Tomas Enge placed the Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 second on the LMGT1 class grid for today’s Autosport 1000km of Silverstone Le Mans Series race. The team waited until ten minutes were left in the 20-minute session before sending the rapid Czech racer out, and his first flying lap was enough to see the team second quickest and 30th overall, heading their championship rivals.

“We are satisfied with the performance and set-up,” Team Principal Graham Schultz, “it should be an early day for the crew. We are in a good position for the race and with second quickest by Tomas we expect to be in the lead of the race quite quickly.”

With the sun now out at Silverstone, the track was fully dry for the session and the track temperatures the highest the team had seen during the meeting, but the technical crew adjusted the set-up accordingly giving Tomas a car he could push hard with. The rain yesterday and overnight had cleaned the track of the rubber put down in the first day’s running, reducing the available grip for the drivers.

“The lap was clear,” said Tomas, “it is all about having the grip and after the rain yesterday afternoon and early this morning the grip is not there and we have a very green track. The car was ok with a good balance, there was just a little bit of understeer but we know why so it is not an issue and we know what to expect in the race if it is fully dry.

I think we have made the right tyre selection for the race and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. Our target is just to win the race and see what happens to the others, all we can do is go for the victory.”

Unusually for an LMS meeting there is no warm-up first thing so the next track action will be when the pit lane opening at 10.50 for the cars to go to the grid before the race start at 11.20. The event is scheduled for 195-laps of the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, with a six-hour time limit.

With the sun now out at Silverstone, the track was fully dry for the session and the track temperatures the highest the team had seen during the meeting, but the technical crew adjusted the set-up accordingly giving Tomas a car he could push hard with. The rain yesterday and overnight had cleaned the track of the rubber put down in the first day’s running, reducing the available grip for the drivers.

“The lap was clear,” said Tomas, “it is all about having the grip and after the rain Friday afternoon and early Saturday morning the grip is not there and we have a very green track. The car was ok with a good balance, there was just a little bit of understeer but we know why so it is not an issue and we know what to expect in the race if it is fully dry.

I think we have made the right tyre selection for the race and we’ll see how it goes. Our target is just to win the race and see what happens to the others, all we can do is go for the victory.”