Lola again demonstrated the potential of the all-new B05/40 chassis when reigning LMES LMP2 champion Sam Hancock set fastest time in class at the test weekend for the Le Mans 24-hours. The 25 year old Briton lapped the 13.6km circuit in a time of 3 minutes 44.426s in the AER-powered Intersport entered Lola, just two tenths of a second faster than the RML-run MG-Lola of Tommy Erdos. Three Lola’s have been entered into the 24-hour race, and none had any major problems throughout the nine hours of practice yesterday (Sunday), of which some of the afternoon session was interrupted by rain.
“Everyone knows that the car is inherently good, and the team was running a fantastic set-up in the US,” said Hancock. “They really have been doing a great job because we made some minor changes here, and have gradually worked back to their US settings. We had only hard compound Goodyear tyres, and the time was set on tyres which were at least a stint-and-a-half old and on half tanks. We tried a low downforce aero package, but I was baulked by traffic and so we were not able to see the difference. The car is very quick, the engine is strong and the drivers are all getting onto the pace.”
Hancock will share the Intersport Lola with Californian racer Liz Halliday and Briton, Gregor Fisken who has previous experience of the car having driven at Sebring in March.
Brazilian, Tommy Erdos took to the track in the last half hour to confirm a change to the set-up of the RML-run Lola but the team was otherwise happy with the performance and reliability of the car. The Brazilian driver set a time of 3 minutes 44.614s, second fastest in class. His team mate Warren Hughes set a time marginally slower than his team mate but was re-acquainting himself with the classic La Sarthe track. “I haven’t been here for three years,” said Hughes, who drove the Lola-MG EX257 on its unforgettable debut at Le Mans in 2001 and 2002. Both Hughes and Erdos are sharing the RML Group entered car, powered by an MG badged engine with Mike Newton, who had a long run in the afternoon session, checking fuel consumption.
The Chamberlain Synergy team of Bob Berridge, Peter Owen and Gareth Evans was fifth fastest in class with a time of £m47.586s, despite a throttle actuator problem at the end of the morning session. “There was no real drama, nothing that could have stopped us in the race,” said a delighted Berridge after the test. “When the car stopped on the circuit, we decided to leave it there because there was only 20 minutes of the session left, so we let it come back on the lorry.”
The team ended the day chasing a minor problem, which caused a loss of power. “We have a little gremlin in the car,” said Berridge. “We have lost 10km/h, so when I did the qualifying run I had no grunt.”
The teams now have just a week before the famous scrutineering takes place at the scenic Place De Jacobins in downtown Le Mans. Qualifying gets underway next Wednesday with a two hour session at 19.00 with a further one at 21.00. This format continues on Thursday with the the race beginning at 16.00 on Saturday afternoon.
TEST TIMES
Pos / Drivers / Entrant / Car/Engine / No Class / Best Time / Laps
1. Collard EBoullion JcComas E Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo Judd 16 LM1 3:32.468 872. Loeb S*Helary EAyari S Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo Judd 17 LM1 3:35.893 + 3.425 963. Cochet JNakano S*Jouanny B* Courage Competition Courage Judd 13 LM1 3:37.674 + 5.206 614. Lehto JjWerner M Champion Racing Audi R8 3 LM1 3:38.719 + 6.251 765. Michigami RAra SKaneishi K Jim Gainer International Dome Mugen 5 LM1 3:38.875 + 6.407 376. Short MBarbosa JIckx V Rollcentre Racing Dallara Judd 18 LM1 3:38.976 + 6.508 827. Montagny FGounon JmOrtelli S Audi Playstation Oreca Audi R8 4 LM1 3:39.060 + 6.592 878. Biela FPirro E Champion Racing Audi R8 2 LM1 3:39.418 + 6.950 619. Minassian NCampbell WWallace A Creation Autosportif DBA Judd 7 LM1 3:39.568 + 7.100 6710. Schwager D*Frei AVann C Courage Competition Courage Judd 12 LM1 3:39.633 + 7.165 7011. Lammers JJulian E*Bosch J Racing For Holland Dome Judd 10 LM1 3:41.507 + 9.039 8912. Hignett S*Stack J*Kurosawa H Team Jota - Zytek Zytek 04S 9 LM1 3:42.739 + 10.271 5513. Fisken GHalliday E*Hancok S Intersport Racing Lola AER 32 LM2 3:44.426 + 11.958 7214. Erdos TNewton MHughes W RML Lola MG 25 LM2 3:44.614 + 12.146 6715. Bennett P*Mitchell I*Mullen T* Kruse Motorsport Courage Judd 30 LM2 3:45.844 + 13.376 6016. Belmondo PAndre DSutherland R Paul Belmondo Racing Courage C65 For 37 LM2 3:46.522 + 14.054 5117. Evans RBerridge ROwen P* Chamberlain Synergy Motor Lola AER 39 LM2 3:47.586 + 15.118 6418. Verdoen Roe*Krumm MPrimat H* Rollcentre Racing Dallara Nissan 8 LM1 3:49.826 + 17.358 3819. Enge TKox PLamy P Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 58 GT1 3:50.033 + 17.565 8720. Brabham DSarrazin STurner D Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 59 GT1 3:50.539 + 18.071 8721. Macaluso J*James I*Lally A* Miracle Motorsports Courage AER 34 LM2 3:50.947 + 18.479 5122. Peroni P-G*Francioni F*Savoldi M* Lucchini Engineering Lucchini Judd 45 LM2 3:51.350 + 18.882 3623. Fomenko NVasiliev ABouchut Ch Cirtek Motorsport Ferrari 550Maranello 61 GT1 3:53.635 + 21.167 5424. Gosselin CyOjjeh K*Sharpe A Paul Belmondo Racing Courage C65 Ford 36 LM2 3:53.655 + 21.187 4125. Zlobin S*Migault FBarazi J* Intersport Racing Courage Judd 33 LM2 3:53.735 + 21.267 4126. Gavin OBeretta OMagnussen J Corvette Racing Corvette C6-R 64 GT1 3:54.183 + 21.715 9027. Goueslard PDupard OVosse V Larbre Competition Ferrari 550Maranello 50 GT1 3:55.340 + 22.872 6728. Amorin NIannetta R*Pillon Ch Del Bello Noel Courage - CG 31 LM2 3:56.044 + 23.576 3729. Fellows RO'connel JPapis M Corvette Racing Corvette C6-R 63 GT1 3:56.174 + 23.706 9230. Terada YRoussel PBinnie W Rachel Welter WR Peugeot 24 LM2 3:57.780 + 25.312 4031. Gollin F*Pescatori C.Ramos M BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550Maranello 51 GT1 3:58.199 + 25.731 8332. Bartyan M*Malucelli M*Seiler T BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550Maranello 52 GT1 3:58.428 + 25.960 6333. Hillebrand VHahn F*Leroch J-F* Force Racing Courage C65 Judd 35 LM2 4:03.301 + 30.833 1834. Rostan MHaezebrouck PBruneau P* Bruneau Pierre Pilbeam JPX 20 LM2 4:03.688 + 31.220 3235. De Fournoux JrDaoudi S JMB Racing Ferrari 575 GTC 69 GT1 4:04.435 + 31.967 1736. Petersen M*Long PBernhard T White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 90 GT2 4:04.915 + 32.447 6537. Auberlen BLiddell RMaxwell Sc Panoz Motor Sports Panoz Elan 77 GT2 4:05.059 + 32.591 5338. Dumas RDumez S*Narac R* Raymon Narrac Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 76 GT2 4:05.367 + 32.899 5539. Hindery LRockenfeller MLieb M Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 71 GT2 4:06.464 + 33.996 6640. Van Overbeek*Pechnik L*Neiman S* Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 80 GT2 4:08.406 + 35.938 8141. Bouvet JbBoulay SJulien R* Gerard Welter WR 23 LM2 4:08.550 + 36.082 2642. Kinch N*Kirkaldy A*Reid A Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 360 Modena 93 GT2 4:10.180 + 37.712 4943. Policand JCampbell Ch*Alphand L Luc Alphand Aventures Porsche 911 GT3 RS 72 GT2 4:12.274 + 39.806 7744. Coronel TCrevels D*Van Merkesteijn P Spyker Squadron Spyker C8 Spyder GT 85 GT2 4:13.263 + 40.795 2545. Sellers B*Franchitti M*Bourdais P Panoz Motor Sports Panoz Elan 78 GT2 4:13.734 + 41.266 4646. Pompidou X*Blanchemain JlYamagishi Y* T2M Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3 RS 91 GT2 4:14.988 + 42.520 6147. Nielsen L EThyrring T*Ehret P* Sebah Automotive Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 89 GT2 4:16.032 + 43.564 7048. Macari J*Ericsson S*Wilson R Cirtek Motorsport Ferrari 360 Modena 92 GT2 4:16.687 + 44.219 5449. Collin PFelbermayr H*Shep D Seikel Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 83 GT2 4:20.543 + 48.075 7950. Hartshorne J*Stanton RJohnson P* RaceSport Peninsula TVR TVR Tuscan T400R 95 GT2 4:25.304 + 52.836 67
