Appalling
weather conditions and less than an hour’s dry running
failed to dampen spirits within RML AD Group’s trio
of drivers for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours during
yesterday’s official test. A comprehensive shakedown
at Rockingham in England a few days before the squad headed
for France meant that it took just ten full laps of the
13.6 kilometre Sarthe circuit for the team to collect
the necessary telemetry data ahead of qualifying for this
year’s French classic.
“The main thing was to set
a lap that was representative enough for us to use as
a benchmark for developing our set-up for the race,”
explained Tommy, who did all but one of the car’s
laps on Sunday. “Assuming it’s going to be
dry for the race, it would have been very disappointing
not to have managed to collect some dry data to work from.
We now know our gear ratios, the behaviour of the tyre
compounds, and the effectiveness of our aero-package,
and that will provide a great base from which to develop
our set-up when we come back here for qualifying.”
The conditions throughout the day
ranged from merely damp through to torrential monsoon,
and RML AD Group was not the only team to play the cautious
card against the potential for disaster. Fortunately,
the skies cleared just long enough during the lunch-break
to permit a back-to-back run of five flying laps in the
dry during the opening minutes of the afternoon session,
and then the rains returned. The time of 3:44.678 set
by Tommy during that brief window was sufficient to establish
the team’s MG Lola EX265 as fifth quickest in LMP2.
“In the current conditions, fifth is good,”
he said. “I’m happy with that.”
Including in- and out-laps, the
MG completed just fifteen laps overall – one of
the lowest figures of any team participating in the test.
“In some senses, it’s been a frustrating day
waiting for the narrow window of opportunity to get some
representative dry-run data,” said Adam Wiseberg,
Motorsport Director of AD Group. “We carried out
the minimum running necessary but that was enough to establish
that we already have a good set-up on the car. We can
return next week and build upon that foundation in our
usual methodical way. Today we felt that, with the inconsistent
conditions that existed most of the day – neither
fully wet nor dry – the risk to the car and drivers
was too high when balanced against the usefulness of the
data we’d have collected.” There were a number
of significant incidents during the day, two of which
have left the teams concerned with considerable re-building
work ahead of scrutineering, which starts on June 9th.
With such restricted running, the
squad’s two other drivers; Mike Newton and Andy
Wallace, took no active part in the day’s proceedings.
Mike abandoned his one and only lap when conditions worsened
significantly, and Andy never even sat in the car. They
did not appear unduly disappointed.
“The important objective was
to collect the necessary data, and then ensure that the
car sustained no damage at this late stage, so close to
race week,” said Mike. “We achieved all that,
and can now look forward to the race with some confidence.”
Both he and Tommy, who co-drive the MG in the Le Mans
Series, are delighted to welcome Andy back to their Le
Mans squad for the third successive year – a view
that Andy reciprocates. "It's just so nice to be
back with RML again," he insists. "The level
of their work is so high, and it's a privilege to work
with guys of this calibre.”
RML AD Group took the LMP2 class
win at Le Mans in 2005 and 2006, but missed the hat-trick
last year following a rare piston failure. The category
has moved on since then, with new cars, teams and drivers
adding to the intense competition, but the team is undaunted.
“We already know that there are teams here that
have an advantage in outright pace, but we have the expertise
and the reliability to go the distance,” suggests
Tommy. Andy agrees. "Not being favourites to set
the fastest time relieves some of the pressure,"
he says. "There's no expectation that we have to
be out there at the sharp end, fighting for the lead.
Instead we can concentrate on racing our own race, and
let the others make mistakes.” The race itself takes
place on June 14th-15th.
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