevision Racing – FLM09 – 1:57.243
#61 – Matech Competition – Ford GT – 1:58.243
#52 – Young Driver AMR – Aston Martin DBR9 – 1:58.819
#91 – CRS Racing – Ferrari F430 GT – 1:59.272
#96 – AF Corse – Ferrari F430 GT – 1:59.754
#68 – Marc VDS Racing Team – Ford GT – 1:59.842
#94 – AF Corse – Ferrari F430 GT – 1:59.907
#77 – Team Felbermayr Proton – Porsche 997 GT3 RSR – 1:59.976
#75 – Prospeed Competition – Porsche 997 GT3 RSR – 2:00:247
#92 – JMW Motorsport – Aston Martin V8 Vantage – 2:00.525
#95 – AF Corse – Ferrari F430 GT – 2:00.862
#76 – IMSA Performance Matmut – Porsche 997 GT3 RSR – 2:01.509
#90 – CRS Racing – Ferrari F430 GT – 2:02.209