Starting the third round of the Le Mans Series at the Nurburgring with fourth on the gird, Japanese driver Hideki Noda was well positioned to secure a strong result. Unfortunately just eight laps into the six hour race, the number 13 Courage Competition tagged Noda’s 06S from behind at the hairpin, resulting in a spin and a punctured right rear tyre. With an early pit stop unavoidable, Zytek lost valuable time changing the damaged tyre and returned to the track in 20th position.
Hideki Noda and teammate Stefan Johansson charged their way back up the field putting in lap times as competitive as the leaders. However, it was a starter motor problem that prevented the two experienced drivers clawing back any further places, as each pit stop became longer than expected with the starter motor requiring attention. The team worked hard to prevent too many places being lost through the slow pit stops, and the ex-formula one drivers finished the 1000km race in seventh place, fifth in the top LMP1 class.
Zytek Motorsport’s Race Director Trevor Foster commented after the race, “It was a great shame that we experienced these minor problems; first the puncture and then the starter motor problems delaying us from exiting the pits as quickly as we would have liked. Both drivers were right on the pace throughout the race, registering very competitive lap times. It is just unfortunate that these small problems got in the way of us securing a podium place.”
The LMS championship table now sees Zytek in third place, with two rounds to run later this season.
In LMP2 class the Zytek-engined Binnie Motorsport team put a problematic qualifying session behind them to deliver a great performance. Despite starting from the back of the grid, Bill Binnie’s team worked their way through the field to finish second in the competitive LMP2 class. Binnie Motorsport is now just four points behind the leaders in the championship, in a close third position. With two rounds of the series remaining the championship is well within the sights of Binnie’s team.
Zytek Motorsport will compete in the next round of the LMS at Donington Park on 26th-27th August.
