Repton prepared engines win every LMS round
Zytek Nissan-engined cars finished first and second in the LMP2 class at yesterday’s Six Hours of Estoril. The result capped a superb Le Mans Series season in which the 4.5-litre VK45DE power unit won its category at every round and in which the Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan Z11SN claimed the team and driver’s championships with three victories from five races.
Said Team Principal Tim Greaves, “It has been an incredible season for the team. We started not really knowing how the opposition would perform, with new cars and new rules in place for 2011. We were confident in the engine programme with Nissan and they have proved to be faultless. We stayed with the Zytek chassis, which is well known and well developed; this combination along with our Dunlop tyres has given us the platform for success. The drivers, Karim Ojjeh, Olivier Lombard and, of course, Tom Kimber-Smith, have driven almost without mistake, the performance at Silverstone in particular being key to our overall success. Saturday (when Tom secured the championships by taking a point for pole position) has seen the culmination of six years of hard work and is a proper reward for all the effort put in.”
Added Team Manager, Jacob Greaves, “It’s been a great season, one to dream of.”
In the early stages of the Estoril encounter, Olivier pulled away from the rest of the LMP2 field, driving at a pace that matched the LMP1s. Karim took over and continued in a way that belied his gentleman amateur status but various minor tribulations conspired to drop the car back. Tom then underlined why he has been one of the stars of this year’s LMS and by the end of the six hours the Zytek-Nissan was up to a fighting second place in class and fourth overall. Tom and Karim had secured the drivers’ championship the day before but this result added to Greaves’ success by giving Olivier, who had missed the first couple of races, second place behind his teammates.
The only LMP2 car ahead of the champions at the finish was the TDS Racing Oreca-Nissan 03 of Matthias Beche, Pierre Thiriet and Jody Firth, which finished in third place overall. It was the Languedoc-based team’s second victory of the season giving the Zytek Nissan VK45DE a clean sweep. Honourable mention should also be made of the Boutsen Energy Oreca-Nissan 03 of Dominik Kraihamer and Thor-Christian Ebbesvik, which had taken over the LMP2 class lead only to lose out in the final minutes with brake problems.
