IN SPA 1000 KILOMETRES
Penders, Lamot, Couwberghs Enjoy First LMS Experience
ProSpeed Competition had its third international outing of the year at yesterday’s Spa 1000kms, round four of the 2007 Le Mans Series. It what is arguably the most competitive endurance series in the world, Rudi Penders, Franz Lamot and Bart Couwberghs had set themselves the target of finishing in the top ten of their GT2 class, a mission which they accomplished by driving consistently and staying out of trouble in a race which was marked by accidents and the typical fickle Ardennes weather.
Bart Couwberghs set the qualifying time on the ProSpeed Competition Porsche 997 GT3 RSR. Incidentally, Couwberghs was one of just a handful of drivers who managed the stitch together their best times in all three sectors to set their fastest qualifying time. “We are understanding the car a bit better at each outing,” he said afterwards. “and we’re now actually faster on the harder customer Michelins then we were on the soft development tyres at the Spa 24 Hours, just by working on the set-up.”
Couwberghs took the start and had quite some fun for his first competitive outing amongst the low-flying LMP cars. “The first laps I ran together with the two Panoz. I had a great battle will them, they pulled away from me on the straights and I reeled them back in on the twistier parts. Then one of them hit me from behind under braking. A faster car passed me a he tried to follow through but just ran out of track. We both spun, but I got a stop-and-go for that. Then I got a warning for an Aston Martin spinning off behind me, but I never was involved in that. On TV it appeared as if he hit me, but he never did. He just went off on his own. The LMP cars are a different story; they really make you keep your eyes peeled. They obviously try to pass you wherever they can, but they are quite fair in their approach. If you don’t do anything silly you’re okay.”
Franz Lamot, who drove the middle stints, also experienced racing against the fast LMP machines for the first time. “The first couple of laps I was completely disoriented,” he said. “At each section of the track where you have to drive clean and committed to go fast I got swamped by a bunch of GT1s and LMPs. But from then on I managed to set consistent lap times. I had a bit of a race with the Belgian Ice Pol Ferrari – which was good – and I managed to avoid a flying exhaust when I exited Bruxelles where an LMP and a Panoz had crashed – which was even better. The LMPs didn’t give us any problems. I just stayed on my line and let them pass me. But the overall impression is that the racing is very hard in this series. Nevertheless, I feel this is the series where we want to be in 2008.”
Rudi Penders finished the race on a wet track. “I don’t think the track was dry for one complete lap in both stints,” he said, “but I stayed out on slicks regardless. We learned a great deal this weekend. We didn’t have the best tyre option, so with the tyres from the 24 Hours combined with this weekend’s knowledge we would at least have gained a second or more a lap, and that would have made a difference. Nevertheless, we feel comfortable in this series and the organisers also made us feel welcome, so hopefully in 2008 we can run a complete LMS programme.”
SPA 1000Kms RACE RESULTS1. Lamy/Sarazin Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP 143 laps2. Collard/Bouillon Pescarolo-Judd 01 + 2 laps3. Newton/Erdos MG-Lola-AER EX264 (1st LMP2) + 3 laps4. Tinseau/Premat Pescarolo-Judd 01 + 5 laps5. Amaral/De Castro/Burgeno Lola-AER B05/40 (2nd LMP2) + 6 laps6. Ortelli/Ayari Saleen S7-R (1st GT1) + 6 laps7. Theys/Lienhard/Van de Poele Lola-Judd B05/40 (3rd LMP2) + 7 laps8. Bouchut/Gardel/Gollin Aston Martin DBR9 (2nd GT1) + 7 laps9. Alphand/Policand/Goueslard Corvette C6.R (3rd GT1) + 9 laps10. Garcia/Fittipaldi Aston Martin DBR9 (4th GT1) + 9 laps17. Lieb/Pompidou Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (1st GT2) + 13 laps18. Bell/Simonsen Ferrari 430GT (2nd GT2) + 14 laps19. Bonetti/De Simone/Hernandez Ferrari 430 GT (3rd GT2) + 15 laps28. Penders/Lamot/Couwberghs Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (9th GT2) + 20 laps
2007 PROSPEED COMPETITION INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULEJanuary 12th-13th Dubai 24 Hours (UAE), non-championshipJune 24th Monza (I), FIA GT Round 4July 28th-29th Spa 24 Hours (B), FIA GT Round 6August 19th Spa 1000Kms (B), LMS Round 4October 6th Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta (USA), ALMS Round 11 (To be confirmed)October 21st Zolder (B), FIA GT Round 10 (To be confirmed)
