RML
AD Group’s Thomas Erdos set a best of 1:47.491 in
qualifying for this weekend’s Paul Ricard 8 Hours
to claim fourth on the LMP2 grid for Round 1 of the 2010
Le Mans Series. The result fell a little short of the
team’s hopes and expectations after quicker times
in practice, but ahead of the longest race yet scheduled
for the Series, being on the second row is likely to be
of small consequence.
“We
are a little surprised not to be quicker,” conceded
Phil Barker, Team Manager at RML, “but at the end
of the day, we’re right behind pole, and in the
grand scheme of an eight hour race, ten metres on the
grid is neither here nor there. The greater concern is
what happens after those lights go out and the race starts.”
Having
been second or third in the faster practice sessions,
the indications were strong that the team could hope for
a similar result in qualifying. In the end, however, Brazilian
Thomas Erdos had been unable to replicate his earlier
pace. “The balance of the car had changed just enough
since the previous practice session to prevent Tommy from
getting the best out of the car,” explained Barker.
“He also had difficulties with traffic, and it just
wasn’t meant to be.”
Tommy
had joined the qualifying period right at the start of
the session, and had encountered a busy track. His first
flyer in the team's Lola B08/80 HPD Coupé had been
enough to lay a temporary claim to class pole, but he
was never able to find the same degree of space again.
Running short of fuel, he then briefly pitted before returning
to the track with plans for two more laps. “The
car felt worse at the rear when I went back out again,
and I knew straight away that there was little chance
of making the necessary improvement,” said Tommy.
“Okay, we’re mildly disappointed, since we
felt there was a chance of second place, but we live and
learn.”
Pauline
Norstrom, Marketing and Motorsport Director of AD Group,
spoke on behalf of the team’s principal sponsor.
“It’s a long race and grid position is not
critical. What matters now is the professionalism of the
team and the reliability of the car and the engine. We
have confidence in HPD (Honda Performance Development),
and we feel there’s still considerably more to come
from the engine and chassis combination. The critical
aspect is the very encouraging performance of all three
drivers in the practice sessions this weekend. Their relative
times are very close, and that places the team in a strong
position for the race.” CCTV systems created by
AD Group monitor the team garage, pitlane and truck, allowing
the guests to watch from the comfort of the team’s
hospitality facility as the engineers prepare the car
for each session.
The
race is scheduled to begin at 11:00 local time (10:00
in the UK) tomorrow, Sunday April 11th, and will be covered
live on-line by Radio
Le Mans, with dedicated blow-by-blow reporting here
on the team website. Selected periods of live television
coverage, including the start and finish, will be provided
on Eurosport.
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