Tom had a disappointing return to the American Le Mans Series when a fuel system failure robbed him and the team of a certain podium finish……
Driving the Arena Motorsport entered Zytek 07s with regular IRL driver Darren Manning as his team mate, Tom had hoped for a strong result in the series where he won at Laguna Seca two years ago.
The regulations have changed for 2007 and it was a greater challenge to get the Zytek LMP1 car competitive this time around, but throughout testing the team steadily improved. Darren was elected to qualify and suffered with a set up which didn’t reflect the team’s early performance. Tom therefore had to start the race from 11th place on the grid and set about gaining places back in his first stint.
At the first pit stop taken under a safety car period, Tom handed over to Darren with his hard work having lifted the team to 7th place. Darren continued the excellent progress and when he pitted under another safety car, a calculated decision by the team not to change tyres gained more places and they were up to 4th.
With two hours of the race gone Darren took the lead after a tremendous battle with the leading Porsches. He was pulling away from the field when another safety car period closed everyone back up again. At the restart Darren struggled with the colder tyres suffering from excessive pick-up and he couldn’t hold on to the lead. Then disaster struck as he was knocked into a spin by one of the Porsches and hit hard by a following car. The damage forced an unscheduled pit stop for repairs and the delay cost the team many places.
With over 5 minutes lost in the pits the team dropped to 15th place, but Tom and Darren continued to battle on. They got back up to 9th place overall and amazingly were 3rd in the LMP1 class. A puncture during one of Darren’s stints forced another unscheduled stop and Tom had to also pit early when some bodywork damaged earlier on came loose. Even so their lead over the next placed LMP1 car was considerable and after 7 hours of racing it appeared they only had to keep going to secure the class podium.
Unfortunately it wasn’t to be. With just over 200 miles of the race remaining the fuel system failed and this time there was nothing the team could do. With Tom stranded out on the circuit he tried desperately to find a way of fixing the problem but it was to prove terminal.
Everyone’s tremendous effort had been in vain. The certain podium vanished and huge disappointment filled the team as Tom explained;
“It is such a blow to lose out now. We’ve had so many hurdles to overcome and it was looking good for the podium in LMP1. Actually it would probably have been an overall podium if the Porsche hadn’t hit Darren off. With all the unscheduled stops it was amazing to be where we were and it would have been a great boost to the team who have all worked so hard this week.”
Tom’s focus now shifts to this weekend and the final rounds of the BTCC at Thruxton. He will be hoping for better fortune as he seeks his first win to help Vauxhall secure the manufacturer’s championship. Practice is on Saturday with the three races on Sunday 14th October. Live TV coverage on ITV1 will follow all the action in the season finale.
