The Intersport Racing Lola-AER, driven by Sam Hancock, Liz Halliday and Gregor Fisken, was forced to retire from the lead of the LMP2 class of the 2005 Le Mans 24 Hours, when its AER engine experienced a valvetrain problem at 01.30 hours on Sunday morning. The team was comfortably leading the LMP2 class at the time, with a four lap lead and were 14th overall.
Liz Halliday was at the wheel, towards the end of her second stint, when she started to pick up strange noises and vibrations coming from the back of the car. She originally thought that she might have got a puncture but the problem transpired to be with the engine. She came straight back into the pits, where the team tried to fix the problem. She rejoined the track but was forced back to the pits as the problem remained. She handed the car over to team mate Gregor Fisken but unfortunately, the problem was diagnosed as a broken valve within the engine and with no realistic chance to rectify it, the team had no choice but to withdraw car No.32 from the race.
Commenting on this year’s Le Mans experience, Sam Hancock said: “Every minute of this event has been a pleasure and I am delighted I had the opportunity to show how fast this car can go during the past two weeks. Liz and Gregor did a great job and I am sorry for the team that we were forced to retire, as every single member has done an awesome job. I am especially grateful to Liz and Gregor, who have been great team mates and who’s every single lap has been a wonderful surprise, in terms of pace and consistency. Their contribution to developing the set-up of the car for the race was spot-on and they gave super-accurate feedback. It is a shame we lost the engine, because our strategy was purpose built and we were extremely kind to it throughout the race. At least we can look back knowing that we did everything in our power to get the car to the finish. The conclusion from this weekend is that every part of the package has massive potential. The team is outstanding, we all know that the Lola chassis is quick and Liz and Gregor are becoming excellent endurance drivers. A huge thank you to all our sponsors and partners for supporting us.”
Describing the experience of her inaugural Le Mans, Liz Halliday said: “I had the best time of my life this weekend and I will never forget my first Le Mans. Driving the car through the night was unbelievable. I did a double stint and without the engine problems, I could have easily done a third one. The fitness work over the past few months has definitely paid off. During my last stint, we were the fastest LMP2 car on the track and I am very proud of this achievement. The team did a great job, so a huge vote of thanks to them; they worked so hard throughout the week to give us a great car and we did not have a single problem in the race until the engine problem happened. I will now work hard to secure a drive in the Petit Le Mans race at the end of the year.”
Driver Gregor Fisken was also unhappy with the retirement: “I am incredibly disappointed but this is something that we had no control of. To be leading the LMP2 class by four laps at 1.30am at Le Mans is a great achievement and something we should all be very proud of. I will certainly be back and I hope that it will be with Liz and Sam. Intersport did a great job throughout the weekend and I would like to thank them for their hard work and dedication.”
Intersport Racing’s Chief Engineer, Brian Alder said: “We had the perfect car to win this weekend; in fact this is the best set-up we’ve ever had. We got unlucky with an engine problem, when it dropped a valve at the end of Liz’s last stint. When this happened, we were cruising in the lead and looking after the car - it just goes to show the potential we had. We tried to rectify the problem when Liz was finishing her stint and when Gregor got in the car but it was terminal and we did not want to blow the engine on the track. Of course, I’m already looking forward to next year but now, the team will concentrate on winning the ALMS Championship. A big thank you to Sam, Liz and Gregor, who worked very well as a team, in and out of the car all weekend. I hope that we will work together again in the future.”
