RML MG Lola wins LMP2

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July 3, 2007 in Motorsport

RML MG Lola wins LMP2

at Nurburgring 1000 km’s

The RML driver pairing of Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos secured a memorable LMP2 victory in the Nurburgring 1000 kilometers for Round 3 of the 2007 Le Mans Series.

In a race where few cars encountered the usual problems, it was an especially sweetwin for the Wellingborough-based team. The knowledge that they had beaten toughopposition on pace alone came as rich reward after the disappointment of missing out ona hat-trick of class wins in the Le Mans 24 Hours just a fortnight ago.

That sensation also came as some recompense for the many occasions over the past two seasons whennear-certain victory has been snatched away at the last moment by a bizarre failure orunforeseen mishap. This time, against one of the toughest grid's yet amassed for the LeMans Series, the RML AD Group MG EX264 swept through from start to finish in asupreme demonstration of pit lane efficiency and unbeatable pace.

Following on from claiming pole on Saturday, Thomas Erdos drove a faultless firstdouble-stint. The red, white and blue MG lead the LMP2 class all the way, save for athree-lap break created by an early pitstop for fuel, and he handed over at the end of twohours with a lead of over a minute from the second-placed Quifel ASM Lola.

Mike Newton, who had already demonstrated a considerable improvement in speedduring free practice, maintained that level of pace for the next third of the race. Lappingconsistently and without drama, he was able to hand back the MG for the final two hourswith the advantage comfortably intact. It then rested with Thomas Erdos to steer the carhome; a feat he achieved with considerable finesse, not only extending the lead, butsetting a new race lap record along the way of 1:49.031

"That was absolutely brilliant!" said an overjoyed Erdos. "This is why we do what we do.To come here and beat the opposition purely on pace alone is a great feeling. The carwas perfect, and it was a simple fact that nobody had an answer to what we were able todo."

Adam Wiseberg, Motorsport Director for AD Group, shared that exuberance. "What aperformance by everyone in the team", he said. "The pit crew, the team manager, andmost of all, the two drivers. What they have achieved today is simply remarkable. Thatfirst double-stint from Tommy broke the back of the opposition, and a cool, mature drivefrom Mike maintained the advantage.

"This has been a fantastic race to win, not least because it has come as a result of our maintaining a faster pace than everyone else."

"Part of that credit must go to the pit crew. The RML MG spent less time in the pits thanany other car save one, and that achievement was wholly down to the efficiency andexperience of the engineers and mechanics servicing the car.

"The guys achieved some excellent pitstops", agreed Phil Barker, Team Manager at RML. "The car was consistent, and both drivers were on top of their game, and it was a great all-round performance."Mike Newton could not take the smile off his face. "We wondered at the start of the yearif we would be able to match the pace of the new chassis and drivers line-ups when wecame to a race where everyone ran clean and strong. We quite expected we'd have tosettle for second, or worse. This has been that race, and yet we’ve won, on pace alone.Up against the toughest opposition, we've beaten them all, and that feels very, verygood."

The next round is at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on August 19th. After the rush ofthe last ten days, since Le Mans, the next few weeks will come as a welcome break forthe team.